In addition to writing for clients, I have spent the last few months working on my first novel. At the beginning of my writing process, I had a recurring dream in which I discovered an unknown section of my home—a huge, neglected room that I had forgotten existed. I learned in one of my Novelry classes that this dream symbolizes the exploration of untapped elements of self, including hidden potential. Exploring this “room” has been joyful and cathartic. I feel more like myself than I have in a long time. No matter what happens with my first manuscript, I will continue to write novels. I’m not going to lie, I desperately want to get something published. But, as they say, it is the process or journey that is the valuable bit. I am trying to savor the experience of creating, rather than fixating on the outcome or destination.

Should you be thinking about exploring a creative dream of any kind—your own unexplored room—consider this unsolicited, super simple but effective advice:

• Trust yourself. I don’t think you’d be desperately wanting to pursue something you weren’t equipped to achieve. Listen to the voice inside you.
• Learn about others’ creative processes. You will pick up on common threads that will inspire you and validate your own experience. Consider reading “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. It’s a little “woo-woo,” but you will get something from it.
• Be consistent. Person #1 is the best writer in the world and doesn’t make time to write. Person #2 is an okay writer and works on their craft daily… who do you think succeeds?
• “Commit to a body of work.” I heard filmmaker Robert Rodriguez say that on a podcast, and it stuck with me. Don’t live or die by the success or failure of a particular project. Make many things.

I will leave you with two quotes, the first of which is cited in Novelry coursework:

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
–George R.R. Martin

“What you seek is seeking you.”
-Rumi