In another post where I discuss moving from an aspiring writer to a writer, I mentioned that there was one hiccup. There was a part of me that was still uncomfortable with the concept of being a writer.
Several years ago, I studied a discipline called Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). One of the things that it taught me was to look at my consciousness as made up of many parts. Each part has an agenda. They also have their own opinion about things which may not agree with the opinions of the other parts. I learned to work with these parts to make desired changes in myself.
So I wanted to get all of these parts in agreement as to my writer identity. Now I could’ve done some deep work, but I just really didn’t want to know if I had some hidden Mommy or Daddy issues to address. I decided to try some reframing with these parts. Reframing would let them think about things in a different way while giving me the same result.
I asked all of the parts that were uncomfortable with calling me a writer to get together. Then I gave them the following talk:
“I understand that you don’t like calling me a writer. Would you be OK with calling me a storyteller? Storytellers use different means to tell their story. Some sing, dance or act. I prefer to use written words to convey a story. Would you be comfortable calling me a storyteller that uses written words?”
And I got a unanimous “Yes”.
Since then I’ve referred to myself as a “storyteller (aka writer)” and I get no push back. Those parts that were uncomfortable have been fine with this identity. It makes life easier when all parts are in agreement.
I use reframing often. If it’s a crappy day outside I tell myself that it’s a great day to stay inside and write. If I’m stumped writing a particular chapter, I tell myself that the solution is still cooking inside of me and not ready to come out so I go do something else. If I feel frustrated that the book is not progressing as fast as I’d like it to, I remind myself that it is further along than the last time I was frustrated about it.
There are a lot of ways to change the way that we think about something so that we can keep going in a positive direction. And that’s just how this storyteller that uses written words is going to finish their first novel. 🙂