Introspection as a discipline for writing how-to literature?

Very much so, if you are to become all you can be writing in that genre.

In odd moments of your spare time when you are not writing, think over what you think you know for sure, and then put it to the test in small ways. For example, your project is embroidery and you are utterly convinced that a certain style of cross-stitching (which is to be the cornerstone of your teaching) is well within the capability of any novice. But is it? And how can you confirm your conviction?

Visit the local reference library and access several books on the topic (you'll find plenty). Compare alternative viewpoints to establish if you are on the right track or if at this early stage you should re-think your strategy.

Writing how-to literature is niche-carving and to be certain that your exposition of a topic will be convincing, you must be forever in touch with your thoughts and feelings as you string together the basic tenets for construction.

CULTIVATING INNATE INTUITION

Introspection leads us neatly on to another essential discipline: making the most of your intuition. It is an incredible weapon to have at your command as a writer but intuition doesn't just happen and you cannot switch on at will until you first learn how to cultivate your innate power by listening to the inner voice that resides within.

There are several excellent works on the subject (including Trusting Your Intuition in the How-To-Books series) but here are some basic pointers to help you get started on your quest to reach the inner voice.

Slowing down and listening to the inner voice

Information is proliferating at such a frenzied rate today that even with personal computers and cellular phones (or perhaps because of them) your attention is stretched to the extreme. Not only do you have more facts about more diverse fields of information than ever before, you are also subject to a greater array of outcries and opinions.

Fortunately, beneath all the cacophony of the information age, the quiet truth about problem solving and decision making is always available to you. By learning to slow down and pay attention to what’s right under your nose, you have a chance to find your own authentic answers, unaided by media and technology. To do that you must build up your 'intuition muscle' and learn to center yourself in the present moment. It’s only at your core, in the here-and-now eye of the global information hurricane, that you can hear the inner voice.

How attuned are you to the subtle messages all around you?

Messages like those hidden behind your spoken communication.

There is guidance available to you at all times, just below the surface of logic, just after you stop pushing and striving, just before you jump to conclusions. By cultivating the ability to pause and be comfortable with silence, and then by focusing steadily and listening for the first sounds or feeling for first impressions, you can help your intuition wake up suddenly and enthusiastically, as if from a long winter’s nap.

In my own searching to cultivate the inner voice, I’ve learned to listen for the faintest of whispers, the nearly silent song. One of the most important skills in developing accurate intuition is the ability to tone down your domineering talk-addicted mind, which arrogantly thinks it knows how the world works without ever observing what’s happening in the freshly occurring present moment. To know clearly, you must learn to observe neutrally, and true observation can only take place with a silent mind.

Soften your awareness

Activating intuition always starts with a down gear shift into softness and silence. You’ll never receive accurate information with a chattering mind, clenched as tight as a fist. Recall a little later how you feel when you’re concentrating and worrying about finishing a chapter of your book in the time frame you've set yourself. Your brow is furrowed, you’re shackled to the task in hand, and you’re probably way ahead of yourself, anxious to achieve the intended goal.

This is your 'masculine mind' in operation; the kind of awareness men and women alike must use to achieve concrete results. You are in your linear, left-brained masculine mind so often, you’ve come to identify it as normal and you tend to forget that there is an equally powerful, complementary state of consciousness that is quiet, unhurried, highly creative and tension-free: the 'feminine mind', the right hand side of your brain. The feminine mind is not goal-oriented; it simply observes, includes, appreciates, and is present in whatever it notices.

Cultivate your intuition and it will serve you well in every writing assignment you undertake.

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