My Writing Process (and How I Write SO MUCH)


October 1, 2014

A common question from clients, members, and fellow entrepreneurial friends is, “what’s your writing process?” Or, “how do you manage to write so much?”

There’s been many times I’ve also wondered how I manage to write so much. I’ve also battled with the fear that I’m going to run out of things to say. I write daily Awesome Life Tips, at least one blog post a week (now up to three a week), guest posts from time to time, content for products and programs (Your Passion Based Business alone was almost 50,000 words), posts for our private Facebook group, and posts for my Facebook page and promotions.

I write a lot.

Something I’ve talked about before is my belief in being a channel or a vessel. Most of what I write I feel is literally channeled through me onto the page, and is often for me as much as it is for you. I believe in divine inspiration from the Universe or some higher power, because there are things I don’t remember writing, should have no way of knowing for myself based on my current life experiences, or feel like clear messages TO ME based on what’s happening in my life. I’ve actually written posts furiously as they channeled through me, only to lose them in a tech glitch. While I remember the core message, I can’t seem to rewrite them because they weren’t “mine” to begin with and it would feel like trying to rewrite someone else’s article based on memory.

Here’s what my writing process looks like:

1) Everything starts with a simple nugget.

All my life, I’ve received divine inspiration in the form of simple nuggets. These nuggets could be one verse for a poem, a blog post title that sums up the idea for me, a simple truth, etc. It’s literally a flash and I have to immediately capture it. I do this by jotting notes down on my phone, sending myself an email, or scribbling it down on whatever I can find. Thankfully for me, not much more is required to effectively save the idea. Sometimes I’ll add a few sub points that I need to capture if the idea is literally unraveling on it’s own from the simple nugget, but more often than not I remember. The essence of the inspired idea and work it will result in is captured in that simple nugget (or acorn if you will).

2) I unravel it from there.

Like I just said, some ideas aren’t tightly wound and will unravel on their own a bit, resulting in a main nugget idea with a few bullet point thoughts outlined below it. Very rarely, it unravels immediately and I will literally pour out a blog post in a matter of minutes, barely able to keep up with the words flowing through me. In those instances, I would never be able to replicate that post if I lost it, nor does it require any editing at all. Purely divine in my opinion. 🙂

Other times when I’m not immediately inspired, I look through all my saved nuggets and choose the one that most resonates in that moment. I never force myself to write if I’m not inspired, which is why every now and then I don’t post a blog for a week or more. If a post inspires me, I sit with the idea for a moment and just start writing. I try to just get everything down on the page in the first pass and then revise and rework from there.

3) I have someone else read it.

Once it’s written, I send it off to Amy to edit for me, because I’m terrible at editing and even just remembering to run spell check. She will let me know if something’s confusing and check for typos and grammar errors before publishing it to my site or elsewhere.

That’s it.

That’s my process. Inspiration, unraveling, editing. Oh, and putting it out there. 🙂 Whether it’s my Awesome Life Tips or a blog post, this is my process. When I used to write poetry, this was my process (minus step three because I was super shy and private then).

Because I know that’s not really helpful, here’s what I believe allows me to follow such a simple process and produce so many words each year:

I allow divine inspiration into my life.

Instead of putting all the pressure on myself to create, I allow divine inspiration to play a role in my work. I’m highly in tune with my intuition, soul, and the flow of the world.  That makes me in tune with those inspired hits when they happen. I try to do things like go for long drives on an open road, take walks, go for a run, or anything else that I know will put me in the prime state for receiving divine downloads. If I have to write about something specific, like a guest post for a certain audience, I sit with that focus and stay open to what comes.

I allow everything in life to be my muse.

Life is my muse. Every weekly Awesome Life Tip is directly inspired by my personal struggles, relationships, things my friends or clients have said, challenges and interactions I’ve witnessed, and anything I’ve felt or observed. Life is my muse and that’s made all the difference. I’m not looking at what other people are writing about, I’m focused on what life is asking and inspiring me to write about. I’m focused on what I’m feeling and what guidance I’m receiving from the Universe.

I consistently show up to write and create.

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.” – This is one of my favorite quotes ever, and it’s from Picasso. It’s so true. As I said, I’ve often wondered how on earth I manage to write so much and have feared the day when I’ve “used it all up.” But that hasn’t happened yet… in fact, I’ve become more inspired and had so much more to say! The reason is that I consistently show up to write and create. I also keep myself and my practice structured. I write three blog posts a week, two behind the scenes posts a month, and created a pretty crazy calendar for what I’ll create for you in Mastery. By doing this, I create the needed structure and deadlines to keep moving forward rather than just saying “I’ll write when I’m inspired.” The more I write, the more I’m inspired, the more I produce. Simple.

What questions can I answer for you?

If you have any specific questions about the tools I use, my process, or how I get inspired, please ask away! I’m happy to clarify or expand on any of this. 🙂



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