When I was little, there was a period when so much attention in my family was going somewhere else. And somewhere inside that experience, I started feeling like I didn’t matter. 💔 😔 Like I wasn’t seen. 😔 Like I wasn’t heard. 😔 Like no matter what I did, it wouldn’t make enough of a difference for someone to notice. I understand that differently now than I did as a child. 👧 And I think it’s one of the reasons I care so much about stories. 📚 Because being heard matters to me. Being seen matters to me. Sitting with someone and actually hearing what s/he’s trying to say matters to me. That doesn’t mean I believe every writer has my childhood story. You don’t. Your experiences are yours. ❤️ But I do know what it feels like to want your existence, your experiences and your voice to matter. So, when someone comes to me with a story she has carried for years, I don’t want my first response to be: Okay, let’s shove this into a template. I want to understand it. Why this story? Why now? What are you actually trying to say? Who do you hope receives it? Because before we start deciding what the book should look like... I want to hear the person who is trying to write it. ✍️ What do you wish someone would ask you about your story? 🤔

As many of you may know, it’s helpful taking a step back from work and to be in the moment. Enjoy life! That’s what I’m doing! My family and I have made it to Portugal and we’re planning on going on a road trip through this country! Yay! 😁 Starting in Porto and working our way down to Faro! Anyone here from Portugal!? 🇵🇹 Or anyone like to travel?? 🧳

The reason I'm sharing this story is because @Justin Yip helped me understand the importance of sharing this through Authority Artifacts. Thanks Justin! ❤️ When I worked on my first book, part of me thought I was crazy. Writing a book felt huge. 👀 Still, the story kept calling me to write it, so eventually I did. I hired an editor for around $2,500 and remember sitting in front of my computer looking through what she sent back. My heart dropped. 💔 There were all these things she saw as wrong. My heart clenched, I felt myself closing off, and it was hard to breathe. 💨 At first, I thought maybe I just had a problem taking constructive feedback. She was the editor. She knew more than I did. So I gulped down my fears and decided she knew best. I made many of the changes she suggested. There were some things I couldn't bring myself to change because they felt too wrong. And I'm glad I kept them. ❤️ But with some of the other changes, I felt gross. 😷 Unauthentic. It didn't feel completely like my story anymore. And I learned another lesson the expensive way. 💰 This was a picture book, and I'd had the illustrations created before the editing process. Once the story changed, some of the pictures had to be created again. Then I ran into problems formatting the book. 📕 I kept trying, hiring help where I could, and ultimately spent around $5,000 on the book without making that money back. 💵 I'm still thankful I wrote it. 😊 That experience taught me lessons I carry into the way I guide writers today. Looking back, I would ask that version of myself something different before worrying about illustrations, formatting, publishing, or promotion: What do you want this story to do for you? How do you want the reader to feel? When a child hears this story, what do you want them to leave with? That's part of why I teach Story First™. A framework can give you direction. An editor can point out something you haven't seen. A team can help you through parts of the process you don't have to carry alone.

We have more people coming in and I can't wait to hear more about their stories and about them! Let's give them a warm welcome! Please share a bit about yourself and for the ones that have been in here, introduce yourself, have a little chat! This writing community is about supporting one another and letting a writer see that they're not alone!! WE ARE HERE! 😀 AND if you feel that you want to get more support, DM me or book a time so that we can see what your next step could be. WELCOME! @Tasha Green @Carolina Garcia Puche @Rodrigo Rios @Day Leitao @Shirley Francois @Carrie Crews @FrancE Desrosiers