Writing Practice Prescription

Are you looking for a way to impart the knowledge you wish to pass along? Then consider writing a “mentor” book. These books take the reader on a journey where the protagonist finds a mentor who guides him or her through difficult life passages. Of interest to the fiction writer, “Meeting with the Mentor,” stage four of the Writer’s Journey, consists of the hero meeting the archetype of the Mentor. The Mentor then provides the hero with needed “supplies, knowledge, and confidence to overcome fear” for the journey ahead into unknown territory.[1]

Not so long ago, a book came in the mail with a letter from author Tom Pace, CEO of the PaceButler corporation in Edmund, OK. Tom had recently joined the National Speakers Association (NSA) and sent every member a copy of the book. I rescued the book from my “books to read” stack a few days ago and sandwiched it into my reading time.

The book is delightful because it lends itself to short reading times or you can whiz right through it in a short time at a single reading. The book follows young Tony from his days in jail as a 19-year-old through his coming of age as a budding entrepreneur. He meets his mentor, a CEO named Malcolm, while in jail and then meets him again the day after he is released from jail. Under Malcolm’s guidance, Tony learns:

• “People that have self-esteem do esteemable things.”
• “It takes a lot of energy to be angry about something. You can be right or you can be happy. Sometimes it’s better to let the little things go so that you can be happy.”
• Exercise is one of the most important things he can add to his life

A short chapter at the end of the book advises the reader how to find a mentor. The author encourages the reader by noting that, “Most successful people want to share their stories and help because they owe their success to people who helped them.”

How true. While there is no substitute for live and present mentors who are dedicated to helping you succeed, many more mentors wait for you at your local bookstore or library. Some have left this earth, but their words stay behind to offer guidance and encouragement.

You, too, can be a mentor. Have you ever had a major turning point that presented you with the choice of giving up and suffering or moving forward and overcoming the misery? If so, you have a story. When you write it out with all the details of how that turning point changed your life, you experience the healing of disclosing your pain and perhaps your long-held secrets. When you write the details of the journey you took to overcome the pain and distress of the turning point, you lay the groundwork to help others achieve relief and success in their own lives. Detail who helped you along the way. Then you can fictionalize your experience by writing about a mentor (you) who then helps another who suffers what happened to you.

When it’s all done, you may even have what publishers call a “pass-along” book. These books are bought in quantity for “passing the book on” to friends, family, and clients.

Did Tom Pace, in his book Mentor, The Kid & the CEO, believe that he wrote a “pass-along” book? I suspect so, because the letter he sent with the book ends with an amazing postscript: “I also want to extend you a personal guarantee; which is if you read my book and believe it to be a waste of your time, then I will personally give you $100.”

Tom won’t be sending this reader the $100.

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Notes:

1. Christopher Vogler: The Writer’s Journey, Mythic structure for writers.