What kind of stories should writers submit?

Writers should write personal, intimate and engaging stories about their life experiences. There should be an element of overcoming obstacles, personal transformation and the evolution of their own consciousness. Their stories should also include the inspiration that led them to their new work/ vision for their lives and vision for a better world.

The Soul of an Emerging World project seeks personal and life stories from visionaries, known and unknown. Your story needs to be emotionally rich and experiential based on your own life experiences. The more intimate, the better. The key is authenticity and simplicity.

We seek to connect visionaries of all types through our commonality – a soul-filled journey through our fears, our doubts, our joys and our triumphs. The “vision” of each contributor is merely an important endnote to each person’s inspiring story of how they came to be where they are now.

We hope to offer a way for (1) the world-changer/cultural creatives to recognize each other not through traditional, cleverly-crafted marketing speak or intellectual adroitness, but through the beauty of poesy, lyricism, authenticity and vulnerability, and (2) those who are now ready to make the leap themselves into world-changing work to be encouraged and inspired by these deep, meaningful stories.

Our emphasis is not on contributors’ vision at the forefront, rather, we seek to explore the exquisite poetry of our collective tribulations and triumphs, our dark nights of the soul alongside our moments of transcendent epiphany, our sweet, naive bumbling alongside our dancing nimbly in balance, manifesting our visions in the world.

With that in mind, please note that that the stories chosen for inclusion in the books will feature an end piece with a succinct paragraph of the author’s vision, a bio and website link. This is an amazing opportunity to bring national and local attention to your vision, your work and your life.

A Guideline for Writers and “non-writers”

You will be writing a 500-3,000 word story based on your life, what you’re overcome and what inspires you now. Honesty, intimacy, specifics that paint a picture of who you are will go a long way in terms of selections for the book.

Now, forget about that and just write.

Get off the computer if you’re feeling stuck and pick up a good, old fashioned notebook and ballpoint pen.

Sit near a clock or check your watch. You are going to get “unstuck” by doing three timed writings for ten minutes each. A timed writing means that you keep your hand moving no matter what!

Here are some topics to jump start your creativity:

I remember………..

Home………..

My hometown…………..

My happiest day here………….

My hardest day here…………..

I love……….

I worry………….

At 2:00 in the morning………

The moment I saw my baby…………

First love…………..

Coming home……..

Moving on……..

Growing up…..

The first time…..

The last time…..

Side effects…..

The shadow of home…

The life I want to create…

The best sex…..

The kitchen table….

Family secrets…..

Saying goodbye….

My mother….

Betrayal….

My garden…..

The moon…

By the ocean….

The day that changed my life……

The life I want to create……

The world I envision for my children……….

Seven generations………

My most joyful moment……….

What I have changed……….

See if any of these inspire you. The most important thing when writing is to allow yourself to lose control. As the great writing teacher Natalie Goldberg says “follow your wild mind”. Don’t play it safe. Move to the place of raw emotion and energetic charge. That’s where your power is as a writer.

You are writing most importantly about your life, your journey and your vision for a better world. Your story should have three central aspects:

1) an aspect of your life story that is personal, intimate and authentic. The reader should feel that she has a sense of who you are and a bit of the “tone” or “vibration” that you express in your life.

2) an obstacle that you have come up against in your life (either internal, external or both) and that you have transformed or overcome

3) The vision that you are working to create in your life and the world. How did you come to stand where you are today? What is your grandest vision for your/ our future and how can you/we create it?

We will be accepting submissions through Dec.31, 2007. Each author’s bio and business/artist website of choice will be featured in the book and on the Soul of an Emerging World/Soul of a City/ Website.

Click here to download a .pdf of these guidelines.

For writing assistance or more information, please contact Tanya Taylor Rubinstein, Tanya@SoulofanEmergingWorld.com, or Maggie Duval, Maggie@SoulofanEmergingWorld.com.