Today's Writing Community - Birthing Your Book

By Mark David Gerson

I didn't know anything about my first book when its words began to flow through me. I didn't know my second book was even a book when its words began pouring from me. All I knew in both instances was that my Muse was calling me and that the only way to answer its call was to write. As I wrote, the books took care of themselves. One day's writing led to the next. One draft led to the next. One book led to the next.

Each day, draft and book drove my pen. My pen, in turn, drove me. My only job was to release all attachment to form, structure, content and outcome. My only job was to write and let the words go where they chose and create what was theirs to create. As it turned out, what was theirs to create were books. They could have been short stories, articles, journal entries or exercises. They could have been anything at all. My job wasn't to try to figure that out. My job was to write, to surrender to the imperative of my Muse -- a wiser soul in all things creative than I could ever pretend to be. Life can be like that too.

When God or our higher self or our intuition or our gut guides us in a particular direction, our responsibility is to surrender -- using our discernment, of course...a discernment that gets sharpened and honed with each experience. We can no more figure out the bigger life picture with its infinite possibility than we can the bigger creative picture with its. In both cases, the full potential lies so far beyond our imagining that, truly, surrender is the only viable option. What can you surrender to today? In your writing? In your life?

Mark David Gerson focuses all his work on inspiring you to unleash the power of your creative potential -- whatever your writing genre or experience. A teacher, speaker, mentor and coach, Mark David is author of the award-winning visionary fantasy, The MoonQuest, and of a critically acclaimed book of tools, tips and inspiration for writers, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, from which this article is adapted. Listen to five of Mark David's "13 Rules for Writing" -- from his 2-CD set The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers -- at http://www.calltowrite.com Get more free writing guidance from Mark David at http://www.thevoiceofyourmuse.com