Awakening Your Muse: Writing Coach Mark David Gerson
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Besides being an award winning author, Mark David Gerson fills a void in writing that stands out as an aha moment in education. Anyone with the call to write understands the spiritual and psychological undercurrents behind every word, whether fiction, poetry or journalism.
Stumbling across Mark David was a treasure trove for me, even as a professional writer. He asks multi-layered questions that will strengthen any writer who plumbs them, but more, he offers personal coaching to achieve that end.
“Do you want to write truth, the truth from which both powerful fiction and nonfiction arise? If you want to write truth, if you want to write words that will touch the deepest emotions and connections and truths of your reader, then you must write what your heart calls on you to write. You must go where you’ve never dared go before — in your writing, certainly; in your life, perhaps.
“…go for the jugular, for your jugular: Go for the demon you would run from. Go for the feeling you would flee. Go for that emotion you would deny. Once you put it on paper, you strip it of its power over you. Once you put it on paper, you free it to empower your work….You free it, as well, to empower your readers.”
Mark David Gerson has taught and coached writing as a creative and spiritual pursuit for more than 15 years in the U.S. and Canada, helping both novice and seasoned writers to deepen their creativity, move through creative blocks and answer their call to write.
He is the author of two award-winning books: The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write and The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy and has also recorded a 2-CD recording, The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers. His screenplay adaptation of The MoonQuest is slated for film production.
An editor, project consultant and script analyst, Mark David is also a popular speaker on topics related to creativity and spirituality. He currently lives in Albuquerque, where he’s working on a sequel to The MoonQuest.
VAJ: Mark David, you fill a void in writing education. When and how did you get started in this non-traditional type of education? What is the story behind your web pages?
- Mark David’s IPPY Award for 2009
Mark David: Thanks, Aggie. I supposed my unconventional approach comes from the fact that I hated writing and pretty much any creative pursuit all through school. Somehow, at some age, I got shut down creatively and continued to do my best to avoid having to write well into my teens.
In a sense, my Muse tricked me into becoming a writer. Or, rather, she pulled me along — “safe” step by safe step — until I was hooked.
It began in high school when I was volunteered to coordinate publicity for a school play and had to learn how to write press releases. That PR-related writing continued through college and into my first jobs out of university. From there I ultimately moved into newspaper and magazine work as a freelance writer and editor. It was during that period that a colleague somehow talked me into attending a writing workshop.
Until then, my stereotyped view of writing workshops had involved public humiliation: You’d read what you’d written and would then be viciously critiqued. This workshop was nothing like that. It was nurturing, supportive and creatively awakening, and it became the foundation for my coaching and for everything I’ve taught and written about writing ever since.
The teaching and coaching ultimately led to my book, The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write and its companion recording, The Voice of the Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers (I used often guided meditation as a tool in my writing classes and workshops). It also led to my blog, The Voice of Your Muse, which is full of tools, tips and inspiration for writers.
I also have a personal web site and a blog more related to personal/spiritual growth. These are not unrelated to my work with writers, as I strongly believe that life and creativity are intrinsically linked, which, of course, feeds right back into my nontraditional approach!
VAJ: What type of writer most commonly comes to you for coaching? Fiction, poet, journalist?
Mark David: I’ve worked with all sorts of writers — both as a coach and in my classes and workshops. My approach transcends genre and experience level. Having said that, though, I tend to attract writers who are open to writing from a deep inner place and who are prepared to express themselves authentically. I work best with writers who see writing as more than a job, but as something that is a vital part of their self-expression.
VAJ: Are your coaching sessions only for the novice with an urge to write, or do you work with long-established professional writers too?
Mark David: Again, my clients and students come from the full spectrum — from novices who don’t believe they can write to published authors. I work a lot (though not exclusively) with people experiencing creative blocks. These can express themselves equally as an inability to get going, an inability to keep going or an inability to complete. Writers at all levels of experience have these issues, and all have benefited from working with me.
VAJ: In a nutshell, how would you explain your offerings to the writer or would-be writer who wonders if your course is for them?
Mark David: The first thing I like to point out is that I offer no single course or program. I work intuitively with each individual (or, in the case of a class, each group) to discern their particular needs. No two coaching series are alike. For that matter, no two of my classes are alike — even those that carry the same name. In fact, I’ve had students take the same class with me multiple times, because they know each experience will be unique.
Perhaps the most important thing I share with prospective coaching clients is that my work as a writing coach often intersects with my work as life coach. As I said earlier, life and creativity are inextricably linked. Our writing issues are often expressions of our life issues. If a client truly desires to get to the root of the former, he or she must be prepared to also deal with the latter.
Of course, not all coaching issues are deep issues. More often than not, though, they are. Even something as simple as making time for writing can relate to how we make time in our lives for ourselves.
VAJ: Your title is “Coach.” Do you spend personal coaching time with your students in workshops, over the phone, teleseminars? How exactly are your courses set up?
Mark David: I call myself a “coach,” but I also see myself as a guide and catalyst and I work with people in whatever ways that time, logistics and technology permit. Most of my coaching clients are not local; even when they are, I often conduct sessions over the phone. It’s just more convenient for everyone. While I still offer most of my classes and workshops in person, I have offered teleseminars in the past and am now exploring video-conferencing technology so as to make my workshops and classes more widely available.
- Moriarty Book Signing
VAJ: Mark David, when a writer first starts working personally with you, where is the very starting point at which you begin?
Mark David: The starting point is the writer him- or herself. As every session and series of sessions is unique to each writer’s needs and issues, there is no common starting point, other than identifying what’s going on for each individual and responding accordingly. Creativity is not about formulas and repeating what’s been done before. It’s about invention and individuality. Therefore, there are rarely boilerplate solutions, even when dealing with something as common as writer’s block.
VAJ: Mark David, you coach us to delve into our spiritual and psychological sides. How far do you take your students into the practicalities of writing?
Mark David: As far as they need to go! I’m happy to focus on craft and technique if that’s where the session or class needs to go. But even there, clients and students often find my take to be nontraditional! For example, my attitude toward editing is much more intuitive and respectful than most conventional approaches, which you can probably tell from my workshop on the topic, which I call “The Heartful Art of re-Vision.”
VAJ: Based on past students, just how effective are your sessions towards becoming a professional writer versus a self-aware writer?
Mark David: Unless you choose to treat writing as a 9-5 job divorced from passion and calling, the road to being a successful professional writer begins by being a self-aware writer. The subtitle of my book says it all: “answering the call to write.” I work best with writers who feel that profound call and are ready to answer it. If they’re not, I may not be the best coach for them.
VAJ: For the writer or would-be writer reading this and still wonders if your sessions are for them, what would you say.
Mark David: The catchphrase I use on my book and in most of my work with writers is, “You’ll never feel the same about writing again.” If you’re ready to write from the heart, to surrender to the stories that have always been inside you, to revolutionize your writing life and/or to live your creativity, then I’m your guy!
VAJ: Any parting words of wisdom to all writers?
Mark David: Trust the story, even if you don’t yet know what it is. Trust your innate creativity. Take it word by word and allow your pen or the keyboard to spell out the story for you. Allow yourself to be the passenger on your creative journey, not the driver. And, of course, read The MoonQuest and get a copy of The Voice of the Muse — both the book and CD set! Seriously, if you can begin to believe that your story always knows best, you’ll never go wrong.
VAJ: Thank you so much for your time and your insights. Yours is a work we will all remember.
For More About Mark David Gerson
Mark David’s Website
Mark David’s Blog for Writers
Mark David’s Inspirational/Personal Growth Blog
Mark David on Facebook
Mark David on MySpace
Follow Mark David on Twitter, please do
Mark David’s monthly radio show, The Muse & You (3rd Thursday of the month)
Mark David’s Upcoming Events
Registration page for Mark David’s classes/workshops
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Mark David & Daughter
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View From Office Window
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Mark David At Venice Beach
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Mark David,
I love how you bring up the point that our creativity and our lives are so closely intertwined. Often, it seems that writers are able to deal with life through writing. The very acting is therapeutic and often helps unlock hidden elements of the personality. I’ve also found that the tale writes itself at times, thereby revealing other secrets and that’s part of the joy of writing. Thank you for sharing this with us. As you say, I will trust the story.
Thanks, Jared. Unless we’re prepared to live our creativity, we’ll never achieve the artistry our hearts desire.
The link between life and creativity definitely provides fodder for comedy writing. With my tendency to shove my foot in my mouth (and the resulting consequences), I always seem to have material for my romantic comedies.
Thanks for sharing, Mark David. And thank you, too, Aggie for a wonderful post!
Thankx for commenting. I couldn’t have enjoyed this interview more. I loved researching Mark David’s work to gather my list of questions, and even more so his insightful answers. I am happy to post this help to all writers who dare!
Thanks, Linda. It still amazes me some days how impossible it is to truly separate what and how I write from what and how I live!
Rather enjoyable reading. Mark David’s insights reminds me of something that I had written for an undergraduate class in the Philosophy of Language at the University of Arizona. For the term paper I was given a choice of what to write about. Amongst the options, one of them was to do a deeper analysis of what I had written for the mid-term paper, which was the choice I opted for.
On the surface, the topic: “What is the meaning of the word ‘jade’?” would appear to be rather shallow. The heart of the matter is how meaning is determined by reference: is it nominalist or realist. At any rate, the subject matter turned out to be much deeper than I had thought it could have been. There are two entirely different minerals that are both called jade. The one that found its way to Europe first was brough from China by a Portuguese monk. This was the predominantly greenish colored stuff also referred to as ‘nephrite’ from the Latin, but the word ‘jade’ itself was derived from ‘piedra la ijada.’ The other stuff also called jade is of the predominantly reddish colored variety. In that case ‘jade’ was derived from ‘jadeite.’
That term paper turned into a labor of love, even though the original intent of the question: “What is the meaning of the word ‘jade’?” was with regards to Jade meaning the greenish stuff or the reddish stuff. The deeper meaning of that question just latched onto me and wouldn’t let go, I had to follow the history of the discoveries of the two different types of jade by the New World as far as I could go. Until there were no further implications to be derived, I had to keep digging. Just the research I did, before the paper was more than an outline took about five hours a day for two full weeks. The finished product justified the time expended. My professor and a few fellow classmates wanted copies of that paper. I wish I still had a copy of it myself.
P.S.
Aggie, I noticed what appears to be a typo about ½ way through the interview:
“Based on past students, just how effective are your sessions towards becoming a professional writer verses a self-aware writer?
Mark David: Unless you choose to treat writing as a 9-5 job divorced from passion and calling, the road to being a successful professional writer begins by being a self-aware writer. The subtitle of my book says it all: “answering the call to write.” I work best with writers who feel that profound call and are ready to answer it. If they’re not, I may not be the best coach for them.”
Where you have “verses,” I think you meant “versus,” which “vs.” is an abbreviation for.
I most definitely meant versus. Thankx so much for catching that, Chuck. And thank you too for your insightful comments. I too wish I could read a copy of your paper.
I remember the professor’s name, but after 18 years or so, I doubt that he’d still have a copy. I could google his name (Vann McGee), but until I try, I have no idea how successful the search would be. I suspect that he’d remember the paper, but not my name; he’d probably remember me, because I was an older student and hung out with the grad students. (late 20s, after I got out of the Navy) I remember the major points, but how well you’d grasp it would be dependent upon your background in metaphysics and ontology.
Not much background there, I must admit. But thankx for thinking of me.
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This was a terrific interview–a look inside the motivating forces that allow one to motivate. The mind and motivation of the writer is a complex animal for sure, and any and all insight into my own animal, is always appreciated. Now, I should begin writing, instead of reading and commenting about writing, which is of course, a diversion from the writing I came here to do
Again, a great Interview. Thanks for posting it, and sharing it with us, who aspire to share more too.
Thankx for your comments, Gloria. I agree with them all. In fact, off I go to write!
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