Connect with your readers: Marisa Goudy, Writing Coach

By Danielle Rose

Storyteller and writing coach, Marisa Goudy’s work is about connecting the reader to you as a business person, to your work, and most importantly to themselves and the world at large.

“I'm a writing and storytelling coach who specializes in supporting therapists, healers, and other professionals in the transformation business,” Marisa said. “My main focus is on using storytelling techniques, particularly my signature Story Triangle approach, to help writers create online content. The goal is to use stories to connect and build relationships with clients before you meet them in your office for the first time.”

Through The Story Triangle Marisa teaches that there are three essential elements of storytelling: you (the storyteller), your audience, and your story. The goal is to balance the relationship between the three. When you tell an authentic story that matters to you, while keeping the interests and needs of your reader in mind, you tell a story that connects. Such a story appeals the emotions, inspires, and changes hearts and minds.

 

“My work isn't just about helping people produce quality copy and content. I help you develop a writing practice. I believe that your writing practice wants to give you more than just another blog post... Your writing practice helps you understand yourself, your work, the people you serve, and the stories that matter to our changing world.”

Writing and storytelling coaching is not only practical, but essential for any practitioner looking to share their service with their clients, and express their message and their strengths into the world

Marisa Goudy

Offer the gift of your story to yourself or a loved one trying to forge their place in the world at a 10% discount this holiday with Marisa’s initial consultation package (normally $447, now only $409).

Looking for a way to wet your feet and see how valuable the connective power of storytelling can be for you and/or your business?  Sign up for Marisa’s e-course, “Your Stories and Your Audience,” today.

Marisa is also teaming up with the new Mind Key to offer her services as part of a business start-up package in the Mind Key Store. There’s no better way to share your story to your clients in a way that resonates than with Marisa’s guidance.

Discover Marisa

www.marisagoudy.com

marisagoudy@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/MarisaGoudyWriter/

https://twitter.com/MarisaGoudy

instagram.com/marisagoudy

https://www.pinterest.com/marisagoudy/

Working your Passion--The energy between writer and reader

In this article, originally posted on her blog, our favorite writing coach, Marisa Goudy, shares one of the most common reasons our writing doesn't always get along with its intended audience.  Whether you're a writer-by-trade, or whether you are a solo practitioner or business owner, the energy shared between you and your audience is paramount. 

Keep reading for Marisa's tips on how to make sure the two jive.

Do you and your ideal reader speak the same language?

By Marisa Goudy

The fighting is over, but it’s not quite time for kiss and make up. It’s that tender, in-between time when neither is ready to dissolve into love but both are grateful that the crisis has passed.

If you’re watching the sort of movie that allows the characters to take a breath between the plate throwing and the shot of the heap of clothes on the floor, there might be a song to move the action away from conflict and toward romance.

Any director worth her salt would say “we need a song that feels like ‘Let’s Stay Together.’ But obviously we need to pick to something less… obvious.”

Thing is, sometimes real life is just that cheesy and obvious.

Read more Here...

Writing Lessons from the Berry Patch - Marisa Goudy

Nature, like children, can be the most unassuming of teachers.  In her blog, writing and storytelling coach, Marisa Goudy, offers both hobbyists and professionals looking to share their vision, profound advice for telling an honest and vibrant story.  In this post, her daughters' experience in the berry patch offers a backdrop for lessons in patience, creativity and adventure--both in writing and in life.  Visit Marisa's website to learn more about her services and read more of her writing insights.

Writing Lessons From the Berry Patch

As is often the way with everyday magic, you don’t notice it even when it’s right under your nose. Or encircling your back yard.

We lived in the house for a few years before we realized we lived in wild berry heaven. Our land bursts with joyful, succulent gifts every July, but we never noticed until we slowed down to a toddler’s pace and humbled ourselves to look at the world through the eyes of a child.

And now our second girl is a passionate berry picker too. She’s insatiable, really, but at least we know where to find her when we say “but I thought YOU were watching her!”

This need to chaperone a two year-old in a fruitful paradise that also features thorns, concealed ditches, ticks, snakes, and poison ivy brings life to a halt a few times each day.

When at my best, I’m a merry companion willing to tear my dress to reach that perfect cluster of sweetness. Then there are the moments when I’m itching to start dinner or do some writing or simply go find some shoes so I can satisfy the incessant requests for “Berries! Berries! Mama, ber-RIES!” without injuring myself.

We’re not just picking fruit in the berry patch. We’re taking lessons in patience, creativity, and picking the perfect moment.

To read more, click here.

Letting Go with Oracle and the written word

Professionally, I am a teacher. That is how I pay my rent. How much teaching is done by my own volition? I am not sure sometimes. However, I am sure that leading others to writing as a primary source of detox is the best kind of teaching I can do. As a writer, artist, educator, and participant of the Mind Key project, my purpose has leaned more toward helping others find the stories they need to tell. As resistant as some may be, every single person has a story in words, pictures, or song. Once the creative outlet is found, we can let go of everything else which feels the need to hold us back.

Creativity is an integral part of connectedness and restructuring, and some of us need a little more than guided journals or story-starters to produce writing for healing. A deck of oracle cards can create the bridge between emptiness and fulfillment - and fulfillment, healing, and connectedness are the necessary molecules of Mind Key.  That same deck of oracle cards can also lead you to release things that are no longer serving you.

Three years ago I never would have thought that a deck of cards could hold so much power. When I taught Pre-K several years back, a mother of one of my kids gave me an email reading with a deck of angel oracle cards that floored me with its accuracy and depth.

My very first deck - Chakra Wisdom Oracle Cards by Tori Hartman

Though I was initially skeptical due to my tainted metaphysical past, I quickly learned there was something genuine about the use of oracle decks. There was no, “I see a scratch-off lottery win in your future.” There was no, “Someone you know on the other side is trying to contact you! She has a vowel in her name. A…E?” Nope, Janan was legit, and she was my first exposure to the spiritual tool of card divination. 

In addition to learning different spreads and letting the messages and the pictures speak to your life, many oracle decks can be used as journaling and storytelling devices. In fact, if you check out the web pages or YouTube accounts of many tarot and oracle enthusiasts, you’ll find that many use oracle decks to help motivate a variety of creative endeavors. In a previous blog, I reviewed Leonie Dawson's Create Your Shining Year workbooks and mentioned how effective Dawson’s approach was to planning and visualizing a productive year. I may not have mentioned, at least not in much depth, the use of her favorite oracle deck to create a foundation for each month. A card can be drawn once a month, or twelve cards can be drawn at once. Either way, Dawson’s workbook devotes several pages to your own oracle card insight and reflection. 



From The Chronicles of Destiny 
don't leave home without it.

The versatility of oracle cards is tremendous, and the freedom of expression they induce often surpasses the tarot system which is more concrete. In a way, oracle decks are your every day, “average Joe” source for card divination, for lack of a better description. Nevertheless, a new enthusiast who wants to use oracle cards for journaling and creative writing may run into a problem - deciding on a deck. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of decks from independent publishers as well as large publishing houses such as Llewellyn and Blue Angel. 

The Chronicles of Destiny by Josephine and Emily Ellershaw

Chakra Wisdom Oracle Cards - Tori Hartman 

StoryWorld Cards - Caitlin Matthews 

I have lost count of how many decks I have acquired in the last year and a half. Admittedly, there are a few decks I can sell due to a lack of connection to those decks. Talk about release, its very difficult to know when/if you should let a deck go because you never know when it might be just what your soul needs.  But there are other decks I feel would dry up my creative well if they were ever lost or ruined.

This, ladies and gentleman, is how I let go of the mundanity of every day life, when I need to remember that there is something more to me than this and that. Check out my next column about the decks listed above which will include recommendations for using them as  creative and reflective tools. 



Tara Ann Lesko

*******************

The Green Tara Chronicles - The journey from the confines of believing in one thing to the freedom of believing in everything



I thank fear, societal standards, and failures - a discussion of The Heart and Soul of Things

Tis the season to reflect on the pause from the regular routine. Smile through an afternoon of family bantering over mashed potatoes or send tidings of great joy, even if it's via text. But what if we expressed our gratitude for the things that bring us down? That's right. Be thankful for the fears, regrets and disappointments because we can transform that negativity into authentic living.

This is one of the many messages of The Heart and Soul of Things, written simply but beautifully by Jessy Lugo-Rodriguez, appropriately known as Gaia (Earth Mother). The first few chapters of her book bring to light how we have become our own worst enemies. But instead of allowing our inner antagonists to consume us, we should accept those demons. We feel them, harness them, and then kick them in the face until they turn into angels.

Fears, expectations, and lies, according to Gaia, are what keep us from recognizing and experiencing our authentic selves. But instead of denying or dwelling on the negativity, Gaia helps us to see how it can be useful. So if we can use our baggage positively, why shouldn't we express our gratitude for the bad as well as the good?

False

Evidence

Appearing

Real

She devotes a whole page to this simple acrostic that speaks volumes. Our fear negatively impacts the Root Chakra which is responsible for our stability and grounding. If this first energy wheel is not turning the way it should, then the other ones are screwed. Fear is like hot air. It can only rise and cause more misery and suffocation. Gaia blatantly reminds us of the mind and body connection when she discusses the domino effect of fear - anxiety becomes depression, depression becomes gastrointestinal illness, and the tiles keep falling.

Do we need to cut loose the Debby Downers or the Gloom Dooms? More importantly, do we need to stop replacing our excuses with our fears, and vice versa? These are questions she poses, and encourages us to answer TRUTHFULLY. Being honest with yourself is difficult and can generate a huge storm, but think about how grateful you'll be when the atmosphere rights itself again.  

 

"Numbers don't impress me," Gaia said.  This statement stuck out to me when she and I met in October during her book launch. She is aware her book may not sell like hot cakes. As a yoga instructor and spiritual healer, she may be inundated with clients one week and have very little to do the next. She may be balanced and at-peace for a while before having a day or two of batshit craziness. It is what it is. She is living authentically with no concern over expectations from family, friends, and most importantly, society. In her little memoir, she persuades us to do the same because only then can we be free and in tune.

Learn more about Gaia, her practices, services, and teachings at www.LugoYoga.com or check out her YouTube channel simply titled, Gaia. 

Follow your dreams with Mind Key!

Mind Key is all about finding inspiration to follow your dreams, to live your healthiest, happiest and most passionate life.  For many of us, that includes the creative pursuit of writing and being involved in the writing process.

Following on the heels of Danielle’s awesome Chimera novel pitch and a wildly successful 2015 NaNoWriMo, we here at Mind Key would like to offer our lovingly crafted writing and editing services.  These services would be a perfect gift for yourself or a loved one this holiday season and come in many forms.

Charla Dury

The Mind Key writing team can provide story editing services, pointing out your writing strengths as well as possibly needed story edits.  Your novel, story or writing project doesn’t even need to be complete for this step!

I (Charla Dury), Mind Key editor, can provide overall editing services to include a more detailed review of the entire novel, editing for grammar and readability as well as offering suggestions for any inconsistency and plot holes.

Audrey Solarino, a professional copy editor, will proof-read your novel for content, readability, grammar, spelling, style and more.

Danielle Rose offers a novel coaching service to help you prepare your novel in the final stages.  This can include query letters to publishing houses, staging a marketing plan and even presenting yourself and your novel!

Danielle Rose

All of these services are even offered as a package!  The Great American Novel Package is available at a deep discount (based on services purchased individually!)

All of these services can be purchased with Mind Key Gift certificates, too, which is really the best part.  Mind Key gift certificates are available through Danielle Rose and can be used to purchase anything on the Mind Key Store!  The Mind Key store offers products and services from many of the Mind Key members:

Mind Key Anthologies old and new

Body, Heart & Soul - Healing services

Help with Creativity and Enlightenment

Writing and editing services can be found in the Follow Your Dream section

Inspiration section provides many ways to discover your heart and soul

And even Professional and Business Services!

Visit the Mind Key Store today and get inspired!!!

Scrivener Tutorial: Why I wouldn't use any other word processing or organizational program

Whether you've never heard of Scrivener, or whether you use it regularly, this simple, easy-to-use program is always surprising me with how versatile, effective, and powerful it truly is.

While it's impossible to talk about everything Scrivener does in one blog or tutorial, today I'm discussing why this program is one of the most effective time-saving and organizational tools I discovered as a novelist and a freelance writer.

For one, I can keep everything I'm working on in one handy-dandy online "file cabinet."  This means if I'm NaNoWriMo-ing, and need to pick up a phone call with a contact for an interview, I can click off my NaNoWriMo folder and easily click to my article folder, creating a new blank document in the appropriate spot.

I can keep all my notes conveniently alongside my interviews. When I'm ready to write, I simply duplicate the research article, and all my interview notes get carried over with the interview itself.

Now I can move folders around to organize the article in a coherent and effective way without losing track of, or having to search my notes for who-said-what.

Clearly these features are just as helpful for writing a lengthy novel. The corkboard view lets you see your chapter or scene synopses at a glance to find what you need to edit, or to easily move it within the story.

To learn more about Scrivener check out our tutorial below. Even seasoned users may find some tips you didn't know before. I know I discover new ones every day!

If you have questions for us to address in our next Scrivener tutorial please leave them below as a comment--or if you have anything I missed or got wrong, please let us know!

Shut up and write Nanowrimo-ers!

Last April, I participated in National Novel Writing Month (aka. Mind Key's Minute Novel Challenge) for the first time, and not since grad school did I have the discipline to write and write often. I guess the competition was a big motivator too. Yes, there was a prize to be won, but more importantly, there was a group of us on a mission. We joined a chorus and passed muses to one another. Unexpectedly, I won the Minute Novel challenge with a variety of excerpts from my memoir-still-in-progress, The Golden Skillet.

My success with Nanowrimo could have only been accomplished by the energy and support provided by Mind Key members and followers. Knowing that significant snippets of my work had an audience became a driving force to continue the arduously fulfilling task of writing my book. It's still not done, and for a simple reason - every month is not Nanowrimo.

So now it's November. I'm sure there are college dorm rooms cleaner than my apartment. I bought underwear and socks at Walmart to delay having to do laundry. I'm back in grad school, working two teaching jobs, and I am on my second sinus infection of the season. Go me.


This time around, Nanowrimo is in the back of my mind despite the overload. That means there are times I can say "piss off" to normal responsibility and lose myself in my memoir and fiction writing. You may ask, "Well, if she has all this other stuff going on, how can she write 1,500 words a day?"

Here's my answer. I can't. And God bless anyone else out there who can.

As easy it is to be discouraged by my lack of consistency this time around, I am determined to feel accomplished, even if I conjure up two decent pages or one crappy paragraph. A word count of over a thousand in one day is fantastic, but for some, it's a long shot. The most important thing to do is write. To paraphrase Neil Gaiman, it's that simple, and it's also that hard. Drop what you are doing and write. Shut the blinds, hide the phone, plug-in the earphones, and write. Best of luck and a thousand blessings to all Nanowrimo-ers.