Where would a writer be without their subconscious?

What chance would a story have to be written without the help of the subconscious to tell it?

Writers kid themselves into thinking that they are the sole architects of their creations, when really, they aren’t.

Sure, a writer does most of the leg work, puts in the sweat and tears, but it’s the subconscious that works the real magic, that turns the writers industriousness and hard work into something that is magical and bigger even than the writer themselves.

Bottom line, the subconscious is vitally important in the creation process.

So do how do we nurture it so as to maintain it?

What can we feed it to make it stronger?

Acknowledge it for one thing. Make conscious contact with it, say hello, tell it how great it is to be working with it. Treat your subconscious like the worlds most precious gift because to a writer and any other artist, it is.

After that, cultivate it. Feed your subconscious with conscious goals and desires.

Tell it what direction you want to go in.

If you’re a writer who wants to write in a certain genre or write a certain type of story, pass on everything you know about it to your subconscious.

Once you’ve fed it everything you know, leave it alone to do its work. Try not to influence it any further.

You need trust in the creative process for this to work. If your subconscious senses you don’t trust it to give you what you want, it won’t. It’s stubborn like that. You need to have faith in it for it to do its job. It’s a bit like a spiteful god in that way, refusing to help until its existence and power are recognized.

When your subconscious inevitably gets back to you with ideas and images and whatever else related to what you want, you need to be grateful and show your gratefulness by making use of what your subconscious sends you.

At the very least, evaluate its ideas or it won’t send you too many more.

Sometimes you’ll have to wait a while on the right idea, sifting through other good but not suitable ideas until the right one comes along.

I can’t tell you what these ideas are because they would be dependent on you and what you want.

For me they come in the form of scenes for the novel I’d be writing, or a line of dialogue, or a plot twist, or some information about a character. Anything related to what I’m writing or planning to write.

All these ideas come with very little coaxing from me. I merely think about what I want or need to move forward and then trust that my subconscious will take care of it somehow, by telling me what I need to know.

It’s a wonderful relationship if you treat it right, with respect and gratitude, as you would any person in life who tried to help you.

You are probably in a good relationship with your subconscious already. I merely wrote this as a reminder to myself and to you how important the subconscious is and why it should be properly used and cared for.

Consider yourself reminded.

Further Resources

Here’s some videos and links on the subconscious mind to help you deepen your knowledge and understanding.

Subconscious – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia