Last week, I was wrestling with how to teach my public relations students about writing to impact change. I looked in the usual places for inspiration on the subject (Google & the bookstore), but found very little. Suddenly it occurred to me that I have a lot of friends who, on a daily basis, are writing to impact change. Why not ask them? And so I did. I sent out an email to a bunch of people whose writing I respect and here are the answers that came back to me:
Follow the fear. When I have something to say that I’m afraid to say because of the reaction I fear I might get, that’s when the writing has the most impact. And I just have to sit down and write it. If I overthink, the power dwindles. – Renae Cobb
Tell a personal story about an experience that impacted you in a profound way. A moment in which you knew with absolute certainty, this is the person I am meant to be. – Margaret Sanders
1. Start with: “I want to tell you that…”
You’re going to erase that little line once you’re done your piece, but I find if I start with that bit of sentence, my writing is more focused on what I really want to say, and what I really want the reader to remember.
2. Once you think your piece is polished, go back and cut 20 percent more. Most of us write too much and you would be surprised how much you can cut without losing your message. Your message will be more clear because you’ve taken out all the extraneous words. If you are really long winded, you might even need to cut 30 percent.
3. Believe what you are writing about. Bullshit doesn’t make for behavioural change. – Michele Visser-Wikkerink
Think of a time in your life when someone said something to you and it
changed everything. It may have been as simple as yelling out “Stop!” as you
were about to step into the street. It may have been hearing that someone
believed in you. Or that they didn’t. For me, it was when my boyfriend
looked at a sign for theatre auditions and said to me, “Hey, you might like
that!” It changed my life forever. What words have changed your life? – Jamie Ridler
Write from your own experience.
Don’t be afraid to share your wisdom.
Be transparent with your process, warts and all.
Invite people to consider, rather than trying to get them to change.
Share your stories, because they are the best way to make a point. – Julie Daley
Learn how to network if you really want to make an impact as a writer. It’s not a direct “writing skill,” and many writers are very introverted, so writers often don’t appreciate the importance of networking if you want to impact behavioural change with your writing. There’s so much writing out there these days that it’s hard to get your writing noticed – even if you’ve put a lot of careful thought into writing catchy headlines/ book titles! You can write amazing “impactful” stuff, but if nobody is reading it, it’s not going to effect behavioral change. The thing that’s most likely to get people to notice your writing is relationships. People who know and like you will be more likely to read your stuff – and to pass it on to others. And when they read your stuff, the people who know and like you are much more likely to read your writing with an open mind and to take action.
–Cath Duncan
Reframe, reframe, reframe….what is the inherent possibility or potential
and how can your words and perspective illuminate this? This of course
presumes potential exists and that pattern emerges from chaos. – Katharine Weinnman
Write it for the people not for yourself. – Jarda Dokoupil
Consider these questions:
Who are you talking to?
What do you want to say to them?
What are you feeling?
What qualities do you want to infuse your self and your world with?
How can you be the change you want to effect? – Hiro Boga
I think if you come to the page thinking “I have to impact positive change” you’re going to shut yourself down immediately.
I think the most important thing is to TELL THE TRUTH, because the truth speaks for itself. Open, honest, vulnerable writing will influence readers. – Susan Plett
1. Meet people where they are – make sure they feel GOTTEN – empathetic messages before emphatic messages
Understand change has stages
2. Give baby baby baby steps
3. Share specific stories, “before and after” style that help people see themselves both now and in the positive future you’re inviting them to – Michele Lisenbury Christensen
My writing advice is to be brave enough to make yourself vulnerable in your writing—while still being honest and respectful to yourself—and your words will resonate on a deeper level with others. When I write on my blog I write for myself with the intention that by sharing it–my words will touch others. I try to never write at them–but to include them in my thought process. When I sit down to write I always think “what do I want to talk about”…never “what do I want to write.” – Connie Hozvicka
Use fewer words. You may not like it that most Americans read at an 8th
grade level and have the attention span of a gnat, but that’s the reality.
If you want to communicate you have to live by it.
Create strong metaphors. If it’s wimpy, don’t use. It it’s stunning it will
stick. – Rachelle Mee-Chapman
Here is one quote I just found yesterday that I posted on my facebook.
“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” ~Arthur Polotnik
As I am editing my draft memoir I am finding it very important to be clear and to use truthful words. Sometimes I find it extremely difficult to find the words to put together a sentence that will make an impact, but then I sit down to the page and take a deep breath and trust the process, I trust that I am using the right words to make the impact that is intended. To tell the story and hopefully it will be remembered.
I find it helpful for me to read out loud what I have written, to see if it makes sense, are the words I am using, choosing the right fit for the intention? I like this process. – Marion Ann Berry
I thing the one most important thing new writers need to learn is how to tell a good story – in order to impact behavioural change, as a writer, I need to create emotional impact. To create emotional impact I need to create the opportunity for emotional resonance and, although there are other ways, a well-constructed story is one of the most effective ways to do that. Ultimately I’m interested in behavioural change that results from us becoming more connected – more connected to our true selves, other people and everything that lives and grows in our natural environment. In my experience that kind of connection can be enhanced through good story-telling. Examples could range from a well-told story about where the trash that we throw out actually goes and whose lives it effects, through to a woman sharing her birthing story. – Marriane Elliot
TELL THE TRUTH! Write in vulnerable ways. Write from your soul. Write from your own experience – or even lack thereof. Just acknowledge to us that your words are grounded in your own passions, doubts, strengths, weaknesses, questions, hopes, fears, etc.
Of course, this has to be appropriate to audience, but I think somehow, no matter the subject or the context, the best writing comes from the heart. When I read that kind of writing, I am changed. Over and over again. – Ronna Detrick
And here are some that I added:
1.Write for the intellect AND the emotions. If you convince both, you can impact change. If you convince only one, the other may put up roadblocks.
2. Show don’t tell. Show me why the change will benefit my life. Don’t just try to convince me with impressive stats.
3. Focus on possibilities. Show me someone just like me who’s made the change and is happy about it. Make it seem attainable.
In the past few years, my art journal has become an important part of my self-discovery and my way of processing the world. There are pages in it that represent some pretty significant highs and lows in my life.
Because it holds such a special place in my life, I am thrilled that my dear friend Connie Hozvicka (a contributor to my e-book) has invited me to participate in 21 Secrets: an art journal playground. I have already produced the video in which my secret is revealed, and it is one of the most tender, vulnerable pieces of work I have ever produced. I know that it will resonate for a lot of you.
If you sign up for 21 Secrets, you’ll learn art journal secrets from an impressive circle of people. Here’s a little video that will give you a small taste of what you can expect from my workshop.
My friend (and one of the contributors to my e-book) Tara Sophia Mohr is teaching an intensive leadership and development workshop for women who want to let go of fear and learn to play big. I know that it will be an awesome experience and I hope that you will consider being part of it. Tara is full of wisdom and strength and I know that she will introduce you to some amazing ideas and will help you unearth some possibilities you may not have even dared to dream about.
I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth mentioning again. Six months ago, I signed up for Teach Now by Jennifer Louden and Michele Lisenbury Christensen (another contributor to my e-book) and it changed my life. I was just about to start teaching my first writing course at university, and this workshop had a huge impact on the kind of teacher I became. Teach Now is about offering your authentic self in your teaching and creating a safe container for learning to happen for your students AND for yourself. It had such a significant impact on me that I still listen to the podcasts & interviews on my iPod. Their free call is on March 24th and you really should sign up if you do any kind of teaching, or ever dream of doing it. (If you can’t make it, they’re very good at recording calls and sharing them later.)
My Newsletter
I’ve just prepared my very first newsletter and it will be going out on Monday. If you haven’t signed up for it yet (and gotten your free copy of “Sophia Rises: changing the world through feminine wisdom“), be sure to add your email to the box on the right. In this newsletter, I’m talking about whether it is helpful to differentiate between feminine wisdom and masculine wisdom. To illustrate my point, I’ve shared a few stories, including one about how a black man from Africa (my friend ‘Segun) helped this white woman from Canada birth an e-book about feminine wisdom, and one about how we were rescued recently when our van got stuck trying to navigate a huge snowdrift (yes, it’s still winter around here).
Yesterday, I was angry. So angry, in fact, that I used the words “PISSED OFF” in my Facebook status. That’s rare for this careful communicator and polite Canadian.
I was angry because very few people are paying attention to the women who were gunned down at a peaceful protest in Ivory Coast. The media gave it only a cursory notice, and there has been no public outcry.
WHERE IS THE PUBLIC OUTCRY?!
I wanted women protesting in the streets. I wanted outraged media commentators taking a stand. I wanted public figures taking this on as their cause. (I later learned that Hillary Clinton spoke out against it.)
I wanted to see the public outrage, and yet I didn’t know where to start to be a catalyst for it. I made a feeble attempt (I expressed my rage to some public media figures, imploring them to talk about it), but I really didn’t know how to raise my voice for the cause.
Steeped in that rage and frustration, I went to my art class. (Yes, I know how bourgeois that sounds – the privileged white North American woman goes to art class while less privileged black women die in the streets trying to impact change. The irony is not lost on me.)
I went to art class with those women in my heart and I knew I needed to at least do something to honour them, even if I couldn’t spread my rage around the world like a wild fire.
And so I painted. A mandala is what emerged. Six trees for six women (I later found out there were seven). Six trees growing from entangled roots. Growing up through their blood. Growing and providing hope and shelter. Growing into something new and fertile and good. Growing the way I hope their stories grow – into positive forces for change.
I don’t entirely know what the mandala means, but I let the art emerge that needed to emerge.
a mandala for the women of Ivory Coast
This afternoon, I walked past the neighbours’ house to find that they had cut down two big, beautiful (and old) trees. It rattled me. Deeply. I wanted to sit on the stumps and cry.
I don’t know how the two things are related, but it feels like they are. Both made my rage flare up. Life was cut short and I feel powerless. After seeing the raw tree stumps I read this in an article about the murdered women:
Mariam Bamba, 32, picked up a tree branch next to one of the blood stains on the pavement where the women were felled by gunfire.
“This leaf is all that they were carrying when they were killed,” she said.
I’d already painted my mandala when I read that. I was struck with the poignancy of it – I was moved to paint trees, and the hopeful women who lost their lives trying to impact change were carrying tree branches.
This rage is not over, though it has settled some. I will look for other ways to remember and honour the women who died. Those women are our sisters, our mothers, and our daughters. Their death matters to us all.
What ideas do you have to honour them and help their stories grow into strong trees?
Last weekend, I was in a horrible place. Old demons and old stories were playing havoc with my mind. I was worried about money, craving the attention of people who seemed to be ignoring me, telling myself I was failing in the self-employment journey, wishing my writing had more influence, and just all-in-all not having too many pleasant thoughts wandering around the ol’ grey matter. On top of that, I was having horrible, ugly, death-filled dreams that clung to me long after I’d woken.
In the most vivid of the dreams, I was gradually killing myself. Each day I was consuming small amounts of some substance that I knew would eventually kill me, but I was never quite sure which day it would work. Eventually my roommate, a dark figure dressed in dominatrix attire, decided to speed up the process and rammed a truck into a pillar supporting the balcony I was standing on. I plunged to a bloody death. I woke from the dream not sure whether the sobbing was real or part of the dream.
Trying to shake the ugliness, I went for a walk to the bookstore. Once again, the demons whispered in my ear “You’re not good enough. You’re failing.”
Halfway to the bookstore, the voice of Sophia God finally broke through the din. “It’s not about you,” She said. “Stop taking everything so personally and just let me do the work I need to do through you.” The words shook me out of that self-absorbed place.
On Tuesday, I woke up early, excited about launching my e-book. Even before I launched the post about it, there were several subscribers who’d shown up after I’d posted the sign-up box the night before. After the post was launched, a steady stream of people started showing and downloading the book. Not just a stream – a rushing river. Before long, I had to increase my email database subscription beyond the 250 I got with the free trial period.
It was truly remarkable how many people showed up hungry for what the e-book has to offer. Not only were they downloading it, but they were tweeting about it, blogging about it, and sending me the most tender and beautiful e-mails. The response that touched me the most was from Qualla, a young woman I’d met at ALIA (and whose 19th birthday I helped celebrate on a dock after kayaking in the Atlantic Ocean), who wrote her very first blog post in response to the e-book. (It’s beautiful – you really should read it.) I was ecstatic. Something I’d created was meaningful to people!
But then the voice came again. “It’s not about you,” She said. “Stop taking everything so personally and just let me do the work I need to do through you.”
Right. It’s not about me. Just like I can’t get too personally attached to the negative stuff, I can’t get too personally attached to the positive stuff. This is the work God wants to do through me and I just have to be a willing conduit. Letting my head get too bloated won’t serve the work.
In the end, it’s about surrender. It’s what the dream was about – surrendering the old self that doesn’t serve me anymore. Surrendering to the Mystery. The Divine. The God of my understanding.
I have to keep surrendering day after day – whether I’m flying high or dragging my feet. It’s not about me.
Just like the butterfly, I can’t grow wings without the surrender, without the chrysalis. I can’t soar to the heights unless I’m willing to let go of the ground.
I am SO excited to announce the launch of my free e-book – “Sophia Rises: Changing the world through feminine wisdom”
All you have to do to get the e-book is to go over to that box on the right hand side of your screen and add your email address to my list. (Don’t worry – I have no intention of inundating you with emails. I’ll just be sending out periodic updates about what’s going on around here.)
This is no ordinary e-book. And it’s not just a collection of my thoughts. It’s so much MORE!
It is a beautiful collaboration of 21 amazing people who are all thinking about how they can make the world a better place through writing, dance, yoga, international development, art, leadership workshops, conversations, music, circle council, and a whole lot more.
It’s a global effort – contributors hail from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, the Czech Republic, and all over Canada and the U.S.
On top of all that, it’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Thanks to art from some of the contributors and the amazing design work of my friend Segun Olude, its beauty will inspire you even if you never read the words (but you really should).
The painting on the front was done by me, inspired by a painting I saw at a local retreat centre, painted by Mary Southard.
Here’s a sneak peak – a piece that I contributed…
an open letter to my daughters
Sophia Leadership was never meant to be a solo journey. Right from the beginning, when I began to dream it up around a table with two other women, one man, some coloured markers and a collaborative doodle art piece, I envisioned it being a place where wisdom of every kind is welcomed and we all dream of a different world together.
With that dream in the back of my mind, I started putting out the call to people who had inspired me in recent years – people I’d met in my travels, people I’ve worked with on design projects, people I’d had delightful conversations with at various learning events, and people whose books and blogs had inspired me. Twenty of those people responded and their wisdom BLOWS ME AWAY!
You really need to read this.
You really need to let these ideas soak into your heart.
It will change you and inspire you.
It will help you dream bigger dreams about how feminine wisdom (in ALL of us – women AND men) can change the world.
Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day and I can’t think of a better day to launch this project!
Here are the contributors: (I am SO honoured to be in the company of such an amazing circle of people!)
AND here are some other people writing related posts. If this has inspired you, please add your post below so that these ideas can spread even further!
