Is Your Soul Longing to Write a Book? It’s Time!

If you’re called to write a book, the world is asking you to respond.

What thoughts arise when you focus on that book that you feel called to write?

I am not a good enough writer.

Everything worth saying has already been written.

I don’t know how.

I am the author of 40 non-fiction books. Despite my track record, I get it. Every time I sign a contract for a new book, a little voice starts grumbling. Up come the doubts. Fortunately, I recognize them for what they are.

There is the voice of my father, who quit a beloved job at NASA because he didn’t think he’d make enough money at it. There are statements from my mother, who used to say that I wasn’t creative enough to be an author. The echoes of our history resound every time we take a risk — especially when the summoning is soul-deep and profoundly inspirational.

These days, many therapists label these pesky opinions “Automatic Negative Thoughts,” or ANTs. They picnic on the banquets of dysfunctional beliefs that live inside most of us. ANTs specialize on interpreting situations in upsetting ways. By the time they have finished munching, they — we — have talked ourselves out of stepping forward.

Devious as the ANTs are, they aren’t accurate. Still, when they start creeping around, it’s difficult to remember that a thought or belief is only an opinion; nothing more and nothing less.

ANTs might seem all-powerful, but they are merely symptoms of old fears, shame, and grief. When it comes to writing, I’ve made peace with the main origin causing the ANTs about authorship.

My mother wanted to be an author her entire life but could never complete a writing project. She justified that by stating that her time was absorbed raising her three daughters. When she turned 86, I was pretty much over her excuse, yet she was still editing the same 30 essays about growing up on the prairie during the Depression she’d been working on for decades. She wasn’t too happy when I insisted it was time to get that book done. Of course, she probably reacted to how I phrased it, as I said like, “Mom, you’re going to be dead soon enough and then when will you finish this book?” But she let me hire an editor for her and move her book over the self-publishing finishing line.

You should have seen her face every time she signed a book for a fan.

These days, I recognize my self-critical thoughts about writing as symptoms of my mother’s disbelief in herself. Those ANTs dwelled inside of her before they proliferated inside of me. It’s a funny thing, though. Our resistance to a summons to write are beautiful opportunities to heal from the inside to the out and move from fear to compassion.

I now bless my mother every time that inner voice grumbles.

If you have a book inside, I believe with my entire heart that you deserve and need to write it. In fact, I would suggest that its creation is necessary to fulfill your destiny. I know that every book I’ve birthed was first carried by my soul. Every word typed was a laugh, cry, statement, shout, whisper, or revelation transferred from the heavens into this earth by my soul. Every share was a service offered to this world. Every attempt at phrasing a sentence just so — even the rewrites — blew away a few dark clouds.

If you are called to bring a book through, I would suggest that the world itself is asking you to respond. No matter how many books have been written, only you can arrange words in the specific and special order that will compose the prayer for the planet that will be your book.

It’s also smart to have a strategy for getting yourself through the fog of doubt.

Personally, I’ve developed my own tried-and-true method. I developed it years ago and it really works for me. It’s a chakra-based approach that brings my creative voice on-line and helps me block-bust.

(I can hear you thinking. Chakras? What do they have to do with writing?)

I work with a 12-chakra system that I developed decades ago. Chakras, the topic of many of my books, are subtle energy centers that each manage a specific set of physical, psychological, and spiritual functions. Each is like a unique box of Crayola crayons.

Basically, I believe that our soul shines strongest through a specific chakra. When we center in that chakra and use its strengths to start and continue a creative process, we can most fearlessly and joyfully succeed at writing. My fiercest chakra is the first, which is a red energy center in the hips.

A first chakra person is motivated by physicality and security. We first chakra-people aren’t going to accomplish a darn thing by emoting, self-affirmations, or getting out the calendar. We must act.

In other words, no matter the writing task ahead — starting, editing, tearing up pages, starting over — I simply do.

I sit down and write, even if what comes out is gibberish, which is not uncommon.

My children can tell you their own stories about being raised by a single mom who carried — and still carries — a laptop everywhere. My favorite strategy with my youngest was to grab him and a bunch of his friends and hang out at Best Buy for a couple of hours. During the couple of hours that they would be lost in the maze of geekiness, I would sit at the front of the store and type away. Win-win!

I got endless sentences sculpted at baseball games, mainly because my youngest son was a pitcher. Since he only got up once or twice a weekend, I’d sit under the stadium awnings and type away until it was his turn on the mound. Then there were rugby, football, soccer, and hockey games — and these incredible electrical warming gloves that made my task possible.

Of course, my kids often wondered whether I paid attention to them at all. My oldest son once asked why he could see a lit computer screen at a choir concert. “M-om, no one else does things like that.”

Do you want to write your book? Decide that you will heed the call of your soul. Embrace the ANTs and do as the ant creatures do. Go after what you want! Consider if you can pull from a chakra to support yourself. Here is a short description of the specialty of each chakra.

First Just act

Second Feel into it

Third Get thee a good calendar

Fourth Have a friend help

Fifth Sing, chat, affirm

Sixth See it done and dress the part while writing

Seventh Let the Spirit help

Eighth Connect with otherworldly guides

Ninth Harmonize with your future readers

Tenth Write in Nature

Eleventh Use your willpower

Twelfth You have a unique gift no one else has; uncover it

If your soul has been summoned to create, you’ve discovered an essential life purpose. The path of creation is one of self-healing, a journey into believing, but also a process for giving to others.

Cyndi goes deeper into the Energetic Writing Method in her exclusive online event with The Shift Network. Learn more here.

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Cyndi Dale is an internationally renowned author, intuitive coach, and energy healer. Her groundbreaking books on chakras and intuition include The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy, Advanced Chakra Healing, Energy Wellness for Your Pet, Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Chakras, Awaken Clairvoyant Energy, and Energy Healing for Trauma, Stress & Chronic Illness. She is passionate about helping people open their “essential energy” — the powers and perspectives unique to them — and believes that once an individual understands their own essence, they can tap into the energies of and beyond the world.