The Thing Nobody Wants to Tell You About Writing
Because science frowns on it.
Learning the art and the craft of good writing is fabulous and necessary. But I have a truth-bomb to launch at you.
In the end, all craft and all scholarship of the art is only mechanical.
Something beyond craft is needed, and that something comes from the invisible realm.
The Only Good Writing I’ve Ever Done Never Came From Me
For many years I engaged in a correspondence with a colleague and friend, the writer Rick Bass. During one period we talked a lot about invisible forces in writing, and one day I received a letter from Rick with words scribbled on the envelope, a reply to something I’d asked him:
God? Buddha? The only good writing I’ve ever done never came from me but from someone else pushing my hand across the paper while I sat in the chair. Every time. It came from somewhere, for sure—and for sure not within. This—egos puff up like little balloons—and the thing, the godhead, drifts on, no longer liking the odor of the place. —
Listen at that: “The only good writing I’ve ever done never came from me….” God, that takes my breath away. Someone else was pushing Rick’s hand across the page.
Psychologist and author James Hillman, when asked to clarify this thing, this god,1 said,
“It doesn't necessarily have to involve an out-of-body experience during surgery, or the sort of high-level magic that the new age hopes to press on us. It's more a sensitivity, such as a person living in a tribal culture would have: the concept that there are other forces at work. A more reverential way of living.”
It Comes Without Us Realizing
Often we don’t know that we have entered the spirit world. Often we don’t know that an invisible force has touched our work.
We can, sometimes, recognize its presence after it has vanished and we have come to our senses. In exhilarating moments we glance back at our work—we read through it—we see something that we did not consciously create. We are brought to our knees. Something has been pushing our hand across the page.
Call it the muse. Call it a spirit guide. Call it an angel. Call it God.
Two worlds exist in parallel, the tangible world and the imaginal realm, this world and the other world. Every person has one foot in the “real world” and the other in the realm
of dreams
of coincidences
of gut instinct
of the feeling sense
of the subconscious
of ancestors
of interventions
of luck
of blessings.
Likewise, a good writer has one foot set firmly in the ink of the page and the other in the clouds.
Interventions come in the form of things like ideas or scenes or titles or words or entire pages appearing out of the blue.
You Can Invite it In
Look, most writers in the 21st century barely study craft. Most don’t apprentice the long years needed to get great writing that moves people. Even if they do get an MFA, most ignore magic. Nobody teaches it. (Stafford taught it, Bly taught it, Buhner taught it.)
If I sound judgmental, it’s because I am.
My father told me about a man who hung a horseshoe above his door. “You don’t really believe that works, do you?” someone asked him. The man replied, “It works, whether I believe in it or not.”
I say that to you.
So get your horseshoe hung above your writing room door. And do whatever else it takes to have that “someone else” pushing your hand across the page.
I’d Love to Hear From You
I’d love to hear how invisibles work in your writing practice or any thoughts you have on this idea of magic being an elemental force in great writing.
Win a Scholarship to Deb Bowen’s Animal Guides Class
Because I have to be out of town and cannot attend myself, I am offering a scholarship to Deb Bowen’s upcoming class, “Interpreting Your Personal Messages from Your Animal Guides.”
The class takes place Tuesday, September 12, 2023 in two sessions,
2-3:30 pm OR 8-9:30 pm Eastern US Time. It will be taught live via Zoom.
From Deb’s description: Hawk flies in front of your car. Dragonfly lands on your shoulder. Fox stares at you on your morning commute. Squirrel has something to tell you. Cardinal pecks at your window. Suddenly you’re seeing dolphin on television, on the internet, on magazine covers—everywhere! What are they telling you? Not information you can read in books or online, but messages they bring uniquely to you? You also know that there is one—maybe more—guide for you from the “animal kingdoms,” but you aren’t sure you know who or you don’t know how to connect with them.
This is what Deb is bringing you. The course includes her Animal Guides Report.
If you would like to enroll in this class and could use a scholarship, please contact her at
, and she will let you know what is needed.If you are interested in the class and don’t need a scholarship, here’s your link for more information.
Write From Your Archetypes
I will be teaching a mind-blowing class in late October called “Write From Your Archetypes.” This will be information you can’t get from books or websites. You won’t be able to get it anywhere because I am its creator.
Are you a sage? A jester? A magician?
Maybe a lover? A caregiver? A hero?
An explorer?
Each of us can claim a primary archetype and a few secondary ones, although all 12 of Carol Pearson's archetypes can be found within us all.
Jung believed that archetypes arise from the collective unconscious. They can be thought of as innate potentials or hidden forms that can be activated. You can put them to work for you.
In this 2-hour evening workshop we will run through a quiz so that you can begin to identify your archetypes. We'll take a turn with each one, to understand what it represents.
Then we'll dive into what your primary archetype can mean to you in terms of your writing and how it can be put to work at your desk.
You'll get examples of famous writing that comes from each archetype, as well as ideas on how to proceed in activating your hidden potentials.
The class convenes on Oct. 19 at 7 pm Eastern US Time live via Zoom. The cost is $25 per person. You’ll have to register through Eventbrite, and that link is here.
Learn your primary archetypes and how to use them as a secret tool to make your writing more energized.
1-Hour Journaling Earth is This Sunday by Donation
I’ve held space for narratives of earth-love and eco-grief for four Sundays now, and I’m doing it again this coming Sunday. The sessions have been stand-alone, and this will be the last session. The time is 5-6 pm Eastern US Time. The class is donation-based.
Registration is through Eventbrite.
These are designed for you to process thoughts and feelings about nature, especially disappearing nature, and especially grief.
We use flowwrites (starting with prompts), exercises (like write a letter to a specific child you know), guided meditations, PowerPoint presentations, breathing awareness practices, and readings.
The course has spawned lovely writing, including a poem that MK Creel of
published today and a reflection with gravitas that Misti Little published at.I hope you join me and us for the very last Journaling Earth session this upcoming Sunday, Sept. 10.
Work With Me
My American Nature Writing Masterclass will be starting on Oct. 9. This is the material I know front and back, in and out, like the back of my hand. I have a bunch of wonderful guest speakers to announce soon. More info is at my website.
Beginning Memoir | Write Your Own Story starts in October as well. These are hour-long sessions on Mondays at noon. More info is at my website.
I will be announcing soon an exclusive way to work with me—an elite offering for a very limited number of folks who highly value their writing and are deeply committed to the process. This will include months of instruction, deep-time one-on-ones with me, emphasis on building a rich and supportive community, and a multi-day retreat on the Georgia Coast. Please be in touch if you’d like to get on the list to receive the deets first.
Will You Share this With a Friend?
I’d love for you to think of a friend who would appreciate and enjoy this periodical for writers about writing. If you would forward it to them, I would be grateful. Many thanks.
For Paid Subscribers
I invite you to schedule 15 minutes with me to think through a quick issue or problem or idea you have. If you find yourself in need of a listening ear, let me know and we’ll schedule a time. I am deeply grateful for your financial patronage of The Rhizosphere.
In an interview with Scott London that published in The Sun Magazine, “From Little Acorns: A Radical New Psychology”
What is your preferred contact to schedule 15 minutes?
Yes. This is so true and so very magical. It takes so much trust to get out of the way. I almost always feel deep doubt.