I attended the PNWA writers conference earlier this month, where I sat on the editors’ panel and answered questions (along with six other editors) from an audience of 400+ writers and aspiring authors.
I was inspired to write about this topic this month because of how many questions were about trying to get to the root of how a project ought to be labeled. Among them: What’s the difference between high-concept and low-concept? What’s the difference between commercial and literary fiction? Am I writing creative nonfiction or narrative nonfiction? What’s a hybrid?
This has everything to do with category, which is a critical thing you need to know before you approach a publisher with a book idea. If you don’t know what category your book falls into, walk into your local bookstore and figure out where your book would be shelved if it were there. If it straddles two categories, that’s okay. You might well be writing a hybrid.
But back to the questions asked by the audience, which I’m going to answer here because I think the answers are worth sharing.
What’s the difference between high-concept and low-concept?
The answer to this one came from Rose Hilliard* at St. Martin's Press (and I’m paraphrasing all answers). Rose gave the example of a novel she acquired about women who get sick of doing all the work at Christmastime and decide to go on strike. That’s an example of a high-concept book. In a single sentence you can imagine how this novel will capture its intended audience’s attention.
So what’s low-concept? Rose followed up with an example that went something like this: The protagonist commits a crime and so he has to go back to his hometown and connect with his family, and from there he meets a bunch of guys who are up to no good. And then those guys decide to go to France and take the protagonist with them, where he gets mixed up in some stuff he shouldn’t be mixed up in because he’s trying to get away from all that. You get the picture, right? After two run-on sentences, we’re not hooked. There’s no sense of what the book’s about.
So is it important to have a high-concept book if you want to get a publishing deal? Not necessarily. Some low-concept books are simply too complex to be captured by a quick get-to-the-point pitch. And that's perfectly okay---and a beautiful segue into the section question:
What’s the difference between commercial and literary fiction?
The answer to this one came from Katie K. Gilligan* at Thomas Dunne Books. She’s a runner, and so she told the audience that this is how it breaks down. If she’s able to read a book while running on the treadmill and it keeps her attention, that’s a commercial book. If there’s no possible way she can read on the treadmill because she needs to curl up on the couch with a glass of wine to really enjoy the prose, that’s a literary book. I loved this distinction.
As a side note, there’s also such a thing as commercial and literary nonfiction. It’s a little different only because commercial nonfiction is usually high-concept. These are books you might find at Chronicle Books, for instance. A book like The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook is a great example because it’s fun, full of cool and funny anecdotes, and it makes you want to pick it up and buy it as a gift. Commercial. A good example of literary nonfiction is almost always going to be a memoir, or a biography that’s beautifully told. Examples of literary memoir abound, but as an example I offer The Story of My Father, by Sue Miller, who’s a novelist. And a literary novelist at that.
And so to the next question:
Am I writing creative nonfiction or narrative nonfiction?
This was the one I took. I said there was no difference, though some disagreement followed. The biggest issue where creative nonfiction is concerned is the word “creative,” which really, when you think about it, doesn’t jive with “nonfiction.” Creative implies creating things out of your mind while nonfiction implies truth. Of course, memoir is creative nonfiction because no one is capable of remembering the exact details of what happened to them when they were five years old. If you think Running with Scissors and The Glass Castle are examples of authors will phenomenal memories, well…. I’ve heard Augusten Burroughs does have a fantastic memory, but even still. For an in-depth read on the variations of creative nonfiction, I highly recommend “The Meandering River: An Overview of the Subgenres of Creative Nonfiction,” by Sue William Silverman.
And finally, what is a hybrid?
A hybrid is a book that straddles more than one category. Practical nonfiction is often hybrid in nature because it’s prescriptive nonfiction, but the narrator’s voice is key. Oftentimes these books are memoir in nature because they tell stories about the authors’ experiences. Smart Women Finish Rich is a good example of this. It’s clearly a prescriptive book meant to help women understand their finances and money issues, but it’s also very full of the author’s personal story, as well as the story of women he’s helped. Eat, Pray, Love is another. It’s memoir, but it’s shelved in travel. This oftentimes happens because publishers want to keep books out of memoir whenever possible. Why? Simply because it’s an overcrowded shelf. If you’re writing a memoir, don’t despair. It’s not a bad thing. But if you’re writing a memoir about sports, travel, food, a personality disorder, you name it, you’re better off positioning yourself in the sports, travel, food, or psychology category when pitching your book to an agent or publisher. It’s just another one of the quirks of this industry.
That’s it for now, though hey, if you have a question about category or terminology, leave it in the comments section and I’ll happily respond.
*Editor bios for those of us who attended the conference can be found here.
Until next month.
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
August 15, 2009
July 10, 2009
too many cooks!
It's July, so I'm keeping it short as I prep for my upcoming week off.
Being that July is a season of BBQs and outdoor eating, this month's topic takes a look at what happens when there are too many cooks in the kitchen. This is a common creative trapping, one I see all the time with my authors who show their chapters, book covers, titles, catalog materials---you name it---to their friends, family, writers' groups, and other trusted allies.
Having too many cooks in the kitchen only works when you know who the kitchen boss is. And when you're writing a book, you're always the kitchen boss. Last month I had at least four writers realize that some essential ideas and concept for a piece of their writing had gotten lost in the overwhelming rewrite that followed a critique or feedback from one of the aforementioned trusted allies. Whether these people have your best intentions at heart is inconsequential. If you want to write, you've gotta know when to take feedback and when to say no thank you.
This particular knowing is just like cooking a burger. Leave it on too long and you'll have a burnt-to-the-crisp patty that no one wants to touch. Don't leave it on long enough and you're gonna have a bloody burger that's probably not fit to eat. It's the same with writing: Let it be overcritiqued and reworked to the degree that you don't recognize it anymore and you've gone too far; don't accept any editorial feedback and turning the other way when someone offers you legitimate advice, and you're left with something that could have used a little more cooking. It's not easy. It takes practice. And it takes working with people you really trust to give you consistent, solid feedback that's not about coopting your work or turning it into something it was never meant to be in the first place.
The first step toward getting those perfectly cooked burgers, though, is remembering who's boss.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
Being that July is a season of BBQs and outdoor eating, this month's topic takes a look at what happens when there are too many cooks in the kitchen. This is a common creative trapping, one I see all the time with my authors who show their chapters, book covers, titles, catalog materials---you name it---to their friends, family, writers' groups, and other trusted allies.
Having too many cooks in the kitchen only works when you know who the kitchen boss is. And when you're writing a book, you're always the kitchen boss. Last month I had at least four writers realize that some essential ideas and concept for a piece of their writing had gotten lost in the overwhelming rewrite that followed a critique or feedback from one of the aforementioned trusted allies. Whether these people have your best intentions at heart is inconsequential. If you want to write, you've gotta know when to take feedback and when to say no thank you.
This particular knowing is just like cooking a burger. Leave it on too long and you'll have a burnt-to-the-crisp patty that no one wants to touch. Don't leave it on long enough and you're gonna have a bloody burger that's probably not fit to eat. It's the same with writing: Let it be overcritiqued and reworked to the degree that you don't recognize it anymore and you've gone too far; don't accept any editorial feedback and turning the other way when someone offers you legitimate advice, and you're left with something that could have used a little more cooking. It's not easy. It takes practice. And it takes working with people you really trust to give you consistent, solid feedback that's not about coopting your work or turning it into something it was never meant to be in the first place.
The first step toward getting those perfectly cooked burgers, though, is remembering who's boss.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
June 9, 2009
new media and the future of book publishing
I’ve been going to BookExpo America for close to a decade. It's a huge convention filled---for one weekend every year---with people whose life pursuit is all about The Book. Once you've gone for a year or two (particularly if you're working), it's easy to forget how glamorous and intriguing it seems to the outside world. (After all, Kathy Lee Gifford and Eduardo Galleano were in our booth this year.) For the past few years I’ve suffered through BEA rather than really enjoy it. A fellow editor captured the typical mood for those of us who spend the whole weekend working the convention floor when, in response to my question, “How was BEA for you this year?” he answered, “Both invigorating and depressing---as usual.”
This year, I have something different to offer. A bit of hope. The book business is still thriving and getting published doesn’t need to feel like an elusive dream. However, for those in the business, comfortable with a certain model and hoping against hope that we can turn this tide and go back to the old ways of doing business, the news is not so upbeat. Publishing is changing. But in my mind, this is a good thing.
The most interesting part of the Expo to me, aside from scoping out the competition, was new media. There are amazing services that promise to revolutionize publishing. (And yes, threaten the status quo and upset paper-lovers who think the Kindle is the Devil.) I have a Kindle, and I love it.
One cool new Amazon service is Create Space, a self-publishing tool that looks like a good alternative to Lulu. Self-publishing, in fact, was the most improved service offering at the show. No longer is it the maligned pitiful creature it once was----in part because of online marketers like Amazon that allow you to distribute your book on their sites. With print-on-demand (POD), no one has to warehouse your book. No one is going to inform you that they’re pulping your entire inventory unless you can buy all the stock at cost. Not only are these services smart, they’re offering another small step toward saving the planet.
I will say this: I am an optimist. There are people in publishing (and lots of everyday Luddites who fear that the printed word will disappear) who don’t like what new media promises to do to the industry. There are authors, too, who wouldn’t dream of self-publishing---and I understand that. DIY publishing is no small undertaking, after all. Self-publishing is to book publishing what blogging is to the news industry. Anyone can publish, and some stuff is better than others and so it falls on the consumer to figure out what’s good and what’s bad. Which is an exercise in subjectivity, clearly. And this model takes control away from the Decision-Makers (people like me who make our living deciding what’s fit to be published on our respective lists). Lots of Decision-Makers do not like it and want it to stop. In an April decree on Publishers Weekly, Jonathan Karp, celebrated publisher of Twelve, wrote about all the ways publishers need to do publishing better so that Decision-Makers like us can continue to control what gets published. The article is an excellent example of paternalism at its worst in that he exerts it’s the responsibility of the publishing industry to undo what’s not ours to control. (To me it also echoes the CBS exec who offered his assessment of the bloggers who were damaging his news team as a “guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing what he thinks.”) And he doesn’t take into account all that’s brilliant about the changes in the industry. Just as the music industry has summarily freaked out over the impact of the Internet on music, so too has the publishing industry reacted to new media.
New media has been featured at BEA for years, but never has it been so front and center, occupying good floor space and commanding a different type of attention. Maybe it’s Amazon and their ability to convince readers (even book lovers who like to stick their noses in the spines of new books) that they can and want to read on e-readers. Or maybe it’s just the sea change in the public’s attitude toward self-publishing and POD and e-products. Bottom line: There’s more digital everything. And for writers, this is a good thing. It opens up the possibility for you to say yes before you say no---or to say yes after you’ve heard no---and encourages you to be open to all the possible roads you might walk down when exploring your publishing options.
I left BEA this year feeling invigorated, like my colleague in Seattle, but far less depressed than I’ve felt in past years. Maybe it’s my own shift in perspective. A reframing that’s been needing to happen. That instead of buying into the idea that we’re somehow witnessing something in dire need of fixing, perhaps we’re instead experiencing a new beginning that we can only truly understand when we stop reacting and start asking ourselves what's possible.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
This year, I have something different to offer. A bit of hope. The book business is still thriving and getting published doesn’t need to feel like an elusive dream. However, for those in the business, comfortable with a certain model and hoping against hope that we can turn this tide and go back to the old ways of doing business, the news is not so upbeat. Publishing is changing. But in my mind, this is a good thing.
The most interesting part of the Expo to me, aside from scoping out the competition, was new media. There are amazing services that promise to revolutionize publishing. (And yes, threaten the status quo and upset paper-lovers who think the Kindle is the Devil.) I have a Kindle, and I love it.
One cool new Amazon service is Create Space, a self-publishing tool that looks like a good alternative to Lulu. Self-publishing, in fact, was the most improved service offering at the show. No longer is it the maligned pitiful creature it once was----in part because of online marketers like Amazon that allow you to distribute your book on their sites. With print-on-demand (POD), no one has to warehouse your book. No one is going to inform you that they’re pulping your entire inventory unless you can buy all the stock at cost. Not only are these services smart, they’re offering another small step toward saving the planet.
I will say this: I am an optimist. There are people in publishing (and lots of everyday Luddites who fear that the printed word will disappear) who don’t like what new media promises to do to the industry. There are authors, too, who wouldn’t dream of self-publishing---and I understand that. DIY publishing is no small undertaking, after all. Self-publishing is to book publishing what blogging is to the news industry. Anyone can publish, and some stuff is better than others and so it falls on the consumer to figure out what’s good and what’s bad. Which is an exercise in subjectivity, clearly. And this model takes control away from the Decision-Makers (people like me who make our living deciding what’s fit to be published on our respective lists). Lots of Decision-Makers do not like it and want it to stop. In an April decree on Publishers Weekly, Jonathan Karp, celebrated publisher of Twelve, wrote about all the ways publishers need to do publishing better so that Decision-Makers like us can continue to control what gets published. The article is an excellent example of paternalism at its worst in that he exerts it’s the responsibility of the publishing industry to undo what’s not ours to control. (To me it also echoes the CBS exec who offered his assessment of the bloggers who were damaging his news team as a “guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing what he thinks.”) And he doesn’t take into account all that’s brilliant about the changes in the industry. Just as the music industry has summarily freaked out over the impact of the Internet on music, so too has the publishing industry reacted to new media.
New media has been featured at BEA for years, but never has it been so front and center, occupying good floor space and commanding a different type of attention. Maybe it’s Amazon and their ability to convince readers (even book lovers who like to stick their noses in the spines of new books) that they can and want to read on e-readers. Or maybe it’s just the sea change in the public’s attitude toward self-publishing and POD and e-products. Bottom line: There’s more digital everything. And for writers, this is a good thing. It opens up the possibility for you to say yes before you say no---or to say yes after you’ve heard no---and encourages you to be open to all the possible roads you might walk down when exploring your publishing options.
I left BEA this year feeling invigorated, like my colleague in Seattle, but far less depressed than I’ve felt in past years. Maybe it’s my own shift in perspective. A reframing that’s been needing to happen. That instead of buying into the idea that we’re somehow witnessing something in dire need of fixing, perhaps we’re instead experiencing a new beginning that we can only truly understand when we stop reacting and start asking ourselves what's possible.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
May 11, 2009
Going Back to School
Getting published doesn’t have to be hard or scary. The easiest way to understand it is to think of it like schools---and like getting into school. Not everyone expects to get into Harvard. Similarly, not every writer should expect to get a six-figure advance and get published with a major New York publishing house.
When you’re trying to figure out what school to go to, you have your long shots, those programs you really want to get into because they’re a perfect match, and your back-ups. As is the case when you apply to undergraduate programs, what you want is probably going to vary dramatically from your peers and colleagues. For instance, just because Dartmouth has an excellent reputation doesn’t mean that that’s the school for you. For instance, maybe you knew you would benefit from smaller class sizes, so you really wanted to go to a liberal arts school. Publishing has these tiers, too: they’re called small presses.
So how do you mentally prepare yourself for diving into all of this? After all, when you were in high school you had guidance counselors to help you navigate the college system. You probably had a sense of where you could and couldn’t go based on money, GPA, and/or SAT scores. But now you’re an adult and you want to shop your book project. So where to start?
Make a list of what’s important to you. Is it money? Acclaim? Having a say? Just getting published anywhere?
Next answer this: Were you the type of student who was willing to pursue your education no matter what? If you couldn’t get in to your first- or second-tier schools, were you willing to accept junior college as an alternative? If so, you might be a candidate for self-publishing. Sure, you might not want to consider this until you get back notice that you haven’t been accepted into the big leagues. But it’s good to know before you even get started whether or not it’s an option.
It’s also important to consider these questions before you’re too far along in the process in part because of a little thing called managing your expectations. There’s a whole industry out there, and then there’s you. You might be talented and feel like this article doesn’t even apply to you. You might catch a lucky break. You might sign with an agent who loves your work. They might sell your book straight out the gate for five figures or more. Or they might not. They might sit on your project, unable to sell it for years. Or, you might pursue a publisher yourself and get immediate feedback that your work is directly in line with what they do and they can’t wait to sign you. Or you might receive rejection letter after rejection letter and feel like you want to give up.
The reason I include the worst-case scenarios here is because I firmly believe that if you have the conviction to get published, you can get published. Just like schools, there’s a place for everyone. And just like undergraduate programs, not everybody can get into Harvard or Yale. But that doesn’t lessen the value of state schools or junior colleges.
So hang in there if you’re contemplating shopping a book. Aim for the stars, but have your back-ups, too. Having an action plan in place before you start can help you better deal with the inevitable rejections and keep you in the driver’s seat when you’re pursuing this important dream!
If you found this post interesting and want to learn more about how publishing works, check out Putting Your Passion Into Print, by Arielle Eckstut and David Sterry. Or comment below and start a conversation about what you’d like to know. With ten years in the industry, I’m happy to lend insight to this very subjective and complicated-to-navigate industry.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
When you’re trying to figure out what school to go to, you have your long shots, those programs you really want to get into because they’re a perfect match, and your back-ups. As is the case when you apply to undergraduate programs, what you want is probably going to vary dramatically from your peers and colleagues. For instance, just because Dartmouth has an excellent reputation doesn’t mean that that’s the school for you. For instance, maybe you knew you would benefit from smaller class sizes, so you really wanted to go to a liberal arts school. Publishing has these tiers, too: they’re called small presses.
So how do you mentally prepare yourself for diving into all of this? After all, when you were in high school you had guidance counselors to help you navigate the college system. You probably had a sense of where you could and couldn’t go based on money, GPA, and/or SAT scores. But now you’re an adult and you want to shop your book project. So where to start?
Make a list of what’s important to you. Is it money? Acclaim? Having a say? Just getting published anywhere?
Next answer this: Were you the type of student who was willing to pursue your education no matter what? If you couldn’t get in to your first- or second-tier schools, were you willing to accept junior college as an alternative? If so, you might be a candidate for self-publishing. Sure, you might not want to consider this until you get back notice that you haven’t been accepted into the big leagues. But it’s good to know before you even get started whether or not it’s an option.
It’s also important to consider these questions before you’re too far along in the process in part because of a little thing called managing your expectations. There’s a whole industry out there, and then there’s you. You might be talented and feel like this article doesn’t even apply to you. You might catch a lucky break. You might sign with an agent who loves your work. They might sell your book straight out the gate for five figures or more. Or they might not. They might sit on your project, unable to sell it for years. Or, you might pursue a publisher yourself and get immediate feedback that your work is directly in line with what they do and they can’t wait to sign you. Or you might receive rejection letter after rejection letter and feel like you want to give up.
The reason I include the worst-case scenarios here is because I firmly believe that if you have the conviction to get published, you can get published. Just like schools, there’s a place for everyone. And just like undergraduate programs, not everybody can get into Harvard or Yale. But that doesn’t lessen the value of state schools or junior colleges.
So hang in there if you’re contemplating shopping a book. Aim for the stars, but have your back-ups, too. Having an action plan in place before you start can help you better deal with the inevitable rejections and keep you in the driver’s seat when you’re pursuing this important dream!
If you found this post interesting and want to learn more about how publishing works, check out Putting Your Passion Into Print, by Arielle Eckstut and David Sterry. Or comment below and start a conversation about what you’d like to know. With ten years in the industry, I’m happy to lend insight to this very subjective and complicated-to-navigate industry.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
April 13, 2009
Enneatyping Your Way to Being the Best Writer You Can Be
I’ve been a huge enneagram fan for a few years now. It first blew my mind because of how closely my own type description mirrored the way I am. Then it helped me in my understanding of others and the way each of us is driven---and similarly paralyzed and triggered---according to the virtues and passions of our type. According to Sandra Maitri’s The Enneagram of Passions and Virtues our virtues and passions are both motivating forces that stem from our inner attitudes. They are the light and the dark, in that our virtues are driven by feeling into our true nature, our sense of who we are when we’re aligned with Soul, while our passions are driven by attempts to fill a void and are present when we’re aligned with Ego.
Understanding your virtues and your passions is a crash course to beginning to understand what motivates you and what keeps you stuck. If you don’t already know your type, you might be able to determine it just by seeing which type listed below most fits your sense of who you are. If you’re intrigued, I encourage you to take the test.
One (The Reformer): "I perfect, therefore I am."
Ones are dutiful, principled, self-doubting, see things in black and white terms
Virtue: Serenity
Passion: Anger
Two (The Helper): "I love, therefore I am."
Twos are emotional, empathetic, proud, lose self by taking care of others
Virtue: Humility
Passion: Pride
Three (The Motivator): "I succeed, therefore I am."
Threes are workaholics, driven, vain, succeed at any price
Virtue: Veracity
Passion: Deceit
Four (The Individualist): "I suffer, therefore I am."
Fours are passionate, desire to be authentic, moody, stuck in melancholy
Virtue: Equanimity
Passion: Envy
Five (The Investigator): "I think, therefore I am."
Fives are observant, independent, self-depriving, reserved
Virtue: Nonattachment
Passion: Avarice
Six (The Loyalist): "I doubt, therefore I am."
Sixes are loyal, suspicious, self-doubting, fearful
Virtue: Courage
Passion: Fear
Seven (The Enthusiast): "I enjoy, therefore I am."
Sevens are enthusiastic, self-indulgent, dilettantish, scattered
Virtue: Sobriety
Passion: Gluttony
Eight (The Leader): "I dominate, therefore I am."
Eights are leaders, forceful, impulsive, power-seeking
Virtue: Innocence
Passion: Lust
Nine (The Peacemaker): "I connect, therefore I am."
Nines are accepting, generous, distractible, indecisive
Virtue: Action
Passion: Indolence
Your virtues are those things that bring you into alignment. They are the calling of your Soul. So a One will be operating at an optimal level when he or she is in touch with their Serenity; a Nine may realize that consistency of practice---Action---is needed in order to realize their potential; a Six will see great movement when in touch with Courage.
Alternately, your passions are “deficiency-motivated drives,” according to Naranjo, which, for many of us, are default modes. The Seven operating from a place of Gluttony can never get anything done because there are too many other things to distract her; the Two, flipping between her paradoxical belief that she’s better than others and not good enough, will never take the necessary steps to show her writing and to grow by exercising what she most needs: Humility.
This is profound work to consider, especially when you’re stuck. So go forth and familiarize yourself with your enneatype. It’s amazing personal-growth work, and it will help your writing.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
Understanding your virtues and your passions is a crash course to beginning to understand what motivates you and what keeps you stuck. If you don’t already know your type, you might be able to determine it just by seeing which type listed below most fits your sense of who you are. If you’re intrigued, I encourage you to take the test.
One (The Reformer): "I perfect, therefore I am."
Ones are dutiful, principled, self-doubting, see things in black and white terms
Virtue: Serenity
Passion: Anger
Two (The Helper): "I love, therefore I am."
Twos are emotional, empathetic, proud, lose self by taking care of others
Virtue: Humility
Passion: Pride
Three (The Motivator): "I succeed, therefore I am."
Threes are workaholics, driven, vain, succeed at any price
Virtue: Veracity
Passion: Deceit
Four (The Individualist): "I suffer, therefore I am."
Fours are passionate, desire to be authentic, moody, stuck in melancholy
Virtue: Equanimity
Passion: Envy
Five (The Investigator): "I think, therefore I am."
Fives are observant, independent, self-depriving, reserved
Virtue: Nonattachment
Passion: Avarice
Six (The Loyalist): "I doubt, therefore I am."
Sixes are loyal, suspicious, self-doubting, fearful
Virtue: Courage
Passion: Fear
Seven (The Enthusiast): "I enjoy, therefore I am."
Sevens are enthusiastic, self-indulgent, dilettantish, scattered
Virtue: Sobriety
Passion: Gluttony
Eight (The Leader): "I dominate, therefore I am."
Eights are leaders, forceful, impulsive, power-seeking
Virtue: Innocence
Passion: Lust
Nine (The Peacemaker): "I connect, therefore I am."
Nines are accepting, generous, distractible, indecisive
Virtue: Action
Passion: Indolence
Your virtues are those things that bring you into alignment. They are the calling of your Soul. So a One will be operating at an optimal level when he or she is in touch with their Serenity; a Nine may realize that consistency of practice---Action---is needed in order to realize their potential; a Six will see great movement when in touch with Courage.
Alternately, your passions are “deficiency-motivated drives,” according to Naranjo, which, for many of us, are default modes. The Seven operating from a place of Gluttony can never get anything done because there are too many other things to distract her; the Two, flipping between her paradoxical belief that she’s better than others and not good enough, will never take the necessary steps to show her writing and to grow by exercising what she most needs: Humility.
This is profound work to consider, especially when you’re stuck. So go forth and familiarize yourself with your enneatype. It’s amazing personal-growth work, and it will help your writing.
Until next month,
Brooke
GO BACK TO THE WARNER COACHING HOMEPAGE
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