Sue Johnson - Surfing the Rainbow: Visualisation and Chakra Balancing for Writers

Surfing the Rainbow

Visualization and Chakra Balancing for Writers

Sue Johnson

Winchester, UK
Washington, USA

First published by Compass Books, 2013

Compass Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK

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Text copyright: Sue Johnson 2012

ISBN: 978 1 78099 869 5

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of Sue Johnson as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design: Stuart Davies

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

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CONTENTS

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all my writing students past, present and future and for all those writers I will never meet who are travelling the same pathway.

Visualization a technique that involves focusing on positive mental images in order to achieve a particular goal.

Chakra any of the seven major energy centers in the body (from Sanskrit word meaning wheel or circle) They corre- spond to the colors of the rainbow with the base chakra (below the tail bone) being red and the crown chakra violet.

Introduction

Why I wrote Surfing The Rainbow

This book is for anyone who loves writing and wants their work to remain memorable in the hearts and minds of their readers.

It is for anyone who has tried and failed to create the novel of their dreams because the words they initially put on the page do not match the wonderful image in their head. It is for those who feel their writing lacks sparkle.

The book is for those who think their imagination disappeared when they grew up. It is the magic key for rediscovering the way to Storyland.

We are all born creative. The imaginary world of a child is a magical place where anything is possible. As we get older, many of us are pulled away from this world by well-meaning adults. Be sensible, we are told. Stop daydreaming.

Gradually the pathways to that wonderful place get overgrown. We dont go there any more. Our world becomes narrower. Ordinary. We tell ourselves we have no imagination.

Deep inside some of us the dream of writing a novel or becoming an artist or musician lives on a faint spark in the darkness. Ill write a novel when I retire, Ive heard people say. Ill start when Ive got time.

I wrote this book because I want everyone to know that it is never too early or too late to achieve your creative dreams and have a magical life. If you once had a lively imagination, then its still there somewhere. You just need to work at setting it free a bit like oiling a rusty tap so that the water can flow again.

Many good writers are held back by negative messages from the past, or they make the mistake of expecting perfection from a first draft and get disillusioned by Chapter Three when it all looks a bit of a mess. It is possible to challenge and overcome these blockages and move on to a more creative future.

Surfing The Rainbow is designed to guide writers along the path towards a completed first draft and enrich their lives with color, texture and magic at the same time. By following the visualizations and exercises in the book and writing regularly you will ease yourself gradually towards a completed story.

Be gentle with yourself and allow the first draft to emerge. Allow ideas to adapt and change. This is all part of the creative process. Stay focused on your ultimate goal.

Many new writers dont realize that creating and editing involve two different parts of the brain. It is usually better to create first, put the work aside for a short time and then go back and tidy up what you have written. If you aim for perfection at each stage you may never reach the end of the book.

Every novel is a different journey, however long you have been writing. You find your own pathway with each one. There are as many different writing methods as there are writers on the planet. There is no right way to do things, so enjoy the discoveries you make along the way about the story, your characters and yourself.

Keep writing and dont give up!

What you will gain from reading Surfing the Rainbow

I once read that if youve lived to the age of twenty-one, you will have enough material inside you for at least three novels! I believe that stories are a mixture of internal and external influences the ideas and memories you have grown up with plus the environment you are currently in with its day to day occurrences and the idea for a story that is burning a hole in your brain and will not go away.

Think of every experience you have had in your life childhood games, school, work, holidays, hobbies, dreams, nightmares as being potential raw material for stories. Think of your mind as being like a giant compost bin full of an endless supply of ideas that can be transformed into something new.

Use the colors of the rainbow to search for memories that you could use in a novel for example the green glass bowl on your mother s dressing table could become the one in the story that the main character threw at her husband on the day she discovered he was having an affair with his secretary. A terrified child observing this action might mourn the loss of something she liked looking at, imagining that it once belonged to a mermaid under the sea before realizing that her life was about to change for ever. Later in the story, when she sees a similar bowl in an antique shop, she gets a flashback to that earlier time in her life.

If you follow the exercises in Surfing The Rainbow and use them regularly, then you will strengthen the pathways in your brain that lead to creative ideas.

Surfing The Rainbow encourages you to build writing into your everyday life a bit like cleaning your teeth. Students who have experimented with these exercises have reported greater happiness in their lives and an appreciation of the world around them. If you are happier, then the people around you will be too.

The breathing and visualization exercises in Surfing The Rainbow will help you in all aspects of your life. For instance, breathing and relaxation techniques can help if you are facing an appointment at the dentist or a job interview. There is scientific evidence to suggest that they can help with problems like blood pressure and anxiety.

Practicing visualization regularly helps to bring creative ideas into focus and show the pathway towards achieving your creative ambitions. Remember that every building on this planet began as an idea in someones head before it became a reality.

Visualize the cover of your published book and the steps you need to take towards making this happen. Imagine you are holding the book in your hands. Trace the title on the cover with your finger. What does it feel like? What color is it? Is there a particular image that you could carry with you either as a picture in a pocket or handbag or re-created as a pendant? Create a series of small steps that you can begin to take towards this. (Daydreaming on its own doesnt work visualization plus focused action does!)