STORYTELLING / COACHING

How Writers and Coaches Can Make a Living with Great Life Stories

We have come to the Abyss. Help your clients write them out of it.

We are writers. We have all at some point heard of Joseph Campbell and his Hero’s Journey as a famous narrative format, I presume. Well, this idea, free for all writers and coaches to give their own spin to, is based on the Heroine’s and Hero’s Journey.

Let me share the opportunities I see for this idea. And then, my friends, you are free to do with it whatever you want. Making a living as a writer (or as a coach) is a dream for many of us. And assisting you to do just that is part of my purpose with a capital P.

The Heroine’s and Hero’s Journey

Okay, what’s the idea? In my story about my own Heroine’s Journey, I gave you already my thoughts about Campbell and the opportunities for authentic storytelling as a tool for awareness, personal development, and business presentation.

What’s the difference with Joseph’s original format? It’s not about the protagonist being female or male, although you might think so. So, what is it then? Well, I see two big differences:

• The protagonist in the heroine’s journey is living her/his life from the inside out. She is listening to her inner wisdom first before she takes action. And she is not just reacting to outside events with big deeds and fights. No, she takes in the catalysts that happen to her. She magically transforms them inside her own body. And then makes her next wise move
• Not one character in the story falls victim to cliches. As wise storytellers, we will be very aware of stereotypes and if we invite others to tell their stories, we make them aware as well

Nothing new here. Heather Jo Flores did a lot of great work on this aspect of storytelling. Credit where credit is due.

But what is the idea I’m building upon this work then? What is new and sprouted from my personal brain? Well, I’m rather excited to tell you because it could give you all a living and positively change our world at the same time.

Current Times

Well, if we have a close look at the storytelling format we see that at a certain point the heroine/hero reaches the Abyss. The moment in the story that everything changes. The point of no return.

Does it ring any bells? Does it remind you of a certain moment in time? Like right now? Everywhere around the world is Abyss now. And people are suffering. Wanting life to return to normal. And knowing in their hearts that normal wasn’t really that blissful for all of humanity either. So, change needs to happen if we really want to thrive. All of us.

And the protagonist has to make a choice. Does she stay stuck in her old ways? Or does she embrace fundamental changes in her life? Does she stop limiting herself and embrace her full potential helped by nature’s wisdom?

Does she start walking the pilgrim’s path? Embracing the not-knowing. Coming every day a step closer to the truth of life that we are humans living on a beautiful planet with abundant laws of nature and going on the path to find balance with biodiversity and with human diversity?

Those will be unique stories. All in their own way.

Opportunity for Writers and Coaches

For writers, there’s an opportunity here to interview people and write their life stories until now. Limiting stories people tell themselves will heal when the interviewer asks compassionate questions and they answer you honestly from their subconscious.

You don’t have to be a coach for that. You just have to be a compassionate writer with a feel for people and their stories.

Of course, you can spend a good part of the interview on the Abyss we are in right now. Don’t be afraid if people face their fears and feelings of loss. Tell them it’s okay to cry. Okay to feel lost. We all do.

And facing these feelings needs to happen before they will be able to go to the next stage, the left half of the heroine’s journey. From the Abyss to Gift of the Goddess. The future.

“It’s a myth that people who get on stage are all extroverts. We all have stories to tell and are just dying for people to listen.”

— Amy Saidman, head of SpeakeasyDC, in American Psychological Association

Coaches can go much deeper into this work of healing. You can help people heal their own limiting stories with whatever coaching methods you use. Many coaches who also write will know the power of journaling and intuitive writing. You can combine it all.

In narrative psychology, we know that stories are very important limiting factors for people. However, on the other side of the medal, stories can become expanding factors when they are healed and people make space for new stories to emerge.

Writing the Future

The next step is to help people write their own stories from the Abyss onward. The self-healing future.

You can make a format in which you help them dream about this resilient future. Go limitless. Make them realize what they really want from life. Keep in mind that often this is not the first thing they tell you. It will be a bit more hidden but can appear when you talk e.g. about the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying.

What are they?

1. “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

2. “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”

3. “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”

4. “I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”

5. “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”

— The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, by Bronnie Ware

Or you can make a format where you dream with entrepreneurs about their companies and the contribution they will have made to the world in the regenerative future. Their big why.

You can make a format in which they have a subscription to your services and they’ll come back every year to let you write the next part of their hero’s journey.

When Writing the Stories

Be aware when writing the stories, don’t be distracted by the long interviews. Long interviews might be needed for healing, but the storytelling can be cut down to a few catchy scenes. You are the writer, you have to make it into a compelling story that others want to read.

“Killing your darlings is about letting go of attachment to what you’ve written. It sounds pretty zen: letting go of your attachments. But that’s exactly what killing your darlings is all about.” — Melissa Donovan in Writing Forward

This is not only the advice for writers, it’s what we want our clients to do as well. Let go of attachments and write our future instead of staying stuck in the past.

You don’t have to write a book with your client, you can make a short story. It has the advantage that your client will have to make choices about what is important out of their past to drive the future forward. They have to let go of their attachment to the past.

Ask them questions. Who is their antagonist? What did they learn from this antagonist? Was it maybe not so much an antagonist, maybe more of a catalyst? Who is their wise helper? What was their call to adventure?

Also, discuss with them that life happens in cycles. There’s never just one story to tell. Personally, I always think that my life has 3 big cycles. My youth. My middle part of marriage and career. And my current part of gaining my wisdom and doing regenerative projects together with Mike.

All three cycles have different stories to tell. And inside the 3 cycles, there are many small cycles with different helpers and different catalysts.

So, record their past and their feelings (fear, anger, sadness, joy) during the Abyss. Chop them down to a few catchy scenes and make sure you leave enough space for the future to emerge.

Business Models

Wow, my writer and coaches friends. Do you see the opportunities I see? Here are some ideas for specific business models:

• Write stories with specific target groups: - Women in menopause Michele Thill? - Entrepreneurs in world-changing businesses Paul Myers MBA? - People who want to achieve abundanism with minimalism Trista Ainsworth? - Coloured people, Rebecca Stevens A.? Or just the opposite, write healing stories about the colonial past with your white European audience and help them visualize a future without racism?
• Make blog-written stories feel at home on a website and in a publication Keno Ogbo? I must confess, I think the term Great Life Stories came to my mind because of your life-changing project Tiny Life Moments
• Write a book called Great Life Stories. I won’t do it, I have other things to write. So be welcome and write this book with your own personal twist
• Use the format in the workplace Martine Weber to empower employees for their thriving future?
• Use the format in your wonderful, empowering Write Path 24/7 on Instagram in a certain way Henery X?
• Makes homes for the coaches and writers who will embrace the concept of Great Life Stories and create sounding boards or courses for new writers who want to embrace the concept
• Don’t write, but make little movies with clients and give them an empowering YouTube channel?
• Personally, I might use the idea to write very locally with groups of women who want to rewild their souls. Outside. Sensually connecting with nature. Using many exercises to strengthen their connections and listening muscles.

Your income streams can come from directly paying clients. But it can also come from successful YouTube channels, companies wanting employees to be empowered, course development, Medium/Vocal+/NewsBreak, book sales, new formats built on this one, etc.

Go loose, my dear friends. It’s yours to create with whatever you want.

There are just a few things I want you to keep in mind when you are creating your own personal version of Great Life Stories.

• You can give it your own title, your own twist. But the concept must remain open source. We are creating synergy here, my friends, so others should be allowed to build their new work/concepts upon ours
• In the interviews with your clients, I want you to remember three points of discussion: 1. their own inner wisdom. 2. their connections to other people. 3. their connections to nature and other species than humans.

You would make me most happy if some of your clients have a tree as a helper. A mountain, or an ocean. I sure did have helpers like that!

You know me, my friends. My personal focus is on making humanity realize that if we want abundance we have to stop being scared of human diversity, stop being scared of nature. We have to take up our wise roles as guardians of our planet. My stories will tell you how we can create this abundance with the scientific laws of nature. Mindshift and all. It’s definitely possible.

And in order for it to happen, we need the mindset of people to be on abundance, flow, and future. Instead of staying stuck in limiting thoughts of the past and fear for nature’s bacteria and mystery.

If nature and our planet are not part of our future and we keep focussing on controlling the future as rational humans who want only money, we are doomed.

Happy creating! Happy thriving in the future we’ll create together! And tag me if you want to show me what you’ve done with this idea. I’d love to stay informed!

Let me tag some of my friends on this platform, so you all have the opportunity to either do something with the idea yourself or tag others who might be willing to be a healing writer or coach with storytelling. Thanks, my friends, for spurring me on.

Selma Elisabeth Amy Rebecca Zelam Dew Tree Agnes Agnes Jenine Adelia Kaia Yael Maria CR Annelise Nicole Caroline Melissa Charlotte Gurpreet Lanu Aurora Annick Neha Noma Sherry Bill Kathryn Joe George Jessica B. A. Tony Rasheed Chowa FILZA Cigdem Amber Julia Primavera 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 Simona Tamela Jayne Infiniti Russ Salam Ravyne Fred Stuart Maria Sumera Ntathu Arthur Britni Dipti Daniella Helen Jo Ann Nicole Kim Priya J.J. Roz Jyssica Radha Upen Suzanne Terry Jill Karen ◦•●✿ Christina Kat jenny Dr. Christine Dennett iCanay.

Thank you, Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words. If you want to connect, you can find me somewhere on this beautiful planet. My hands in the soil and my gaze focused on the stars. Or you can find me via Linktree.

© Désirée Driesenaar