Creative Visualization . . . Who Knew?

Alright, I know that to some, the concept of creative visualization may seem far-fetched. Trust me, I thought so, too. I probably sounded something like Charlie in Breaking Dawn when Bella tells him to picture her healthy, to which he says sardonically, “You want me to visualize?” Yeah, that was me. Skeptical.

I’d heard people talk about visualization before, and initially thought the whole idea sounded a little hokey. Then, I started working on Once Broken. Easily the biggest creative project I’ve ever tackled, the task was overwhelming in the beginning. But I took a step back and tried focusing on the end goal. What was an abstract idea began to take shape, and then I realized what I was doing . . . I had clumsily stumbled into using that hokey technique.

So, I put it to work. I visualized my overall goal: Finish the book. Easy enough, right? Then, I started to give my goal more detail: How I wanted to publish, how I wanted it to look, how I would feel when this monumental task was finished. On the days when I felt like I’d never be finished or when I just didn’t feel like writing, I’d whip out this handy little mental picture and keep plugging away.

 

Here’s why I think it works (at least why it did for me) . . . Picturing your ultimate target and giving it life is a huge positive in a sea of negative. You feel like you’ll never finish – or worse – maybe people will hate it when you do. Visualization is a positive activity that helps overcome those obstacles. Is visualization the key to success? No way. There’s also hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and many glasses of wine. But visualization is a useful tool to have in your arsenal.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go visualize making it onto the bestseller lists . . .