One of the most important lessons that I learned both as an author and as someone stepping out into entrepreneurship is that all of the advice that is given about how to write, market, and sell your books (or product or service) is that the advice works for that person. And because that advice works for that person, they think it works for you too. Even more important, it works for other people whose brains and lives and levels of privilege are exactly like the person giving the advice. And this really gives you a lot to think about because things that people say are “common sense” or “non-negotiable” in their process very well could be negotiable.
But what if you don’t know exactly how your brain/body work either alone or together? What if you have a writing process that kind of works, but feels like it could be improved, only you’re not sure how? What if you don’t know about the true effects that being neurodivergent, experiencing trauma, or all the symptoms of a chronic illness or disability? I mean, there are people who have lived for decades before understanding themselves as neurodivergent, let alone getting a diagnosis. And there are health conditions (I can think of several) that you can live with for years or even decades before (at least the American) Health establishment takes you seriously. I’m not suggesting this to depress anyone, but rather to simply acknowledge the lived experience that so many people live with. When you add a creative and entrepreneurial pursuit like being an author on top of it, well, that turns the difficulty setting up to “a lot” if not “scarily hard”.
Knowing your creative nervous system type can help.
Let me be clear, I am not proposing this as a cure-all or an end-all to having all the answers to work with your creative nervous system. It is not a prescription, a one-size-fits-all response that can fix whatever ails your writing. I don’t work like that, because I know life, and our gloriously messy existence as human beings, don’t work like that either.
Knowing your creative nervous system type is an opening, a chance to find out a bit more about yourself and how your mind works so you can write, and work, in alignment with it and with your body. They’re not separate after all.
Knowledge is power. The more you know about yourself, the more you can look at finding ways to write that work for you and that feel good. That’s the most important part. Writing is difficult enough. Anything you can do to make it easier on you is beneficial.
I’ll be discussing your creative nervous system type in future blogs, so take the quick 5 question quiz below to get started. It comes with a free guide.
Do you know what your creative nervous system type is? When you know how your brain works, you can write with it rather than fighting against it, and that reduces stress and burnout. Take our quick, 5-question quiz to discover what your creative nervous system type is and download a free gift to get you started writing more and feeling better about what you write.
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