125. Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers

“I really recommend that you trust your own style and voice. Don't let anyone tell you that what you are trying to do is wrong or bad, or that you're wrong or bad for doing it. Trust yourself, trust your heart.”


In the latest How To Write the Future podcast episode, “Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers (Ep. 125)” host Beth Barany, kicks off an 9-part mini-series on her Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap, the method she developed to help writers go from idea to published science fiction and fantasy novel.

Sign up and receive a copy of Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap workbook: https://bethbarany.com/trust-your-creative-heart-roadmap-workbook/


ABOUT THE HOW TO WRITE THE FUTURE PODCAST

The How To Write The Future podcast is for science fiction and fantasy writers who want to write positive futures and successfully bring those stories out into the marketplace. Hosted by Beth Barany, science fiction novelist and creativity coach for writers. We cover tips for fiction writers and get curious about the future of humanity.


ABOUT BETH BARANY

Beth Barany, an award-winning fantasy and science fiction novelist, teaches novelists how to write, edit, and publish their books as a coach, teacher, consultant, and developmental editor.

RESOURCES

GET HELP WITH YOUR WORLD BUILDING - START HERE

Free World Building Workbook for Fiction Writers: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/world-building-resources/

Sign up for the 30-minute Story Success Clinic with Beth Barany: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/story-success-clinic/

Get support for your fiction writing by a novelist and writing teacher and coach. Schedule an exploratory call here and see if Beth can support you today: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/discovery-call/

• SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany
• SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade

c. 2024 BETH BARANY

https://bethbarany.com/

--
CONNECT
Contact Beth: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/podcast/#tve-jump-185b4422580
Email: beth@bethbarany.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/

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Transcript

125. Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers

BETH BARANY: Hey everyone, Beth. Barany here for How To Write The Future podcast. 

Today I'm going to start an eight part series on Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap. This is my own method that I developed to help you go from idea or seedling of the tiniest idea to finished science fiction or fantasy novel that you can feel proud of. 

[00:23] Intro

BETH BARANY: There's eight parts to the series. Today, I'm actually going to do an overview of each of the eight parts. It's really eight steps along the road. And then later in the next episodes, I will break each one down. 

[00:38] Handout

BETH BARANY: Now there is a PDF handout that goes along with this entire series and you can sign up for that using the link in the description below. And if you don't see that link, just put into the comments: " send me the roadmap." 

[00:54] Assess - Where you are 

BETH BARANY: All right. So I start every session, every workshop, every consultation, every coaching with the question of asking people to take an assessment of where they are to clarify your goals, what it is that you want, why do you want it? Why is it really important to you? And so that's a big "you are here" sign, like on the maps at the mall.

We want to know where you are right now before we can take stock of where you want to go and get you there. 

So like any map, like if you're at the mall or looking at a a physical paper map, or even looking at a map online, there's where you are now, where you are now, you are here to where you want to go. 

[01:38] Goal - where you want to go

BETH BARANY: So we're going to jump right now all the way to the end of the road: where you want to go. What is your end goal? 

Now I'm assuming it's to have a finished science fiction or fantasy novel that you are proud of. And that you can share with the world. 

It's published. 

Here you go.

You get to hand it physically to somebody or send them a link where they can purchase it online. What does that look like for you? What does that feel like for you? That you have a finished polished masterpiece that you were so proud of and you get to share it with the world. That's the end of the road of my Trust Your Creative heart Roadmap. 

Now, let's go back to the beginning.

[02:19] How do you get to your writing goal?

BETH BARANY: Now that we know where you are and where you want to go, let's look at: how do you get there? 

If we were driving or walking or taking a bike or a train, we know how we could get that. The transportation would take us there. 

What is the transportation for you as a writer? It's a secret. No. 

It is so simple yet so challenging. It's writing. It's writing. 

In my opinion, it's a practice. And it is an attitude. 

And something that I noticed is that writing begets writing.

The more you do it, the easier it gets. 

That's not to say I don't have difficult days. I do. Absolutely. But I also know how to get myself butt-in-chair, how to get myself writing.

 So the goal of a writing practice is to build the creative habit that works for you. Not for me, not for some teacher over there. Somebody says you should get up at 5:00 AM. 

No. It's about finding your best time and best place and best ingredients that help you be the writer.

 So that's the writing practice. And that's really the first step in the road, but it's the second part of our roadmap. 

[03:27] Develop Your Story Idea

BETH BARANY: Now the third part of our roadmap is story development. 

So you have an idea, but you don't know what to do with it. So then I recommend that you learn how to develop a story. 

And of course I have a resource for you. It is our Plan Your Novel, Like A Pro book. And it comes with a digital workbook. You can simply buy the book and get the digital workbook for free. 

I also highly recommend that you journal or write a diary or log. In your point of view character's voice. So instructive. 

[03:58] Trust Yourself

BETH BARANY: And then lastly, still staying on a high level. I really recommend that you trust your own style and voice. Don't let anyone tell you that what you are trying to do is wrong or bad, or that you're wrong or bad for doing it. Trust yourself, trust your heart. Trust your urges.

[04:14] Write Your Messy First Draft - Take 1

BETH BARANY: All right. 

So after that, It's really time to sit down and write your first draft. Now we are in the middle of our journey. 

I love this part. I love writing my first draft and I know now there is a lot of edits that will be coming. But we're really close to the midpoint here. 

So I encourage you to write your messy first draft. It's going to be messy. It can be out of order. It could be bad grammar, bad punctuation. It can be a mess. 

Now, of course you can polish it up as you go, if that's your inclination, but you don't have to. I tend to reread the day's work that I did the day before. And make very simple corrections, but I do not allow myself to change the story because the story is not yet formed. 

You really need to trust that it's going to be something. And you may not know what it is until it's done. So you really need to learn how to trust your vision, trust your feelings, and really trust the process and refine that process as you go. 

Meaning- how you get to the writing phase of your day. And how you get into it, how you talk to yourself when you're writing, and then how you finish. 

I always encourage people to finish the writing, for that day with a sense of accomplishment and notice how much did you do or how many words or how much time, or even how much physical space on the page did you take up.

Whatever you can do to count the fact that today you did some writing. And that is going to add up. Trust me.

[05:46] Take 2 to 95 - The Editing Phase

BETH BARANY: All right, let's get on to the editing phase. I call this phase: take two to 95. I called the writing phase. Take one. And now we are in Take two to 95. 

Who knows how many revisions your book can have? Now you can have one revision or two revisions, but most writers have lots of revisions.

When you write, you write for yourself. When you revise, you revise for your readers.

Writing is rewriting. 

Every writer will tell you that across discipline them all the different kinds of writers out there. Here's where you get to really deepen, discover and uncover and learn the art and craft of making writing, making narrative prose, making the words on the page, do the work of telling a story, do the work of fiction. 

[06:35] Give and Receive Feedback

BETH BARANY: Here's also where you're going to learn how to give and receive feedback. It's a very important key and piece to being a successful writer is learning how to give and receive feedback. 

The sooner you can get yourself to this phase around feedback, the more you will advance and get to your goal. I've seen it time and time again. 

[06:54] Heart-Centered Marketing

BETH BARANY: Next you want to trust your heart while you do your marketing. You can start that in the editing process. 

You want to clarify your values, clarify your emotional impact for your readers, and build a community of like hearted peers, really important. 

[07:11] Launch and Publish

BETH BARANY: Lastly in this roadmap you want to launch and publish your novel. Yay. Congratulations. Not only for yourself, but for your eager audience and learn how to create a sustainable marketing practice that works for you. 

So then you can get to your end goal of having a successful, published novel, science fiction or fantasy novel that you are excited about.

[07:37] Stay tuned for the deeper dive

BETH BARANY: All right. That's it for this week, stay tuned while I break into deeper detail, more detail each step in the Trust Your Creative Heart Roadmap.

You got this. 

Write long and prosper.