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Here is an excerpt from my first book, The Way of Story:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work and gave to it neither power nor time.”<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Mary Oliver<\/p>\n At the Esalen Institute and elsewhere, I found those receptive to an alternative approach to writing.\u00a0 Unlike students in university classes where I taught for several years in New York and in Los Angeles, most of the workshop participants are no longer in their twenties, but have borne the slings and arrows of the world, and feel a keen need to return to Soul or Self.\u00a0 Only then will they find the necessity and courage to write about what they really care about — and in so doing, heal the split many feel today, both personally and collectively.\u00a0 It is wonderful to teach those who know what they want to say.\u00a0 Life, the best teacher of all, has usually led them to this awakening.\u00a0 I need only teach enough craft for them to put it down on the page, and create a safe environ to summon the muse. The aim is that The Way of Story<\/em> workshops become a temple wherein attend oracles and angels.<\/p>\n Writing is not about being a writer, but about the experience of writing itself.\u00a0 I write in order to know myself.\u00a0 Through the inner journey of writing, I am better able to understand the world around me.<\/p>\n What I represent every time I set out to achieve<\/p>\n something is Myself.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Maya Angelou<\/p>\n For six years, J.K. Rowling worked at a number of jobs, saying \u201cI\u00a0 proved to be the worst secretary ever.\u201d\u00a0 In meetings she would jot down story ideas instead of taking notes.\u00a0 She was fired from several jobs and quit others out of boredom.\u00a0 She drifted for a time.\u00a0 Then one day she was on her way to London when the train broke down for four hours.\u00a0 She was staring out the train window when the idea that would change her life came to her out of the blue.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t tell you why or what triggered it, \u201c she stated in a School Library Journal interview, \u201cbut I saw Harry and the wizard school very plainly \u2026 the idea of a boy who didn\u2019t know what he was.\u201d\u00a0 By the time her train reached London, Rowling had the basic story figured out for the first Harry Potter<\/em> book!\u00a0 The rest is history.<\/p>\n Between acting jobs in New York, I once took a temp job as a typist for a medical research company.\u00a0 This was the first and last time I worked full-time in an office.\u00a0 After two weeks of typing graphs and figures, and slowly going bonkers, my boss discovered that the long list of columns of numbers didn\u2019t match. Consequently, the work of several days had to be discarded \u2014 as was I.\u00a0\u00a0 Later that day, my agent arranged an audition for me for George C. Scott\u2019s production of Arthur Miller\u2019s Death of a Salesman<\/em>.\u00a0 I said a quick prayer knowing that I wasn\u2019t equipped for anything else but to act and prepared to meet the formable Mr. Scott.\u00a0 You know what?\u00a0 I got the part. After some years acting, I began to write plays and saw twelve produced, winning awards on the way. Then Hollywood beckoned and I wrote films and television, later writing books. (The Way of Story<\/em>, etc.)<\/p>\n One thing is certain: the creative, if it is strong, will sooner or later find its path.\u00a0 It is as inevitable as a small stream of water pushing through rock.\u00a0 Of course, it may take time, and there may be twists and turns along the way.<\/p>\n Creativity demands commitment and risk, and often mistakes can be as important to the process of creativity as success.\u00a0 What helps to get through the night is to see the whole not as product but as process — mistakes included.\u00a0 James Joyce once said, \u201cMistakes are the portals of discovery.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Also, it is always valuable to know what you cannot do in order to focus on what you should be doing.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t listen to those who say, \u201cIt\u2019s not done that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor and it<\/p>\n would surely be rubbed out by today.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 Neil Simon<\/p>\n In these uncertain economic times, I observe many who have sacrificed their dream of writing for seeming security.\u00a0 They take full time jobs — only to lose them during an economic recession.\u00a0 Great companies demanding loyalty and long hours now dismiss thousands of workers daily.\u00a0 I cannot tell you how many individuals have come to The<\/em> Way of Story<\/em> workshops having lost their jobs in Silicon Valley, or quit their jobs as speech writers in Washington D. C., or as advertising executives in order to return to their first dream: that of writing for and from themselves.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t play for safety.\u00a0 It\u2019s the most dangerous<\/p>\n thing in the world.<\/p>\n \u2013 Hugh Walpole<\/p>\n My aim as a teacher and writing consultant is to launch an alternative approach to writing, an approach that values craft yet served soul.\u00a0 It is my job to help you create a work that while honoring your vision can be marketed and made available to the world.<\/p>\n Remember, it is never too late to follow your dream.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wayofstory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Herald.png\")
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