The Empowered Writer Path: Being
We made it to the final stage of the Empowered Writer Path: Being. This stage is the most abstract of all the stages because it’s all about living in and with the learning, healing, and doing stages.
The more times we cycle through these stages, the longer and more adept we become in noticing which stage we’re in and how we can best leverage it. The being stage cements so much of our confidence and advocacy for our creative tendencies.
What is the Being stage?
I like to think of the being stage as fluid and ever-evolving. There have been “quiet” stages of my path where my focus was on strengthening my commitment and craft. I’ve also experienced “loud” stages, which, to me, are when you want to share everything you’ve learned along the way with others. And, of course, I’ve had lots of being stages that were between both of those ends of the spectrum.
But what tells me I’m in a being stage is when I’m filled with creative energy that extends beyond myself and onto others. It’s the electric charge of having conversations with like-minded creative people. It’s the charge of teaching a concept to help others understand the power they can create using it. It’s the feeling of “I’ve found my people, and they get this crazy, creative, chaotic life I live.”
So in a way, it’s very hard to pin down what exactly the being stage is… but that’s always the beauty of it. You get to decide what it means to be in this stage for yourself.
What are some ways to enter the Being stage?
Going Deeper
There’s always room for improvement, and there’s always more to the craft that lives beneath the surface. It’s in the being stage that you’re offered an opportunity to go deeper on a particular aspect of your craft.
This could look like picking a particular weakness of yours and committing to working on it (for me, I spent an entire being stage working on third person POV)
This could look like studying others whose works you admire or love and discovering why you love them so much and how you can do it too
This could look like taking classes to further strengthen your craft
Teaching
Do you have a passion for teaching? Do you have a knack for something in particular that other writers seem to struggle with? Or are you just super passionate about writing and have an idea of something you’d like to teach on? This is such a beautiful way to give back during the being stages.
This could look like offering a free or mini course or lesson
This could look like offering something much bigger like a course, workshop, or class
This could look like offering something in person at your local community center or youth centers
Combining Creative Projects
I love the being stage for this exact reason — combining writing with other creative projects. Once you feel comfortable in the being stage, one of the best things you can do to expand is get uncomfortable. I know, crazy, right? But it works.
This could look like combining your writing with mixed media
This could look like reading a chapter of something you’ve written to a group of people (or a party of one!)
This could look like repurposing your writing in any way (song lyrics? slam poetry? a painting?)
My Resources:
I will shamelessly plug my writing-focused community here not just because I think it’s fabulous but because it is essential to my own being stage. Having a place to talk about writing, to discuss the struggles or highlights has been highly influential in my prolific writing and dedication to a writing practice. If you want to see what The Write Minded Community is all about, I invite you to join us for a month free.
Interested in seeing how writing and tarot cards can bring magic to your writing practice? Check out my Fiction and Tarot self-paced course — I teach you how to use tarot cards to enhance your fiction writing practices.
