Writing Your Way Home Workbook by Jeff Brown

Writing
Your Way Home:

Answering the Soul’s Call
with Jeff Brown
Writing Your Way Home: Answering the Soul’s Call with Jeff Brown

This is a 6-week course that supports your calling to write, and to clarify
and work through anything that prevents you from honoring it. It is my
hope that it inspires you to dig deep and answer the soul’s call to write.

Class One: Introduction

Class Two: Emotional Obstacles to the Writing Process
Class Three: Writing Through the Body
Class Four: Language Re-Frames, Chaos and Order
Class Five: Publishing Tips
Class Six: Striking the Balance

Writing Your Way Home Workbook
Copyright © 2016 by Jeff Brown and Soulshaping Institute (a division of Enrealment Media, Inc.). All
rights reserved.
© Cover image- Shutterstock/A. and I. Kruk
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of
both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Writing Your Way Home Workbook 1

Copyright © 2016 by Jeff Brown and Soulshaping Institute (a division of Enrealment Media, Inc.). All rights reserved.
Welcome to the ‘Writing your way Home’ course. In the following weeks, we will
cover a lot of ground, in the hopes of supporting and inspiring your call to write.
This course is an invitation. To give voice to the call to write that has been nagging
at you for years. To confront and overcome the fears, beliefs, and doubts that
block your fullest expression. To deepen a voice that has already been awakened.
To explore writing as a spiritual practice.

Some of you will prefer to keep your writing to yourself, others will choose to
share some with the group. If you are called to share your course writing with
others in the class, feel free to post some of it on the group wall. The wall is the
place to get feedback on your work, if you wish. There are three categories of
sharing to be aware of. The first is where you just wish to share, but you want NO
feedback on your writings (other than affirmative comments, or ‘like’s). If this is
your preference, do not put any code with the writing and we will all respect that
preference. In other words, if you wish to receive no feedback on your writing,
just post it as is. If you wish feedback from Jeff only, add this at the end of the
post (Feedback- Jeff). If you wish Feedback from anyone in the group, add this to
the end (Feedback- All). And if you have a very specific form of feedback you are
wanting- i.e. on how the writing feels when read, or on overall structure, or with
respect to basic sentence structure, note that in a comment on your post, so it
will be clearly seen. Please remember that the sharing of writing can be a deeply
vulnerable thing, so let’s remember to avoid needless criticism and harsh
expression. We are all trying to find our voice, and kind support makes a big
difference with respect to keeping the creative tap open.

If you are unable to explore all of the material and exercises in the next six weeks,
no worries. Continue to work with it after the course is complete. Establishing a
writing groove can take a long time, as your voice deepens and clarifies. Because
writing can bring up a lot of unresolved memories and old feelings, be sure to
take care of yourself in the process. If you feel overwhelmed with difficult
feelings, back off from the process until you can get support and integrate what
has come up for you.

In the following document, I have created space for you to make notes, if
you choose to print off the document and work with it that way. Whatever
works for you.

CLASS ONE- INTRODUCTION

Before you begin working with the exercises and prompts, I invite you to perform
a small ceremony to commemorate the beginning of this writing process. Not to
put pressure on your performance, but to symbolize the significance of this sacred
commitment. The purpose of this is twofold: (1) to send a message to the deep
within that you are creating a space for it to express itself; and (2) to set this
course off from other parts of your life, as a reminder that something meaningful
to you has begun. There are no rules as to how you do this, but some possibilities
include:

• Saging/Smudging the writing space that you will be working in and saying
some prayerful or affirming words;
• Making a meal, or having a drink (of anything) and toasting to your writing
journey;
• Inviting a friend out or over to your place, and sharing your intentions;
• Writing your hopes and intentions for this course and keeping those words
close by as you work through the course;
• Doing something energetically/physically charged i.e. dance, yoga, bike
ride/run, Osho’s Dynamic Meditation, and dedicating it to this journey.

_________________________________________________________

Next, see if you can identify a CORE WRITING PROJECT that you will be working
on, steadily, throughout the course. This is not mandatory- you may prefer to
work with the other prompts and suggested exercises only- but if there is
something you are feeling called to begin or to continue writing- i.e. a book
chapter, a poem, a blog or article, a personal journal entry, a healing letter- then
see if you can get clear on what that is right now. If you do choose one, I
encourage you to try to stay with it throughout the course, even if it gets difficult.
The weekly prompts and exercises can be a wonderful laboratory for your own
expression, but so can a core project, because it gives you a chance to go through
many of the processes that may not come up when working on quicker pieces. If
you wish, just listen to the audios and work on your core project. If you can do


some of the optional exercises and the core project, you will have an opportunity
to experience all the shades and colors of the journey.

If that core project is clear to you right now, make a note here as to what it is:

Before you begin with the core project and/or other exercises, I want to
encourage you to explore a spontaneous, or automatic writing process. What I
mean by this is that you set aside a period of time- at least 30 minutes, if not
more- where you allow yourself to get lost in a writing experience without making
any effort to control or structure it. You can write whatever comes through, or
you can work on your core project, or you can choose one of the prompts noted
below, and just write. You can do this on your computer, in your notebook, on a
whiteboard, or consider doing it on a wall in a room, perhaps while on your knees,
or while standing. If you don’t want to mark the wall permanently, go to an art
store and buy a bunch of paper you can tape to the wall for this purpose. Music
can also help, both to energize the experience and to invite you to get lost in it.
Whatever happens, do you best to keep your inner critic from trying to interpret
what comes through you. It may well arise with judgments, but don’t let that stop
you. Just keep going. This is an opportunity to connect with what lives below your
judging mind, and to explore uncontrolled and untraditional ways of expressing
your voice. If it serves you, set a timer or alarm to go off, so that you won’t
disconnect from the process to keep checking the time. And, consider doing this
exercise regularly. After class three- where I discuss some of the ways to work
with the physical and emotional body to energize and clear- try this spontaneous
writing exercise both before and after one of those practices, just to see if there is



any difference in your access to your voice. I want you to give yourself permission
to explore many different ways to energize and express over the coming weeks,
so that you are not hemmed into one way to access your writing voice.

______________________________________________________

Over the course of the coming weeks, I invite you to explore a series of writing
prompts and motivators. I will include some in each week’s assignments, but feel
free to go back, or jump forward, if the ones offered for that week don’t resonate
with you. No pressure to do them all, but see if you can do at least one per week.
Don’t worry how long your answers are- just make sure that you write until you
feel truly done with the piece. Prompts are useful for awakening your writing
voice and describing emotions through the use of imagery. They activate the
senses and create dimension. When the emotional elements are excavated and
focused, it becomes easier to release the words that feel truest and these words
begin to evoke clearer images. The prompts are an invitation to tap into the
places of origin where feelings and emotions may be held or contained and to
bring them out through writing. They are also an opportunity to connect to and
express from the soul through the emotional body and senses.

With respect to the exercises, prompts, and/or your core writing project, I am
reluctant to give you firm writing rules, both because this is a course about
writing from the soul, and because some of the most profound, paradigm-shifting
writing broke all the so-called rules. I look over many of the ‘basic writing rules’
and I know that I regularly break them all. It’s such a fine line between writing
rules and principles that liberate your expression, and those that hold it back. It’s
often just best to develop your writer’s consciousness- that is, to find your voice
without being concerned about how it is perceived- and then to get feedback (as
you can on the class wall) when you feel ready to consider how it appears to
others. It’s a lot easier to talk about the so-called principles of good writing when
we see the writing before us, rather than as some theoretical construct. But, for



those who want some basic rules, try to be mindful of the following 5 things in the
coming weeks: (1) Write from your heart, with feeling-based descriptions. Let the
page be a place where you empty out and capture the feeling tenor of the
experiences and things that you are writing about; (2) Try to avoid long, over-
complicated sentences. Better to edit or divide them up for the purposes of
clarified expression and reading; (3) Limit repetition of thought and redundant
words, phrases and ideas. If you say something well the first time, there should be
no reason to continue repeating it; (4) Build the piece towards a very vital and
engaging conclusion, so that the reader feels as though they have gone on a
journey that has taken them somewhere; (5) Forget everything I just said.

WEEKLY PROMPTS

1. Write about your first soulful, romantic encounter. Don’t hold back. What
made it memorable? What were you wearing? What was the other person
wearing? Describe the physical environment. Describe the energy of the
encounter. How did you feel in the moment, without reflecting on what you have
learned since then? What made it soulful? What set it off from other
experiences?

2. Did you have a grandparent or adult in your life that is no longer alive yet still
remains in your heart? Do you feel their presence from time to time in your
everyday or do they appear in rare circumstances? What scents bring back their
memory as if they were still with you? What object(s) seem to trigger you to recall
their impact in your life? What was happening that day before you learned of
their passing? Write of that person, or write to that person.

3. Write a dialogue between two parts or voices within you i.e. authentic self and
inauthentic self, healthy ego and unhealthy ego, the voice of intuition and the
voice of the world, the voice of love and the voice of fear. Let them express their
perspectives fully.


4. If your soul could write (it can, through you), what would it say about where
you are at on your life’s journey? What would it say about those aspects of your
life that feel aligned with your truest path? What would it say about any parts of
your life that don't feel aligned? What has to happen before it can feel alignment?

5. Choose from one of these three opening sentences, and write a piece that
flows from them:

• What I most long for at this stage of my life is….
• I have never forgotten you, despite the fact that you…
• I realize that the world can be so ugly, but there is also so much beauty…

____________________________________________________

Write down any additional insights from the week…


CLASS TWO- EMOTIONAL OBSTACLES TO THE WRITING PROCESS

In this class, we focus on any personal issues, patterns and beliefs about your own
value that can obstruct and undermine your writing process. Sometimes, it is just
that one thing- a self-distractive pattern, a particular fear, an internalized shame
message- that dams up the entire river of expression. If it can be worked through
or, at least re-channeled in the direction of creative expression, a whole wave of
words can break loose and meet the world. I am thoroughly convinced that the
work we do to deal with what blocks our writing voice is as important a part of
the journey as the writing practice itself. Both because this emotional material
often lives at the heart of what wants to be expressed and healed through writing
and because it can make it impossible for us to fully find our writing voice without
doing this work. I have known many authors who simply refused to address these
issues, and it meaningfully limited the outer edges of their expression. To see our
‘stuff’ as something separate from the writing process is often to miss the
moment. Our issues, patterns, and beliefs live right at the heart of our creative
life.

This week, I invite you to make notes about comes up for you while writing. Use
the writing you are doing- whether the core project, or the prompts- as an
opportunity to both write and to name anything that comes up to block or alter
your expression. Some of the things I mentioned in the audio include shame, self-
doubt, perfectionism, competitiveness, self-distraction patterns, economic
anxieties, abandonment wounds, fear of attack, fear of success, issues with
isolation- and this is certainly not an exhaustive list.


In the following section, name whatever came up to block or distort your writing.
Name any issue, pattern, belief, or feeling that came to visit. And, if there was
language that came up with it, what was it? What did this part of you have to say?

Now, use the following area to identify where those voices, or aspects, come from
in your early life or subsequent experiences. What might be/is the source of these
undermining parts? Don’t be afraid to make the connection, even if you feel
resistance...


Once you have identified your wound area or issue, form an intention- and
perhaps even a plan- to create space in your daily life to tend to it and work it
through... If there are feelings that need to move, move them. If there are issues
that need to be addressed, try to get to the heart of them. In most situations, this
is not a simple process, but it is an essential one. And, also, see if you can find a
way to work with the material that came up as part of your writing process.
Perhaps you need to write about it, or perhaps you need to write to it (i.e. Dear
shame.., or Dear Perfection…). See if you can form some kind of plan to integrate
this issue or pattern into your creative process so it doesn’t feel so oppositional.

WEEKLY PROMPTS

1. Choose a day that brought you heartache—a death or a loss, a struggle or
setback, a break-up or dissolution—a day you can never forget because of that
moment or experience. Take yourself through it slowly and feel into the time
prior to the heartbreak and observe the contrast. Write about this shift in
emotion and surroundings and how the view changes, for example.

2. Recall your earliest memory of fear. What paralyzed or petrified you and why?
Write to that child now. What would you convey?

3. Write an Apology to either a part of yourself, or to another person. Check out
some of the Apologies I have written online (Apologies to the Battered Child,
Apologies to my Sweet Body, Apologies to the Divine Feminine, Apologies to the
Sacred Masculine) to get one sense of how it can be presented, but don’t be
bound by this. Do it whatever way you wish. Write it from the most heartfelt
place inside of you so that you feel as though you have left nothing unexpressed
by the time you are done.

4. Write from the heart of any part of your life that feels confused. What is the
nature of the confusion? Where does it live within you? What words capture the
heart of the inner conflict?

5. Write a poem that speaks to the connection between intimacy and divinity.

flows from them:

• I experience a sense of shame when I….
• One of the issues I want to heal through writing is…
• I celebrate the fact that I have been able to overcome…

____________________________________________________

Write down any additional insights from the week…

CLASS THREE- WRITING FROM THE BODY

In this class, we focus on the relationship between the physical and emotional
body, and your access to your writing voice. When you are rigidly held- both with
respect to your musculature and with respect to your feelings- it can be very
difficult to explore and experience the wide range of possibility for your writing.
Because our emotions, feelings and memories live within the body temple, at the
heart of the matter itself. Because it is within the body itself, where the rivers of
creativity flow. For writing to feel complete, it needs to come from an inclusive
consciousness- that is; with you connected to all aspects of your humanness and
moving the pen from that wholeness outward. This does not mean that the mind
is excluded, but it has been my experience that once the physical, emotional and
spiritual bodies are awakened, the mind is merely the translator of the message.
It is not the source of the great, true writing. It’s just a part of the weave.

Simply put, when you open and awaken the body, you excavate and invite what it
has been holding. The whole creative process comes alive, and whatever has been
unsaid and unhealed rides the wave of the breath into awareness. In the same
way as you feel like a different person after a good cry, or a beautiful love-making
experience, your creativity takes on an entirely different form when you can open
the body and invite your authentic voice into consciousness. In the exercises for
this class, I invite you to try some of this on for yourself.

EXERCISE ONE

Begin with the physical body alone. Work on your core project or one of the
prompts for a period of time before doing any exercise or stretching. Feel into the
way it feels to write with your body in its habitual state of tension and aliveness.
The same day, or soon thereafter, devote some time to stretching and exercising.
Open and energize the body, until you feel both more relaxed and more alive.
Now, go back to the same project- core, or prompt- and devote an equal amount
of time to the process. If you have lots of time, try a number of different
modalities and forms of exercise, including the effect that massage may have on
your writing voice. Do you notice any difference between the state of your body,


and the state of your writing? Do you feel more open and imaginative before or
after you exercise, stretch or get massaged? Do you have more energy for the
process or more access to the thoughts and feelings? Note: If you are someone
who is experiencing physical challenges and cannot do any of this, consider
chanting, singing or simply breathing a little deeper, to see if it grants you more or
different access to your writing voice.

Make any notes here…

EXERCISE TWO

Now, take it to the next level, if you can. Again, work on your core project or one
of the prompts with your physical and emotional bodies in their habitual state of
being. The same day, or soon thereafter, devote some time to doing one of the
energetically charged emotional release practices that I discussed in the audio.
These include, but are not limited to… Osho’s Dynamic Meditation, the
Authenticity-Mometer, anger and grief release work, trance or ecstatic dance, or
even one of the somatic psychotherapies that I mentioned and their related
practices. Allow yourself to open, energize and release anything you are holding
so that your presence deepens. Then come back to your writing and see if you can
sense any difference in your access to your ideas, or in the writing itself. This may


not be the kind of thing that reveals its fruits the first time you try this but I assure
you that it will over time. One of the things that has helped me is doing the strong
release practice and then staying on my feet and wall writing afterwards rather
than sitting back down in a sedentary position. It’s also interesting to see what
happens when you try to write with your feet and hips moving a little.

Make any notes here….

WEEKLY PROMPTS

1. If you have a vision of your dream love relationship, put that vision to words.
What does it look like, feel like, how do you and your partner relate? Describe a
situation, or an experience you might have together in a way that captures the
essence of the connection.

2. Write about a recent dream or nightmare. Don’t analyze it- just describe it as
clearly and accurately as possible. And include the way that you felt while in the
heart of it.

3. Think about the child you once were and your connection to nature— a tree, a
beach, a space of grass in the yard, a field, the woods, etc. Recall your feelings
then and how that experience, setting, place and time held you.

4. Remember an unresolved experience, one where you have yet to fully heal.
Write into the memories and feelings in an effort to achieve a greater resolution.

5. Write a poem that captures the beauty of the mundane.

6. Write to any pattern or belief that you still carry, a letter that expresses your
readiness to let it go.

________________________________________________________

Write down your daily insights for the week…


CLASS FOUR- LANGUAGE RE-FRAMES, CHAOS AND ORDER

In this audio class, I discussed a series of exercises I encourage you to try this
week. Try a few, if you can’t get to them all…

EXERCISE ONE

Do one of the course prompts, in the way that you would normally write. Then
tape yourself talking or dialoging in the way that you normally speak. Afterwards,
transcribe it so that you can see how your way of speaking looks in written form.
Now go back in on the same prompt and try to write it the way you speak. When
you are finished, compare the two writings to see which feels more authentically
you. Which feels closer to your soul’s voice? How do you feel about any
difference between the writings?

Make any notes here:

EXERCISE TWO

Play with the creation of new words/terms this week. You may not be ready- that
is, you may need to get your writing groove more solid before this kind of
imaginative wordplay can happen, but it is well worth a try. And I don’t just mean
inventing new words/terms out of the blue, but also creating new words (i.e.
celebrate becomes soulebrate, tooth-ache becomes truth-ache) and terms (i.e.
range of motion becomes range of e-motion, sell your soul becomes cell your
soul) that are a play on what already exists. One of the good things about
importing this as a regular wordsmith practice is that it invites you to become


broadly imaginative with your writing in all respects. It makes you more alive to
the creative process- you are not just adopting other people’s ways of describing
reality- you are also focused on crafting words and terms that reflect your own
unique lens. That is, rather than continually adapting your ideas to traditional
language- which may not even come close to expressing the depth of your being-
you actually shape the language to you. With this in mind, grab a dictionary or a
thesaurus, or consciously play with words and terms that run through your mind
or that arise in your line of vision during the day. And, if you feel daring, consider
the possibility of also creating definitions for the new word or terms. It is one
thing to find the word/term, but quite another to create a definition for it. If you
do, consider going onto Urban Dictionary to add it so that it carries forward.

Note any creations here:

EXERCISE THREE

Apply the same approach to familiar phrases and clichés, to see if you can create
a new way of stating or understanding them. For example, Spock’s famous phrase
“Live Long and Prosper,” might become “Love Long and Prosper.” Or “Open
Sesame!” becomes “Open-Bless-A-Me.” And if you feel particularly daring, try to


build an aphorism or paragraph around the new phrasing i.e. “Closing the heart is
a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we close it, we attract more reasons to keep it
closed. Opening the heart is a soul-fulfilling prophecy. When we open it, we
attract blessings: Open-bless-a-me! Finally, blessings have a way in and a way out
to touch others. Try looking in the mirror and repeating ‘Open-bless-a-me’ as a
mantra, an invitation to your higher self and to the universe to bring blessings
through the gateway of your heart. OPEN-BLESS-A-ME!”

Note any creations here…

EXERCISE FOUR

This is one of my favorite writing practices- character limited posts. When I first
got on Facebook years ago, there was a character limit for each status, which
served as a kind of unpaid editor, forcing me to make my writings more succinct.
That character limit is now gone, but let’s bring it back for the purposes of this
exercise. With this in mind, confine yourself to writing an inspiration or wisdom
that is no more than 420 characters. Create a series of them if you want to.


Here are some sample prompt words you can begin with, if you have a difficult
time getting going…

(a) I often feel that our greatest individual challenge is…
(b) You must never lose faith in your brilliance…
(c) It is important to grant yourself permission to…
(d) Love is my favorite sexual position.
(e) There is such a fine line between…
(f) You can look for a relationship but…

If you feel particularly inspired, feel free to cut down and alter some of these
quotes to their bare essence, while remaining within the 420 character limit…

(a) I am not interested in enlightenment if it means detachment from the
emotional body, the earth plane, the challenges of being human. I am
interested in enrealment, because it means that my most spiritual
moments are inclusive, arising right in the heart of all that is human: joy
and sorrow, shopping list and unity consciousness, fresh mangos and stale
bread. Enrealment is about living in all aspects of reality simultaneously
rather than only those realms that feel the most comfortable. We are not
just the light, or the mind, or the emptiness, or perpetual positivity. We are
the everything. It’s ALL God, even the dust that falls off my awakening
heart.
(b) We must be under no illusion that all soul mates are meant to last a
lifetime. Some are only meant to last a moment. That brief soul gaze with a
‘stranger’ at the grocery store that reminded you of your own essence was
just right. That unexpected weekend encounter that set your spirit to soar
is perfect. That great love that walked away after cracking your heart open
was just what the soul doctor ordered. Whatever you need to smooth the
rough diamond of the soul. No matter how long they last, profound
connections paint pictures of possibility in the sky, expanding our lens for
all eternity.


(c) In a mad dash to react away from the perils of anger, we went too far and
lost a key piece of the emotional integrity and expression cycle. Anger is a
legitimate emotion that signals that a person has been violated. By
discouraging and shaming it, we actually disrupt natural emotional rhythms
and encourage inauthentic ways of being. In addition, repressing the
emotions simply keeps the anger alive. The negativity goes underground,
manifesting in a myriad of destructive forms, including passive
aggressiveness, self-destructive behaviour and all manner of disease. It is
one thing to discourage the inappropriate expression of anger, but let us
not throw the whole process out with the bath water. There is a place for
healthy anger in an evolving world.



EXERCISE FIVE

If you are someone who either wants to write a book one day, or if you are
already writing one that lacks structure, I invite you to lean into the construction
of a working structure. Spend some time jotting down imagined themes or
chapter headings, and perhaps even make some notes within each of them as to
the specific sub-titles/sub-themes that make sense there. Try to get a picture of
the content and directionality of your project. Play with a title, as well, if you are
ready.


WEEKLY PROMPTS

1. Think back on a day, a moment or situation in which you triumphed or
experienced great happiness and celebration. What was so remarkable about
that feat? What season was it, can you remember, and how was that a factor in
the event? If you feel there is no significance for you in relating the season, then
relay what it was about that day that still causes your heart to fill with
overwhelming joy.

2. Write about the room or space you are in right now. Describe it with great
particularity, so that your reader will feel as though they are there, as well. What
exactly does it look like, feel like?

3. Then there is God. What a big thought that may conjure. Think of the earliest
memory of your introduction to the concept of a God in heaven and how that
affected you. Stay in your first impression and avoid going to what you have since
grown to believe and know today or have formed throughout your journey. This
can end up being a simple and short passage or may surprise you and end up
being a lengthy piece filled with details. Feel free to include the senses and
emotions as they relate to your childlike thoughts at the time. For more of a
challenge, end the paragraph with a query about God that you may have had then
or have still to this day.

4. Write a piece that acknowledges all that you have overcome in this lifetime. A
homage to you that celebrates your bravery and your ingenuity.

5. Write a piece that speaks to the difference between judging and discerning.

___________________________________________________

Write down any daily insights for the week…


CLASS FIVE- PUBLISHING TIPS

If you are someone who either wants to have a book published at some point,
and/or if you want to build a website/blog following, do at least one of the
following exercises this week so you will be better prepared to actualize those
dreams:

EXERCISE ONE

Look around on-line to see what a standard book proposal looks like. Although it
can take some time to complete, putting it together can be of value to you for a
number of different reasons: (1) it gives you an opportunity to clarify the contents
of and market for your book; (2) It allows you to see the way that publishers
think, what they are looking for; (3) It gives you an easy way for publishers and
agents to get a sense of your book, without having to put time into reading the
entire book first.

If you have some time, begin work on a proposal for a book you are writing or
intending to write.

EXERCISE TWO

Devote some time to looking around on-line to research some of the different
ways to be published, including traditional publishing, vanity publishing, self-
publishing (with print runs, print on demand, e-book alone, etc.), and some of the
hybrid publishing models that are becoming more prevalent now. Become aware
of the various ways to bring your work to the world. Also, check out some of the
various organizations and forums that you can connect with as an author and also
as an independent publisher, in case you decide to go that route.


EXERCISE THREE

If you have a sense of the kind of book you will write/are writing, spend some
time online and in bookstores, researching the publishers that feel like a fit. Check
out books in the same genre, and make a list of the publishers that specialize in
books like yours. Also, look through some of those books to see if you can find an
editor reference at a publishing house. Make a note. This may be someone you
want to send your manuscript to when it is ready.

EXERCISE FOUR

If you are considering traditional publishing, spend some time online looking into
literary agents. You will find a series of agent lists where they describe what they
specialize in. Make a note of those who specialize in your genre, if it is identifiable
at this stage.

EXERCISE FIVE

Consider starting a fan page in your name on Facebook, and/or other social media
sites. I suggest that you avoid using your projected book title as the book name,
because you will then be limited if you choose to write other books. Using your
own name grants you more freedom. It can also be helpful to connect your fan
posts to a twitter account, so that your status automatically posts there. Also,
look into other social media sites (i.e. Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr) so you are
aware of other ways to bring your work to the world.

EXERCISE SIX

Begin to think of unique, alternative ways to bring your blogs and/or books to the
world. Be aware of the traditional approaches, but get imaginative as well. Many
authors are beginning to use video to read their excerpts and market their work.
Check out video related options and try to envision the next marketing paradigms
beyond that...

WEEKLY PROMPTS

1. Write about a time in your life when you heard a call to another path or place-
either a relationship, a job, a geography. How did the call arise? What did it feel
like? What resisted it? What did you decide to do? Describe it fully. Capture the
inner journey.

2. Write about someone that you personally know who has overcome a
tremendous amount of adversity. Describe the things they have had to deal with,
and how they have managed to make it through. What is it about them that has
allowed them to overcome their challenges? Why are they still here?

3. Write a maximum eight sentence inspiration/wisdom about love relationship-
its perils and its delights.

4. Write a song about love. Not a cheesy song about an unreal idea of love, but a
song that speaks to the conscious love path- where light meets shadow.

5. Write a piece that speaks to the difference between being lost and being on a
quest for meaning. Capture the difference between aimless confusion and
growthful confusion.

___________________________________________________


CLASS SIX: STRIKING THE BALANCE

While you are working on your core project and/or prompts this week, pay close
attention to two questions: (1) How can I integrate writing as a regular practice
into my daily life?, and (2) What will I have to protect it from, in order to make
this integration possible?

EXERCISE 1

The first thing to do is decide how important it is to you, to integrate a regular
writing practice into your daily life. If it is important, then ask yourself if this
integration is possible given the way that your life is organized. If it is clearly
possible, then move onto exercise 2. If it does not presently seem possible, then
note anything and everything that has to be considered/adjusted to allow for that
integration. In this exercise, I am not referring to some of the emotional issues,
patterns or beliefs that can block access (as we discussed in class 2), so much as
external factors (i.e. economic circumstances, family responsibilities, other
commitments and priorities) that will prevent you from having the time and
energy you need. Look painstakingly at your daily life and weekly schedule, and
see what might prevent you from sustaining a regular writing practice.

Note them here:


EXERCISE 2

Next, pay close attention to anything that you may need to protect your writing
practice from in your daily life. These can include the emotional issues, patterns
and beliefs discussed in class 2, but also include challenging individuals in your
life, negative media influences, an incongruent balance between chaos/order, an
inadequate amount of soulitude/privacy etc. Anything that is getting in the way
already, or that you can foresee as a problem in the future.

Note them here:

EXERCISE 3

In this exercise, clarify the commitment you wish to make to your writing path
over any period of time that calls you (1 year, 5 years, 10 years +) and make some
clear notes as to how you intend to deal with the issues around integration and
protection noted in exercises 1 and 2. What decisions are you willing to commit to
so that you can integrate your writing? What protections (i.e. boundaries,
selective attachment, soulitude, healing work) are you willing to put into place so
that you can keep your writing safe from saboteurs and distractions? It has been
my experience that all 3 of these exercises are worth doing on a regular basis,
particularly if you find yourself falling away from your commitment to writing as a
spiritual practice.


WEEKLY PROMPTS

1. Find a piece of prose/a blog/a poem that calls to you, something written by
someone else. Take the first line of the piece and use it is a prompt for a piece of
your own. I realize that this sounds counter-intuitive in a course that celebrates
your unique voice, but give it a try anyway. Sometimes we feel inspired to create
by a creation that we resonate with.

2. Write a piece that speaks to something you feel deeply grateful for. It could be
a person, an experience, the gift of life. Write this twice- Once, when you are
feeling particularly negative, Twice- when you are feeling particularly positive.
Compare the two pieces. How did your emotional state impact on your
perspective and your languaging?

3. Write a letter to the writer inside of you, assuring her/him that you will
continue to create space for his/her voice in the coming months and years. When
you are done, invite the writer within to write you a letter of gratitude.

4. Write the beginnings of a play. A one person play about someone who shares
their story of finding and following their soul’s voice over time.

5. Write a love letter you would like to receive.

flows from them:

• I am so tired of being told that everything happens for a reason…
• If I could change one thing on this crazy planet, it would be…
• My version of an actualized life includes…


Thank you for joining me on this brave and profound journey. May
you continue to write your way home in the years to come!



Writing Your Way Home Workbook by Jeff Brown

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Writing

Your Way Home:

Class One: Introduction

Writing Your Way Home Workbook

© Cover image- Shutterstock/A. and I. Kruk

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