Arena Julia

My writing process is very intuitive. In the past, I have worked professionally as a Spiritual Intuitive. When I began that work, I channelled and recorded many of my dreams, visions and insights through writing. So this created a habit of recording the memories of my subconscious, and the insights of my super-conscious (or higher Self). I continue to use that written channelling now, when I am in the early phases of a new project, and also, throughout, when revising. So for me, the first draft of my writings has been less about thorough planning and more about letting the characters, incidents and words just come, from a level of consciousness other than my conscious mind. Of course, this is a skill available to any writer, or to anyone in any field. Musicians, artists, great sports people, mountain climbers - any endeavour which requires something more than the usual day to day Self - tends to be achieved from this space. It is often described as stream of consciousness, or being 'in the zone'. Daydreaming, meditation, recording dreams - these are ways to train the mind to do that for you. For me as a writer, this creative experience, where the conscious mind is put aside, and the other parts of my mind take over, is both a wonderfully surprising experience and an essential part of my process. I strongly believe that the conscious mind should not interfere, or try to plan and lead the writing, for it would overpower the individual psyches of the characters, inhibiting their unique path, and their evolving as they should. My characters have their own souls, their own motivations and lives. As a writer, I feel a need to honour that. So I take my rightful place as scribe, and my conscious mind takes its place, when the time is right, as editor. My subconscious nourishes the characters with the raw materials of life. My higher Self is the conduit through which the genuine soul of the story is channelled and filtered. This higher Self is also where that raw material is transmuted into transformations such as compassion, deep insight and selfless sacrifice - and so, the evolution of character.

Strangely, perhaps, as I write fiction, my favourite books are more in the field of esoteric non-fiction, self development, and neuro-psychology. But these subjects do relate to esoteric and spiritual practices, development and growth of character, and understanding inner processes, forming a groundwork in a way, for my writing. Deepak Chopra's 'Seven Spiritual Laws of Success', and his 'The Way of the Wizard', Wayne W. Dyer's, 'The Power of Intention' and 'Your Sacred Self', James Hillman's 'The Soul's Code', and a book entitled 'The Five Stages of the Soul' by Harry R. Moody, and David Carroll, all changed my life in some way, by changing my outlook, and my expectations about future possibilities. Now I clearly know that possibility is limitless, and intention and action are powerful tools for bringing those possibilities into reality. In some way, it all relates back to our soul's journey in this lifetime.