Become the Author You Were Born to Be with This Writing Advice…

When embarking on a book project, there are essentially two parallel journeys unfolding. The first is the internal creative endeavor – crafting the actual story and content that will comprise the book itself. Call this the “story within the story.” However, there’s also an outer journey that authors must consciously undertake – the transformative experience of shepherding the book from concept to published form. Our game-changing writing advice focuses on mapping this second meta-journey using the archetypal framework of the hero’s journey. By embodying the role of protagonist, you’ll access bottomless reservoirs of grit and resilience to power both paths.

The Hero’s Journey: A Framework for Authors

At the core of our approach is the powerful concept of the monomyth, also known as the hero’s journey. This universal narrative framework, explored by Joseph Campbell, outlines 12 stages that arguably every heroic story follows.

A. The Monomyth and the 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey

The hero’s journey begins with the call to adventure, where the protagonist receives the nudge to embark on their quest. They encounter supernatural aid to help them cross the threshold into the unknown.

The hero then faces a road of trials – a series of tests, enemies, and setbacks that must be overcome with the help of mentors and allies. At the approach to the inmost cave, the hero must make the final decision to confront the biggest ordeal and either turn back or persevere.

If successful, the hero endures the ordeal and seizes the reward. However, they must still return to the ordinary world, facing more challenges to bring their prize or lesson back home triumphantly.

B. Casting Yourself as the Protagonist of Your Book Journey

Our transformative writing advice is to cast yourself deliberately as the hero of your own book’s journey. View each milestone, obstacle, and breakthrough as the next stage of your monomyth. Embrace the truth that “this is much harder than I expected, and that’s okay” as the mantra that will sustain you.

By framing your book writing process through the mythic lens of the hero’s journey, you give yourself the power to persevere through your own road of trials. You have the framework to overcome the temptations to quit and stay true to answering the call that first sparked your authorial quest. This paradigm shift provides the grit and perspective to navigate your journey to its inspiring conclusion.

The Call to Adventure: Recognizing and Embracing the Call to Write

For many, the first stage of the hero’s journey manifests as an inner calling to write a book that simply won’t go away. Our authors frequently recount feeling this urge from as young as 7, 8 or 9 years old – only to spend years or even decades pushing it aside.

A. Pushing Away the Call and Receiving Louder Messages

When you resist the call, it doesn’t dissipate – it gets louder. Authors report receiving supernatural signs and undeniable messages directing them to finally heed the invocation and begin their quest. Oprah calls these the “whispers” that grow more insistent until you pay attention.

This is the call to adventure, your first hint that you are meant for an extraordinary journey. Pushing it away only intensifies the call. Pivotal writing advice: The longer you avoid embarkation, the more dramatically the universe will have to intervene to set your journey in motion.

B. Crossing the Threshold and Committing to the Journey

True commitment marks the thrilling moment you cross the first threshold. For some, this initiation involves taking a vow or making a public declaration. For others, the committed mindset solidifies after writing those first 10,000 words.

However you cross this threshold, it’s a point of no return. You have set forth from the ordinary world, leaving behind old certainties to navigate the unfamiliar territory of your impending adventure. From here, the path will grow increasingly arduous – but declining the journey is no longer an option you will entertain.

The Road of Trials: Facing Challenges, Temptations, and Enemies

With the die cast, the hero commences their arduous road of trials. This phase is rife with tests, obstacles, inner doubts, and outward antagonists to overcome.

A. Tests and Obstacles Along the Way

For authors, the road of trials manifests in myriad unexpected challenges. Perhaps your editor ghosts you with your manuscript right before launch. Or your publisher shutters operations weeks prior to release date. Technical troubles, personal crises, financial strain – these are just some of the trials that may try to stall your quest.

Our writing advice? Expect and prepare for obstacles, but refuse to be deterred. View each hurdle as preparation for the greater journey and initiation into your role as author. Confront each foe not as a barrier but as resistance strengthening you for what’s to come.

B. The Importance of Mentors and Support Systems

No hero succeeds alone. On the most challenging quests, it’s imperative to have mentors and supportive allies in your corner. Within our programs, each author gets their Yoda and Han Solo team to protect them from enemies along the way.

Without such guides and communities, the road becomes fragmented and lonely. You’ll confront Darth Vader without your Jedi training. Conversely, having coaches, fellow authors, and bands of believers in your mission provides the armor and respite you need to regroup and continue pressing forward through each trial.

The Approach to the Inmost Cave: The Decision to Quit or Persevere

For every hero, a pivotal juncture arises: the approach to the inmost cave. This metaphorical point represents the make-or-break decision to either courageously continue and confront the biggest ordeal…or turn back to the ordinary world.

A. The Midpoint Crisis and the Desire to Step Back

In the author’s journey, we see this crossroads manifest in a variety of ways, often around the midpoint of the process. A complaint about our program surfaces that, upon investigation, stems from deep-seated fear. A desire to push back launch dates under flimsiest pretenses like scheduling photography sessions or vacations.

These are obvious signs of the dreaded still, quiet voice questioning “Can I really do this?” The inmost cave looms, threatening to swallow the would-be author’s aspirations in its void of doubt and self-criticism. Our crucial writing advice? This midpoint crisis is unavoidable – learn to identify it, name it, and resolve to push forward.

B. Accepting the Role of the Hero and Finishing the Manuscript

Those authors who make it through this gauntlet accept the hero’s mantle fully. No longer denying their identity, they reaffirm their abilities to confront whatever comes next and emerge victorious. This rebirth releases their final reserves to complete their manuscripts against all odds.

Like Galahad achieving the Holy Grail, bringing their book into the world becomes the essential crucible for activating their most heroic, authentic selves. From the ashes of the inmost cave’s tests, the author transforms into the change-making writer they were always meant to be.

The Ordeal and the Reward: Vulnerability and the Book Launch

With the manuscript finally complete, the hero might be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief. However, one last massive ordeal awaits – the book launch. This is the climactic final test before the quest can reach its resolution.

A. Preparing for the Final Test: The Public Book Launch

For authors, launching their book to the world represents an extremely vulnerable and precarious endeavor. Putting their thoughts and stories out into the public arena opens them up to critique, rejection, and emotional exposure.

Many have poured deeply personal experiences into their books, leaving them feeling naked before readers. Imposter syndrome runs rampant. Our authors must prepare mentally and logistically for this transformation from private writer to public thought leader.

The writing advice we emphasize? View the book launch as the hero’s quintessential make-or-break moment. Dig deep, muster your bravery, and get comfortable being uncomfortable. This is the feared ordeal you’ve prepared for.

B. Embracing Vulnerability and Returning to the Ordinary World

Those who lean into the vulnerability and allow themselves to be truly seen emerge reborn on the other side. Much like the hero returning to the ordinary world, they come back to their communities as a new version of themselves – an author.

Brené Brown reminds us that vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change. By moving through the book launch as the culminating ordeal, authors demonstrate the courage to walk the hero’s path. Their willingness to remain vulnerable blesses the world with their most authentic, impactful messages.

Becoming the Hero of Your Book Journey

Our writing advice culminates with this: consciously choose to become the hero of your own book’s journey. This intentional mindset shift allows you to harness the transformative power of the monomyth framework.

A. Identifying Your Dominant Thoughts and Mantras

Start by getting radically honest with yourself about the thoughts and internal narratives currently driving your process. If we checked in hourly, what would be the dominant refrains? “This is too hard” or “I don’t know if I can do this”? Those are tales distracting you from your heroic path.

Instead, install mantras that reinforce your identity as the protagonist. “This is much harder than I expected, and that’s okay” or “I don’t know how, but I will find a way to make this happen.” Let these affirmations counteract the negative mantras and realign you with your heroic editorial quest.

B. Practical Ways to Live as the Author You Aspire to Be

Thinking is just the start – you must też embody the archetypal change you desire through actions. Invest in the tools and habits that will make you feel like a published author in the present.

Order professional headshots and book-signing pens. Schedule practice interviews and workshop rehearsals. Build a ceremonial bookcase or altar to house and honor your upcoming book. Join associations and attend events where published authors gather.

Each small ritual reinforces your belief that you are not just aspiring, but already occupying the identity you were born to inhabit. Those around you will take their cues from your conviction. Author the story you want to live into.

Conclusion: Asking the Empowering Question

Our final, most vital writing advice? Adopt this mindset-altering question as your centering mantra: “If I were the hero of my book journey, what would I be doing right now?”

Let the answer guide your next courageous step. Order those business cards for upcoming speaking gigs. Secure your domain name. Break through that creative block.

The journey will remain arduous, but embracing the hero’s path provides the fuel to keep showing up, outer and inner critics be damned. You were born for this quest – trust the process, and claim the author’s life you’re meant to live.

READ MORE: 8 Writing Tips to Finally Finish Your Book