Cutting Out the Middleman

As a sideline trend-watcher, I’ve been particularly interested in a trend I think of as “cutting out the middleman.”

Now, more than ever before, we are able to share our thoughts, ideas, projects, and creations even more directly (and immediately) with our audience.

For instance:

Writing a book? Self-publishing is the answer for many.

So many authors are not only circumventing the traditional publishing route and doing press runs themselves, but they are even publishing their own digital books for Kindle and other such platforms as a way of getting their work into the world.

Brian Rathbone, a fantasy author I had the pleasure of interviewing, has published his books on at least 10 different digital platforms (both ebooks and audiobooks), and he’s carving out a niche helping other authors do the same.

Can’t find anyone to back your show? Get it out there yourself.

Joss Whedon — my hero! — has done this with his Serenity, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel & Faith comic books as a way of getting his visual art into the world.

I know of an emerging screenwriter who has hired his own artists to help him get his short screenplays into visual form.

I also love how Felicia Day took matters into her own hands with her web-series, The Guild, and married her love of online gaming with her passion for acting, and made her own show.

Joss Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog was similarly inspired.

Want to shoot a movie but don’t have the big backers? Do it yourself, on a budget.

Edward Burns is gaining notoriety for getting out there with cameras and a small team and making some incredible films happen that are surpassing other hugely funded projects in quality and audience-appeal.

Many others are following suit.

Have something to say but haven’t gotten the speaking tour or TV spot yet? Broadcast away on YouTube and LiveStream to your heart’s content.

Now more than ever, activists, artists, and entrepreneurs have accessible resources at their disposal to spread the word about their work. We can blog, write, teach, videocast, and so much more to get our work into the world.

Have a class you want to teach? Get a bridgeline, rent a space, or press the Go Live button and share it with your audience Right Now.

What we can appreciate about this:

I love how these artists are answering the question, “How can I get my work into the hands, minds, and hearts of my audience NOW?”

Cutting out the middleman (the agents, publishers, producers, studios, etc.) lets us connect with our tribe immediately. And in this instant gratification society, that’s pretty darn powerful.

On the other hand:

On the other side of the coin however, we are truly glutted with information like never before, and it can be hard to sift the chaff from the wheat. Those middlemen do a lot of the work for us, deciding what is high enough quality to pass the test. But yet again, often pieces of brilliance are overlooked and left behind.

Is this a good thing?

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What you think about this trend?
  • As an artist or entrepreneur, how might you or have you cut out the middleman?
  • Was it a good thing?

 

Coming Attractions

~> July & August. Doing Creative Destiny Assessments with visionary creatives ready to claim their creative destiny. Details coming soon.

~> August 4th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. SOLD OUT. Details. If you’re interested in the next group (probably in September), email my team here and we’ll add you to the list.

~> September. Beta-testing my new writer’s accountability system with a select group and offering Life Purpose Coaching Groups. Stay tuned for more info.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

~> Vacationing with my family in August (at least part of it!).

When “One Size Fits All” Doesn’t Fit For You

If you’re an artistic type — a writer, painter, poet, songwriter — an empathic, spiritual healer type, or a scanner with lots of passions and interests, you’re not one who’s likely to thrive with a “one size fits all” approach to developing yourself and your work in the world.

Personally, I’ve found that as an artistic, empathic, sensitive, creative being, I do best when I have the opportunity to work with a coach or mentor who will find ways to work with me rather than expecting me to fit inside a specific box or program.

There are so many opportunities out there right to grow and develop your work, it can be overwhelming to decide how to invest your precious time, energy, and money.

Here are a few suggestions I’ll make:

  • Look for people to work with that you admire on a deep level. It’s easy to be swept up in the glamor of what people SAY they are doing. Use your intuitive radar to look beneath the surface to look for a match on integrity, honesty, commitment, and forthrightness in the people you choose to work with as well as looking at what their previous customers have to say about them.
  • Look for mentors who “get” you. There’s nothing more important than working with someone who understands you, what makes you tick, and your vision as much as possible. For me, that looks like working with a mentor who understands what it’s like to be highly sensitive and empathic, who truly likes me and what I stand for, and who “gets” what it’s like to be bright and creative with a million ideas a minute.
  • Look for mentors with expertise and a proven track record in what you are wanting to accomplish. You’ll have a much better chance of success when you work with someone who has been where you want to go. Your mentor only needs to be a few key steps ahead of you to make a valuable difference in what you are up to.
  • Invest at a level that is high enough to motivate you into action but not so high that you put yourself and your future in jeopardy. I’ve seen so many of my colleagues and friends over-invest in high level programs that don’t pay off as fast as they hoped they would, and while some will tell you that investing highly can stretch you into playing a bigger game, it can also be paralyzing if the investment is too out of reach for you financially. Also keep in mind the long term value of the investment in your life as you make a decision.
  • If you work privately at a higher level with someone, choose a mentor who will craft a custom-designed process or program for you that addresses your specific concerns and challenges in a way that feels accurately and highly aligned with what you are facing. Especially at a high-level, “one size fits all” is rarely the right strategy. We are all at different points along the path to our creative destiny so it doesn’t make sense to start at the same place as everyone else.
  • If you choose to work with someone in a group program for cost reasons, make the point to choose a mentor you have a strong resonance with and who has their feet on the ground, not with someone who is promising you the stars. Look for carefully selected groups that kick off with everyone being at about the same starting point.
  • Be willing to dig deep. It’s easy to want to jump to implementation (as I know all too well!), but spending time on the essence and deep think of what you are doing will save you time in the long run. Choose mentors who will go deep with you, hold you to that deeper truth and the big vision, as well as support you to put in the elbow grease and take the nitty-gritty, practical implementation actions to see it through to the end.
  • Last, don’t invest in anything unless you are seriously committed to making it happen. Spending the money does NOT guarantee the results. It won’t do a lick of good if you don’t have the time, energy, and discipline to see it through.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you?
  • How can you apply this in your own life?

 

Coming Attractions

~> July & August. Doing Creative Destiny Assessments with visionary creatives ready to claim their creative destiny. Details coming soon.

~> August 4th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. There’s ONE spot left. Details. If you’re interested in the next group (probably in September), email my team here and we’ll add you to the list.

~> September. Beta-testing my new writer’s accountability system with a select group. Stay tuned for more info.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

~> Daydreaming about going to Comic-Con next week and getting an autograph from Nathan Fillion. #imsuchageek

~> Re-reading the entire Song of Fire and Ice series by George R. R. Martin so I’ll remember what the heck is going on when I get to “A Dance With Dragons” (can’t wait).

~> Vacationing with my family in August (at least part of it!).

 

 

Who Do You Think You Are?

When it comes to sharing your Art with the world (and by that I mean the art, writing, music, healing, or message you’re here to get out into the world), who do you think you are?

A common stumbling block for so many clients is that very thought: “Who do I think I am? What makes me special?”

You’re Not Special

My teacher Sonia once said to me, “You’re not special,” when I was doubting whether or not I was “qualified” to participate in a particular training event.

It made my Enneagram Four-self smile. (In a good way.)

I say this to you too, “You are not special.”

You too, have important pieces of work to share with the world.

Your work is just as important as my work or anyone else’s work.

We each have our part to play, or contribution to make, small or large, far-reaching or local.

Are you doing your part?

Who Do You Think You Are?

Most of us have heard this question, “Who do you think you are?” at some point in our lives, usually when someone else thinks we are getting too big for our britches.

(And most of us could use a little more bigness in this department so it’s too bad that happens, IMHO.)

And yet, having a clear strong sense of who you think you are is a powerful foundation for the choices, actions, decisions, and priorities you make, do, and set in your life.

You’ll make an entirely different set of choices if you think of yourself as a screenwriter or a messenger than if you think of yourself as a mother who can’t find time to write.

Even better: to think of yourself as a successful screenwriter or messenger!

Craft Your Identity Statement

Today in my Claim Your Creative Identity TeleCourse, we’ll be working on defining a clear, delicious Identity Statement that begins with the words, “I Am.”

Like this: “I am a successful, creative writer.”

I’d love to have you play along by posting YOUR statement of identity on the blog (and you’re welcome to join the class today if you’re inspired).

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What’s your Identity Statement?
  • Who do you think YOU are?

If you’d like some help working on this very topic for yourself — owning and claiming YOUR creative identity, you’ll want to register for my brand new class TODAY, June 28th, called Claim Your Creative Identity. I’d love to have you join me.

Coming Attractions

~> June 28th. Claim Your Creative Calling TeleCourse. That’s TODAY. Register now to reserve your spot and integrate a new behavior or new identity in your life. Details.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

~> Celebrating the 4th of July with my family.

 

The Make-or-Break Difference for Getting Your Creative Work Into the World

Changing the Way You See Yourself

If you’ve had your hands analyzed or done any visioning work with me, you’ll recognize that a big part of making your purpose real is being ready, willing, and able to adjust to and adopt a new, higher level way of seeing yourself.

It can take time to change your view of who you are.

And it isn’t always easy to do.

Imposter Syndrome, Anyone?

You might feel like you’re pretending to be someone you’re not, or like you can almost grab hold of that new identity but then it sort of slips away and you’re left grasping at nothing.

Regular Life Getting in the Way

I’ve seen it happen with my visioning clients — they get clear on their big vision, but then lose focus then when they go back to their “regular lives” or can’t quite remember how or why they decided what they decided — unless they have help to stay in touch with their new way of being in the world.

Un-Squashing Our Creative Selves

I’m also seeing this happen with creative types.

Yes, ideally being creative is easy and just flows naturally from us.

But that’s not what I see on a daily basis.

More often than not I see creative spirits squashed and held back by our own fears and doubts.

And even more fundamentally, by who we see ourselves to be.

How You See Yourself Makes All the Difference

For instance, if you think of yourself as a IT worker who is a writer on the side, it is a whole different ballgame than when you know you are a writer who happens to be doing tech work to pay the bills.

You’ll make different decisions, take different actions, and have different priorities.

And Therein Lies the Rub

And those decisions, actions, and priorities are the make-or-break difference between getting your creative work out there into the world versus walking around with a movie inside your head for the rest of your life, your manuscript gathering dust on your shelf, or your tribe never hearing the message you are hear to share with them.

It’s all about knowing who you are and doing the work to make it happen.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you?
  • How can you change the way you see yourself so you can MORE DEEPLY own and deliver your creative vision to the world?

 

An Offering

I’m offering a simple yet profound class next Tuesday, June 28th at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time to help you Claim Your Creative Identity, with a follow up Fine-Tuning and Q&A Session on July 7th.

It’s an affordable class that will give you tools you can use over and over again to help you make massive shifts in how you see yourself that will in turn help you:

  • own your creative identity,
  • give you a new level of permission to be who you are,
  • choose new behaviors,
  • take new actions, and
  • be in the world in new more authentic way.

(All these massive and global energy shifts are nudging us in that direction anyway — this process will help make that transition smoother!)

You can read more about the class and register here:

**********
Claim Your Creative Identity

Location: Your telephone or Skype
Dates: Tuesday, June 28th & Thursday, July 7th
Time: 3:30 p.m. Pacific 6:30 Eastern, 11:30 GMT (late!), 8:30 a.m. Australia
$47

Register
**********

 

Remember, the class is next Tuesday, so make sure you hop on over and reserve your spot right now. :)

Warmly,

Jenna

p.s. Remember, I do almost all of my work by phone, which means you can participate from anywhere in the world. And everything is recorded too, so if you can’t participate live during the session, you can still benefit from listening to the recording of the session later on. Join me.

No Matter Where You Go, There You Aren’t?

If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while, you know I’ve been going through a big transition with my work and my life — I’m now focusing as much as possible on my own creative expression; writing a sci-fi screenplay and writing a non-fiction creativity guide.

It has been quite a journey, at times up and down, fraught with confusion, scattered with moments of sparkling clarity.

Massive Creative Breakthroughs

I’ve recently had a huge breakthrough with my own creative work as a result of claiming my creative identity in a much deeper way.

I didn’t quite realize it until Elaine pointed it out to me, but I was “leaving the back doors open” by not fully committing to my creative work coming first. She reminded me that it doesn’t matter so much how I’m earning a living at this point, but that my focus needs to be on my creative work, first, and no wriggling out of it!

After debating with her for a while (both before and after we talked — do you ever have imaginary conversations with your friends?), I realized she was right.

I was trying to straddle the fence, to be both, while really being neither.

No Matter Where You Go, There You Aren’t

A while back I wrote a post called, “No Matter Where You Go, There You Are” about how we simply cannot escape our life purpose and life lesson no matter how we might try.

Tonight it struck me that not having an anchored sense of Who You Are is kind of like Showing Up But Not Really Being There, if you know what I mean.

This Whole Thing About Creative Identity

So now you know why I’ve been yak yak yakking about creative identity — it’s made a huge difference for me.

Ever since I did my pièce de résistance work on this (a combination of NLP work and some shamanic work) things have been moving like gangbusters.

Clear decisions left and right, new ideas, big changes, a sense of EVERYTHING being lined up in one direction, and BEST OF ALL: I wrote 10 pages of my screenplay during my sacred writing time last week.

So yummy.

I Hope You Don’t Think I’m A Journalist

As part of all this, Elaine reminded me of a story about Julia Cameron (author of one of my bibles, The Artist’s Way), back from when she had started working at Rolling Stone magazine. Her boss said to her, “I hope you don’t think you’re a writer.”

Her response, “Oh, I am a writer. I hope you don’t think I’m a journalist.”

Bada bing.

We should all be so clear on who we are!

 

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you
  • What’s the creative identity that YOU are ready to claim?

If you’d like some help working on this very topic for yourself — owning and claiming YOUR creative identity, you’ll want to register for my brand new class NEXT TUESDAY, June 28th, called Claim Your Creative Identity. I’d love to have you join me.

Coming Attractions

~> June 23rd. My Life Purpose Breakthrough series continues. Details.

~> June 28th. Claim Your Creative Calling TeleCourse. That’s one week from TODAY. Register now to reserve your spot and integrate a new behavior or new identity in your life. Details.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

~> Celebrating the 4th of July with my family.

 

 

 

Listen to Dreamification Radio: Claiming Your Creative Identity

Here’s the audio link for listening to the recording of my Dreamification Radio show on claiming your creative identity.

We covered some great topics and questions, including:

  • How to create sacred writing time for yourself
  • How to being sensitive and creative can be intertwined
  • How to find a big enough “umbrella vision” for your creative work
  • Getting your creative work into the world
  • Dealing with naysayers and finding a circle of support.

[display_podcast]

Shortly after recording this broadcast, I was informed that Radio Lightworker will not be continuing, so this broadcast is unedited (you’ll hear me mentioning that I’ll edit out some logistical bits, thanks for your patience with that). It’s also my last broadcast, at least in this form. :) Enjoy.

If you’d like support around claiming YOUR creative identity, I’m offering a powerful class next Tuesday, June 28th on claiming and integrating your new identity. This is a perfect support for anyone wanting to move into new behavior and stepping up into a higher vision of yourself and your life purpose. Stay tuned for more details, coming soon!

It Starts With Who You Are

Doing something — anything — successfully in the world requires a solid foundation.

What is that foundation?

It’s you.

It’s being clear on who you are, what you do, and why you are doing it.

I’ve been chatting with some of my favorite coach friends and mentors and I’m noticing a trend, at least among the tribe of deep thinkers I hang out with.

I see that out in the world so much of the focus is on how you get stuff done (which I love, don’t get me wrong) and how to have a plug-and-play business or project or widget (not so much), but there isn’t much of a focus on WHO you are, WHAT you care about, and WHY you are doing what you are doing (which I love even more). The focus instead is on how much money you can you make and how fast can you make it, or other more practical, surface level implementation tools.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But unless you have the foundation in place, unless you’ve claimed your identity and know who you are and who you want to be, all the implementation and practical tools in the world will not serve you.

It starts with who you are.

Hear more on this subject on my upcoming Dreamification Radio broadcast this Saturday, June 18th on claiming your creative identity.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you
  • What’s the creative identity that YOU are ready to claim?

Coming Attractions

~> June 16th and 23rd. My Life Purpose Breakthrough series continues. Details.

~> June 18th. Next Dreamification Radio broadcast. Details.

~> June 28th. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for a special, affordable one-time class that’s perfect for anyone who wants to integrate a new behavior or new identity in their life.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

~> Celebrating the 4th of July with my family.

 

 

Dreamification Radio: Claim Your Creative Identity

You’re invited to join the live recording session for my next Dreamification Radio Broadcast

TOMORROW, Tuesday,  June 14th from 3 to 4 p.m. Pacific / 6 to 7 p.m. Eastern, you can join in on the recording session for my next radio broadcast of “Dreamification: Find Your Big Dream. Make It Real.

Tomorrow’s topic:

* Claiming Your Creative Identity *

When you join the call, you’ll have the opportunity to ask your questions live on the line or over the live chat about claiming your identity as a creative being.

So many of us know we are artists and creators deep down, but haven’t yet claimed that as our birthright. I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve been doing to reclaim my own creative identity, and I’ll answer your questions about how you can do so for yourself.

There is no fee to participate other than any regular long distance charges you might incur.

Please join me!

Here’s how to participate:

1. Join the conference call by phone:

Dial: (712) 432-0075
Access Code: 182231#

Or

Join the conference call with Skype:

  1. Add “freeconferencing.7124320075” to Skype contacts
  2. Click “Call” connect to the conference
  3. Locate the Key Pad and enter access code when prompted

Then:

2. Join the live chat by going to this page on my website:

https://calledtowrite.com/livechat

To ask questions in the chat, you’ll need to enter a username. You’ll also need to have JavaScript enabled on your computer.

Here’s what to do in the meantime:

  1. Mark this in your calendar so you remember to come at  3 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday, June 14th (that’s 4 Mountain, 5 Central, 6 Eastern, 11 GMT)
  2. Get ready with your questions about claiming your creative identity.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Warmly,

Jenna

p.s. The session will be recorded and will be broadcast on Saturday, June 18th, so you’ll be able to listen to it later if you can’t attend live.

You are welcome to post comments on the blog in the comments section below if you can’t attend live and I’ll be glad to answer them on the broadcast.

 

 

Calling All Writers, Creative Entrepreneurs, Artists, Activists, and Messengers

Dear writers, creative entrepreneurs, artists, activists, and messengers:

I’m looking to connect with established or up and coming creators of all sorts about “what makes you tick” as I’m developing new offerings for my business.

I have a particular fondness for screenwriters and sci fi and fantasy creators of all types — including writers, screenwriters, directors, etc. — but I am also looking to connect with musicians, painters, activists, artists, and other creative types who feel they have art, a message, or a movement to get out into the world through their creative expression.

I’m doing a combination of surveys and informational interviews by phone right now, designed to help me get more information about what creative types most struggle with and how I might be able to help them get their work into the world. This is a research project.

If you’re willing to help, take my survey online here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/creative-messengers/. If you’re willing to be interviewed, let me know in the survey on the last page and be sure to give me your contact information.

When you complete the survey in its entirety by Wednesday, June 15th and include your contact information, you’ll be automatically entered in a drawing to win a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate.

How cool is that?

Jenna

 

 

 

p.s. If you feel like leaving me a note on the blog about YOUR biggest challenges getting your creative work out into the world, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

p.p.s. If you know of someone who might be a good candidate for me to interview, please encourage them to take my survey. Thank you!

 

 

When the Going Gets Blocked, Can the Blocked Get Going?

I’m writing an e-book about busting yourself on your creative blocks so you can get your work into the world.

I’m writing it for you.

And I’m writing it for me.

Reasons We Get Creatively Blocked

There appear to be a number of reasons for being creatively blocked (aka writer’s block or artist’s block), including

  • external causes like a loss, death, or divorce,
  • internal causes like beliefs, perfectionism, or self-doubt,
  • other things like “second novel/album syndrome” and creative depletion.

It’s fascinating to study and to write about — and even to get blocked over. *grin*

Taking a Closer Look at Where Blocks Come Up

I found myself examining closely my own creative blocks today in my morning pages and noticed that I feel blocked when I start telling myself stories about things I think will be hard, or when I can’t “figure out” how to get “through” a certain part of a scene I’m working on in my screenplay or how to organize a certain section of my e-book.

It also happens when I get afraid that I won’t be able to do something I want to do in the style I want to do it in — for the screenplay I want it to be fast paced and action-filled, with the e-book I want it to be spunky and fun.

The dreaded inner critic rears his head and says, “What if you can’t pull that off?”

Stuff That’s Helping So Far

And what I’m noticing about this is:

1. Just taking the time to name exactly where I’m stuck is helpful because it tells me what I need to do next to get going again.

For example, with the screenplay, I want to get some help on getting through “the dreaded middle” and I also want to focus my efforts for the time being on the “battle scene,” which quite honestly sounds a lot more fun than figuring out how I’m going to GET to the battle scene.

With my e-book, I realized that I need to take a step back and do some of that organizational work in a brainstorming context — and that’s freeing me up to see it from a new perspective.

2. Busting my inner critic publicly (here) makes him settle down a little bit (though it’s also a bit embarrassing), but also writing about what I want to accomplish with the style and tone of what I do is also hugely helpful because it puts me back into the bigger picture perspective about what I’m doing.

3. Do the next thing. Zara reminded me today how important it is not to bite off more than you can chew; it’s easy to get overwhelmed and/or distracted thinking about how to market the e-book and whether or not people will like it before I’ve even crafted the darn thing.

But my real job is to do the next step, then the one after that.

And then the one after that.

Head Down, Eyes Up?

It’s funny, but so true, I have to remember to keep my eyes on the prize (my Big Vision) and keep my head down (doing the next thing) all at the same time. It’s that middle term thinking that gets me all gummed up.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you about your own work
  • How you get creatively blocked and how you get out of it

Let’s skip:

  • Feeling like you need to give me advice (thanks!)
  • Stories about how you never ever ever get creatively blocked

 

Coming Attractions

~> June 9th, 16th, and 23rd, 2011. My brand new Life Purpose Breakthrough Group event series. Details.

~> June 14th. Live recording session for my next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Join me to get your questions answered LIVE. Details TBA.

~> June 18th. Next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Details. Listen from anywhere in the world to this Internet radio show.

~> June 28th. Mark your calendar! And stay tuned for a special, affordable one-time class that’s perfect for anyone who wants to integrate a new behavior or new identity in their life.

 


~> June 10th. Celebrating my husband’s birthday!

~> MONDAYS. Working on my Right Brain Business Plan with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

~> Celebrating the 4th of July with my family.