Naima B. Robert – Honour Your Journey Masterclass
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of creating a clear intention when writing a book and emphasizes the need for a positive and powerful intention. They stress the importance of finding oneself and finding a path to achieve a positive and powerful intention. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of practicing storytelling and finding a supportive community. They offer advice on finding a way to write a book and offer resources for those who may be struggling.
AI: Summary ©
Good evening and
welcome to the honor your journey
master class where I will be sharing
5 shifts,
sharing your story, and leaving a legacy. I
am
honored that you have joined me today. I'm
so excited to present this new master class,
especially for all of you who have a
story to tell, who want to write a
book about your lives, and have not managed
to do so thus far or have not
managed to complete your story thus far. Now
this is going to be a really interactive
session, so get ready to write, get ready
to share, get ready to to really, really
make some progress and make some moves in
this session. Okay? I'm not going to be
on here just lecturing you. We are actually
going to start working on this. Okay? So
without further ado,
I am going to ask, firstly,
is this you? Not the lady in the
picture, obviously, but are you somebody who's always
been told that
you should tell your story, sis?
Are you somebody
who has an important
inspirational
or instructive
or cathartic
or powerful journey to share? If you hear
me saying
the the the one that describes you, say
yes in the chat. Okay?
Are you passionate about a cause and you
want to tell your story to help others,
or are you one of those people who
wants to leave a legacy? Let me see.
I see yeses all up in here. Nice.
Fantastic. Well, that's a good thing. Right? Because
in the next 45 minutes,
I'm going to be sharing with you, my
dear sisters,
the secret ingredient
that you have that no other writer does
and that gives you an advantage when writing
the story of yours.
I'm going to talk about how to ensure
you have a powerful,
positive intention
when writing about your life, sharing it with
the world.
We are going to also look at the
real
reason you've been putting off writing your book
and sharing your story with those who need
to hear it
and how to deal with that reason.
I'm gonna show you how to harness the
fear that you have of putting your story
out there and how to use it as
fuel to
power
I wonder how many people can, relate to
this. I'm also gonna share with you the
answer to that question that I know sometimes
plagues a lot of you. Why would anyone
want to read my story? Right? And how
to ensure that you write a book that
people actually want to read. I'm gonna also
share with you a little secret, the one
fact about writing habits that will challenge
everything you think you know about how to
write a book. And then we're gonna find
out the number one mistake that can jeopardize
all your writing and
how to avoid it.
If that sounds good, give me a good
in the chat. Okay? If that sounds good
to you, if that sounds like
information that could really move the needle for
you, then give me a good chat. I
wanna see how you guys are doing with
this.
Lovely. Lovely. Lovely.
Fantastic.
Great.
Cool. So today,
my promise to you is that
we are going to cover all of these
and answer all of these questions. And by
the end of today's session,
you are going to have a very clear
idea of
the next steps for you on this writing
journey.
We're going to be talking about your mindset.
We're going to talk about your habits, and
we're going to talk about the nitty gritty
of writing
your
story, of telling your story of writing a
book. Okay?
So
I wanna ask you, does this sound like
you?
Are you one of those women who
has always dreamt of writing a story or
who or knows that she needs to? She
knows that she needs to tell the story,
that she wants to put this story out
into the world, but finds herself not even
knowing where to start.
Okay? She's got the story in her mind,
but she doesn't know where to begin. She
doesn't know how much to share. She doesn't
know whether it's even okay for her to
share her story?
Are you one of those women who is
worried about sharing your story in case it
upsets
struggling
with the idea of other people reading your
work and judging you?
Or are you one of those people who
has felt heavy with this story for many,
many years, but because of a lack of
confidence, because of fear, because of a spoon
of shame,
who really does not know how to take
this heavy, heavy story
and make it lighter and make it something
beautiful. Well,
if any of those sound like you, I
wanna let you know that those are not
the real problem. Okay? These are just symptoms.
The real problem is that you haven't made
the shifts. Okay? And these 5 shifts that
I'm gonna share with you, they are literally
game changers,
Because once you make these shifts,
you will
have your mindset
ready to go to actually put to actually
invest in this story of yours, to commit
to telling the story of yours, that's making
it a reality.
You'll also know what kind of ideas and
what kind of beliefs you need to hold
onto in order to be able to tell
the story in a way that is beneficial.
You will know
the first step to take
and the next and the next
because I'm gonna explain it all to you,
and you'll understand
what you need to do with your story
in order to make it something that other
people actually want to read. Alright? Now if
that sounds good, give me a yay in
the chat. Super, super, super excited to share
this with you. In case you don't know
me,
my name is Naima b Robert, and I'm
an author,
editor, and writing coach. And
I'm really your sister on the journey. That
is my role. That's my job. Okay? I've
been in in I've been in this writing
space for 20 years now. Many of you
will be familiar with my my memoir story
my life story book, if you like, from
my sister's lips, which told the story of
how I how I embraced Islam or what
it was like to live Islam
and the stories of other women around me
as well. Okay?
So just, you know, so you know, I've
been here before.
I've written my own memoir, and I have
supported and helped other women to write their
memoirs as well. So these 5 shifts that
I'm sharing with you, they really are
based in and grounded in experience
and, you know, and and kind of what
what actually works
in the world of memoir writing. Okay? Now
before we get into the first shift, I
would just like
to make sure that we're all on the
same page. Alright?
You may find me using
terms like telling your story and writing your
memoir interchangeably.
Okay? The reason for this is that in
the memoir
is a genre. Okay? It's a type of
book
that tells
the stories of the author's life.
It's slightly different from an autobiography
or a biography because a biography, which is
written by somebody about someone else's life, or
an autobiography,
which is written by the person themselves about
their lives,
typically follows a chronological
format.
So it goes from the beginning of the
person's life up until the end, wherever that
end is. Okay?
A memoir is not an autobiography.
A memoir is not your life story.
It is stories
from your life.
It's a very, very important distinction.
I don't want anybody to get intimidated
by the use of memoir.
Okay? It simply is the French word for
memory. Alright? But that is the genre that
we're talking about today.
It is, you know, personal stories, stories about
your own experiences in your own life told
as storytelling,
this is called memoir. Okay? So I just
wanna make sure that we're all on the
same page with that because I will be
using them interchangeably.
Alright?
And I do this because, you know, I
I know from having worked with other nonfiction
writers,
memoir
is a different type of art form. Okay?
It's not the same as writing a self
help book or a textbook.
You're gonna see what I mean. Anyway, so
let's get on with these shifts, shall we?
1st shift, shift number 1, and I want
you all to remember this, is that
no one has to give you
permission
to tell your story.
I'm gonna say that again.
No one has to give you permission
to tell your story.
I mentioned to all of you that there
was a secret ingredient. Right? A secret ingredient
that you have that no other writer has.
And that secret ingredient is simply this,
you are the only version of you
in the entire world.
Throughout history, throughout time,
there has never
been anyone else like you.
I'm gonna let you
let that sink in
because you were created unique,
and your life story
is similarly unique.
Even if it shares
characteristics with, you know, other women out there,
other men, other people out there, it still
is your unique story.
And when you remember
and when you retell
your life story,
you are bringing something unique
to the table.
There is nobody else out there that can
tell the same story as you,
even if the topic is the same,
even if the theme is the same, even
if they are recounting a similar journey,
they will never tell the same story as
you. I'll give you an example. Anybody here
who's been for Hajj in a group, right,
I would like you to think imagine to
yourself if a group of people who went
for Hajj together,
who all stayed in the same apartment block,
who stayed in the same tent in, Minna.
Okay? Who did exactly the same rights. Okay?
They went. They did Toaaf. They went to
Arafat. They did all of the things. Right?
They did exactly the same things. They went
for the same experience for the same reason.
Okay? And then they all come back
if we were to ask them
to write a memoir
of their Hajj trip,
do you think that any of those accounts
would be identical?
What do you say in the chat? What
do you guys think?
Says no.
Right?
They wouldn't be
because even though you were all there for
the same reason.
Right, you all went for the same reason,
you did the same things,
okay, you were actually together in the same
space,
but
your experience
of that will not be the same. Your
perception of that experience will not be the
same. The what the things you choose to
talk about, the things you choose to not
talk about, as Mariem said, it's an individual
experience. Right? So even though you could have
had 50 Hajjis who all did the same
thing, if you were to ask them to
write a short memoir about their Hajj,
every one of them will have something unique
to say.
A unique observation,
and a dialogue or a conversation that other
people didn't have.
Thoughts that came to their mind at that
time, duas that they made, yeah, that nobody
else made, things they noticed, things they liked,
things they didn't like, things that, you know,
made them feel a particular way. All of
that will be 100%
unique. So
I want every one of you to internalize
the fact that your unique creation means that
your memoir,
yours your version
of your life story is always going to
be unique. And the more honest you are
and the more authentic you are, the more
unique and special
your memoir is going to be, and the
more
it deserves its place at the table.
Okay? I hope that that makes sense to
everybody. Right? Because this is one of those
things where
you give yourself permission to tell the story.
Right? Tell these stories, you give yourself permission.
There isn't anybody out there as a gatekeeper
who needs to come to you and say,
Sadika, Anissa, Sayeda, here you go. We, you
know, tell your story. We, you know, we
we need to hear it, etcetera.
You are the only one
that can unlock
the unique experiences,
the perspective,
the that's the stories,
okay, that you have stored in here. You're
the only one who can unlock them, and
you are the only one who needs to
unlock them. So if any of you are
here and you've been waiting on something,
waiting on somebody
to tell you go ahead,
I would like you I invite you
to give yourselves permission now.
Give yourselves permission
to share this unique story, to write this
unique memoir that you came here to learn
about because
there is nobody out there who needs to
give you permission. It is your story to
tell.
Hope that makes sense with everybody. Alright?
Moving forward.
Shift number 2. Who remembers what shift number
1 is? Let me check and see who
was paying attention.
What was shift number 1?
Oh, I just said it just now. What's
shift number 1, guys? Type it in the
chat. No one has to give you permission.
Thank you very much, Sadika. Right. Shift number
2.
Your story
is bigger than you.
Yes. I said it. Your story is bigger
than you. What do I mean by that?
What I mean is
even
though
your story is unique to you,
and really only you can tell your story
in the unique way that you would tell
it,
still
that story of yours has significance
beyond your own experience. Okay? It is significant
to others
aside from you. So for example, if you
go back to that example of the Hajj,
the Hajj group. Okay?
Any one of those women or men could
have chosen to write a memoir about that
Hajj trip, and it would have been unique.
It would have been special. It would have
been their personal story. Right?
But do you not think
that all other 50 Hajj Hajjis would be
interested in that story?
Do you not think that they would resonate
with that story? Do you not think that
it would have significance for them, let alone
the other, hun you know, tens of thousands
of Hajjis who went for Hajj,
then all the people who didn't go for
Hajj,
that person's story has significance
for them too.
Right?
So this is something that I'm gonna ask
you to write about now. Okay? Firstly, before
we move forward, I would like, in the
chat,
to get a little bit of a feel
for the type of stories we've got in
the room today. Okay? So I'm going to
ask you to put it in the chat
after we've gone through this. Right? But before
we we, you know, kinda get there,
this is the way that you can get
to understand that your story is not just
for you. Yeah. It's not just something that
is important to you or even interesting to
you. These are the questions you need to
ask yourselves. Okay?
Who is your story for?
Take a bit of time to write it
down. Who is your story for? Who is
the ideal reader of the story?
Who really needs to hear your story? What
kind of people? What kind of women?
What kind of experiences have they gone through
that they need to hear your story or
that they will benefit from your story?
When you've got something down on paper and
you wanna share it in the chat, please
feel free to put it in the chat.
If you have some kind of idea of
who a story is for. Because it's very
important.
It's very important because
what we don't want to do is to
write something
that
basically is.
Okay? It's it's something that is so mundane,
so banal, so ordinary
that it it doesn't resonate with anyone. You
know? It's not important to anyone.
Whether it's because we've only shared the boring
banal bits or maybe we've been hiding a
little bit, whatever it is, you do need
to think, who is this story for in
the big picture? So I've got,
if it says my story is for survivors,
for warrior healers.
Sudhika says it's for widows and single moms.
Issa says Muslim women struggling with hijab. Fatoum
says it's for mothers. Very good. I would
like everyone
to ask yourself,
who does my purse you know, who is
out there
that would resonate with my personal story?
Who is out there that will benefit from
my personal story? Who is out there that
would actually take inspiration
or solace or even knowledge from my personal
story, from my journey, from my experiences.
Anissa says it's for those insecure, who have
low self esteem. Great. Nabaha says for young
adults who are struggling to live according to
Islam.
Islamia says single sisters who've gone through,
issues with their personality,
Dean, mental health.
Madam says, any person who had childhood trauma
and went on to repeat the cycle of
domestic violence,
very targeted. I love it. Says women of
the subcontinent who are struggling with their identity
through the process of arranged marriage. Wow. Amazing.
Says young girls who've suffered abuse. Amazing.
Says adults who've suffered abuse as a child.
Us men, women who need guidance.
Oh, Lisa says I want to read all
of these. Yes, girl. I hear you, and
I agree.
Exactly. So who is your story for?
We need to answer this question. Okay? Now
this is where the intention comes in. Okay?
Many of you I know having spoken to
so many sisters over the years, so many
women over the years, when it comes to
sharing personal stories,
especially
stories
that have an element of,
shall we say,
pain to them. Okay? That part of the
story is pain. Part of the story is
challenges.
Part of the story is unpleasant
experiences.
Right? Many, many of you, I know,
worry that,
you know, am I doing something wrong?
Am I doing something wrong at sharing the
story?
Right? Am I
taking away someone's rights? Okay? Is this permissible
for me? Okay? What about the other people
who are being creative? You know, how will
they feel? You know, what is is this
something that I'm doing for ego, for example,
or because of pride? So we have these
types of questions that come up
for us. Right? Give me a, a yep
in the chat if you've ever asked yourself
these questions. Okay? If you've questioned,
well, okay. Yeah. I wanna tell the story,
but, like, is it a good idea? Is
it really a good thing? Okay?
And if that's you, which is a lot
of people saying yes, okay,
I want to invite you to focus on
the people who need to hear the story.
Okay?
Focusing on
how your story and you sharing your story
will benefit
the people who need to hear it, who
are currently
suffering,
who
are currently isolated,
who are currently lost
and feeling alone in the world, feeling like
they're the only ones going through what they're
going through,
thinking about how you telling your story will
impact those people
is a way for you to reshape your
intent
so that now you have a powerful intention,
a positive
intention
for sharing your story.
It's not an ego thing. It's not a
fame thing. It's not I feel like complaining
or putting my life out there thing. No.
This is a sincere
effort to be part of the change that
you want to see in the world,
to be part of the healing that you
want to see in your community, to be
part of somebody else's growth journey, to be
part of someone else's healing journey, to be
a positive influence in someone's life by virtue
of you having shared your story
and maybe given them some solace, given them
some comfort, giving them some hope, giving them
something to hold on to.
Give me a yes
in the chat
if that makes sense.
And if you think that
focusing on
the needs of the people who are gonna
hear the story and how it will benefit
them will
allow you to embrace a positive
and powerful
intention for you telling your story.
Love it. Everybody says yes. Cool. So now
that we've got that out of the way,
let's start talking about this big story. Now
remember what I said, everybody of you every
single one of you has a unique story.
Okay? However,
there will be some overarching
themes
that
will basically underpin your story. K? And I'd
like you to think about what those themes
might be. One of the things that I
find and I train this in in my
program
is that
sometimes when ladies come to me and they
want to write a memoir,
they are not sure
what the what the book is really supposed
to be about. Okay? Like, what is it
that people are supposed to get out of
this book? So I don't want you to
do that. I don't want you to get
into a program or start writing, and you
haven't really taken the time to sit back
and look at your story from the outside
and say, well, what's the theme here?
Like, what's the story about? Yeah. Okay. I
know it's about a girl who was born
in x y zed, and she did this
and she did that and she did that.
Fair enough. That's like your plot if you
like. But what's the theme?
Is it the a theme of rags to
riches?
Is it a theme of coming of age?
Is it a theme of healing or forgiveness
or finding yourself?
Right? These are the themes that I'm talking
about. And if that makes sense, guys,
let me know in the chat, and also
maybe
ask yourself, what's the theme of my story?
Is what a great one. Healing, forgiveness, and
finding yourself. This is great. We love it.
I want you all to to tap in
to the theme of your story
because
that is what's going to allow your book
to not just be about your own unique
story, but actually
resonate
on a more universal level with other people.
Remember I promised you? Yeah? I promised you
that I would tell you
how to write a book that people wanna
read. Right?
I said this. So this is this is
how we do it. K?
Say this is finding yourself.
Sadik, it says motivation to keep afloat in
the midst of trials. Yes. Bhaktuna says overcoming
pain and loss.
This is what I'm talking about, guys. Yes.
Yes. Yes. I love it. Okay. So, again,
we're asking ourselves, what's the journey?
Because that's another thing that you need to
know about memoirs. Memoirs are similar to novels
in the sense that you
are the protagonist. You're the main character,
and your memoir is the story of your
journey.
Right?
Where did you start out?
When did things change?
And then what happened? And then what happened?
And how did things start to get more
challenging, or how did they start to get
better and then worse again? How did the
elements of your story unfold?
What was the big moment, the
moment, the victory point? What was the big
moment of actualization
in your journey?
And then what did it mean afterwards?
If you've done any fiction work, if you've
read any novels, if you've watched any films,
you will know that this is the archetypal
hero's arc. That's the hero's story.
That's your memoir.
Guys, I'm giving you all my trip my
my my to my tips and tricks for
free here. Right?
Give me a yep in the chat if
this is making sense.
You're the main character.
We wanna know who you are.
When did things change for you? How did
you go start to go on this journey
that you're talking about in this memoir?
What happened along the way? What challenges did
you face? Who did you meet? The significant
conversations, the significant events that shaped you. What
did you learn from this? What did you
have to find within yourself to face that?
Okay? And what was it leading up to?
What was the high
energy point in the story?
What is the moment you look back and
you're like,
that was
when it all made sense,
or that was my finest hour,
or everything that happened before
culminated in that moment. That's your climax, ladies.
Right? And then,
well, how did life change afterwards?
Right?
So, yes, Nabahes says I need to rewatch
this. This is gold. This is a master
class, my friends. Okay?
That's what we do. Okay? So
I want to give you some examples of
some journeys of my clients. Okay? People I've
been working to write to help them write
their memoirs. So miss Nina, some of you
may be familiar with her, some of you
may not, but she was basically a huge
hip hop star in Malaysia. Okay? In in
in East Asia, she was she was huge.
Right? And she had an epiphany. She went
for Hajj. She had an epiphany. She started
wearing hijab. And so her memoir
is the journey that she it starts with
who she was as a young girl and
how she fell in love with hip hop.
Right? And then she follows that journey because
the hip hop really was what took her
along that trajectory where she started to become
more involved in hip hop. She started making
music. She started performing, and she got to
a high point in her career.
But other stuff was happening along the way.
All sorts of things. You have to read
the book to see. But all sorts of
other things were happening while she's rising star
in the hip hop world.
And eventually, she decides that she needs to
do a cleanse, and she goes for Hajj.
And there she has her epiphany, and she
decides to change her life completely. She gives
up hip hop and she now starts to
practice, and she carves out a new
life and identity for herself.
That was her journey. That's the journey of
her memoir. Okay? Hope that makes sense to
everyone.
Some of you may be familiar with one
of my top clients, Tamkeen,
who is an award winning author. But when
I met her, she was
not an author at all. She had just
started writing,
articles for a local newspaper.
Through time,
through practice, and with her own journey of
growth, she began to write. She published a
book. The book is an award winning book.
And then she came to me to write
her memoir. And the story she tells in
the memoir
is not about the writing.
It's not about the the books. It's not
about the articles.
It's her journey
from
a a troubled childhood experience
through depression
into having her dreams fulfilled,
into her healing journey.
That's the journey that she went on. Okay?
So this is I'm trying to kind of
frame this so you guys can understand what
I mean. It's quite a
simple concept, but I want you to be
thinking about it in terms of your own
story. What is my gen? Okay? If I
was to say from this to that, what
would it be? Aisha Adams, again, someone you
know or may be familiar with, one of
my best clients,
She came to me and she wrote a
book. Together, we wrote a book where she
charted her journey from divorce,
miscarriage, and the brink of death, really, to
healing and hope, alright, and rising irrespective.
So this is the type of journeys that
we're talking about, guys. Let me know in
the chat if that makes sense to you.
Okay?
Lots of people saying,
love, Tamkeen. Oh, Aisha Adams. Her journey is
really emotional. Absolutely.
Bahia says, what about if you haven't reached
your finest hour yet? You can't add it
to the story. That's true.
You will have to find the finest hour
in the story.
None of us will know until the end
of our lives when our
finest hour is. So don't worry about that
too much because remember, it's not a biography.
It's a memoir. So and I will show
you exactly what I mean by that when
I say that you don't have to talk
about every aspect of your life in your
memoir. So even if you haven't reached the
peak of your career, for example,
even, you know, if the novel is sorry.
If your memoir is not about your journey
with your career, then it doesn't matter that
you haven't reached the peak of your career.
It could be that your journey, for example,
is about weight loss. And you may have
reached the pinnacle with regards to your health
or your weight or whatever it is, and
maybe that's the pinnacle of the story because
that's what the memoir is about. The fact
that you're running a business or that you
have 4 children, you're homeschooling
might have nothing to do with the memoir.
And you may not even mention it, but
I'm gonna talk to you about all of
that. So don't worry. We'll come into that.
Cool. Cool.
Everyone is saying it makes sense. I love
that. Fantastic. So let's keep going. Now this
is the one of my favorite things. This,
I I started coaching my memoir clients
with this particular
frame because it's so, so helpful. Okay?
What you are doing when you're writing a
memoir
is you are basically
putting together
a film about your life. Okay?
So it's really important when you are going
into the memoir process to adopt the right
lens.
Like I said,
a memoir
is not a biography. It's not an autobiography.
It's not your whole life story.
It's stories
from your life.
So once you are clear on who this
memoir is for,
what the theme of the memoir is, and
what the journey is,
now you're able to
really kind of focus that lens really well
because now you know
the story that you're actually looking for.
That's your lens. So say, for example,
we're talking about the let's go back to
the Hajjis. Okay?
If I decide
that
my
lens okay. But okay. If I decide that
my my audience, my ideal reader is Hajjis
in general, but specifically
for new
for, like, first time Hajjis, they're the ones
I'm really writing to. Okay?
And the theme of my story is patience.
Okay?
Maybe it's new Muslims who are going for
Hajj or it's someone going for Hajj for
the first time. Right? And the theme of
my
journey
really was learning patience. Okay? Learning sabab. Alright?
And the journey that I was on, for
example, was that I had huge ambitions and
dreams going into Hajj, and I expected it
to be this utopian experience.
And I thought I was gonna feel like
I was in a spiritual high the whole
time and had all these unrealistic ideas
until I got to the airport.
And there the story begins. Can you see
what I just did there?
I let you know who I was at
the beginning, you know, very, very idealistic and
hopeful, maybe a new Muslim going on my
first Hajj or whatever of all these ideas
and dreams and everything, and I'm building it
up until I get to the airport.
And at the airport, I realize
this is not going to be a dream.
Right? And my lens that I adopt,
so that because I've decided that it's going
to be about how I learned the lesson
of patience through my punch. Right? That's that's
my lens, what I've decided I'm gonna focus
on. So therefore,
I'm gonna focus in
on the stories
that
help me to illustrate
the theme, that help me to illustrate the
journey.
So the examples that I'm going to share,
the stories I'm going to tell, the dialogue
that I'm going to actually report to the
reader is all going to be about this
journey of learning patience.
If other things happened along the way,
I probably may I may not mention them.
Right?
I may not mention them if they are
not related to the theme of my memoir.
Guys, just give me a chat if that
makes sense. Okay? Because what happens a lot
is sometimes
we start to babble.
Right? We start to tell stories, and then
we start babbling.
So for example, in my Hajj story,
I could go off on a tangent about,
the way that Saudi Arabia has changed, okay,
physically. Alright? And how, you know you know,
it's it's, like, really, really glamorous and really,
really built up. And, you know, I miss
you know, I wish it could have been
like it was during the time of the
prophet and I could I could do that.
I could start babbling about all sorts of
things. I could relay
every single conversation that I had with every
person that I met on Hajj. Okay? I
could itemize
everything that I had for dinner every single
day of the Hajj. But let me ask
you this,
would I include that in the film?
If I was writing if I was shooting
a film,
would all of those things get a scene?
Would all of those those
experiences,
those conversations, etcetera, would they get screen time?
That's the question you need to ask yourself.
Right. Everyone's saying no.
Right.
Exactly. Dorjeet has hit the nail on the
head.
Not all, but only the most significant ones.
So for you, my sister,
the shift I would like you to make
is
inviting you to become the director of your
own film. That's how I tell my clients
to decide which stories they're going to tell.
If you are going to make a film,
what would be the significant scenes? What would
be the significant conversations?
Even in terms of your characters, who are
the significant characters?
I don't need to hear about every member
of your extended family. I don't need to
hear about them unless they are involved
in
the journey that you are on,
unless they are contributing to the story moving
forward, unless they are helping to deepen and
explain the theme,
they don't need to be there.
Okay? So this is a bit of this
is where I I tell my clients to
kind of use fiction tools when they're writing
their memoirs because it helps the memoir to
be something that is
powerful and kind
of action packed.
K? It's not full of fluff. It's not
full of kind of babbling about things that
are maybe
kind of interesting, but have nothing to do
with what you're actually trying to say. Right?
So I hope that that makes sense. Give
me a yes in the chat if that
makes sense. Maybe I'm going too fast. Am
I going too fast?
Well, I have to carry on going because
it's already quarter 2.
Alright. So does that make sense, everyone?
We are going to behave
like
the directors of our film. And we are
gonna decide
which scenes,
which which which events, which conversations,
which characters are going to get a scene.
Yeah. You wouldn't give a scene just to
something that's random that happens that has nothing
to do with the story, nothing to do
with the journey, nothing to do with the
theme. We're not gonna write about it because
we wouldn't film it, and we wouldn't put
it. And even if we did film it,
it would end up on the editing room
floor. Okay? It wouldn't make it into the
final cut, so never mind.
That's the shift, the 4th shift. I think
it's the 4th shift that we're on now.
No. That was the 3rd shift. 4th shift
is, again, what I was saying,
practice selective storytelling. Okay?
Because let me tell you something.
I said to you, I was gonna talk
to you about the number one mistake that
can jeopardize your efforts, your writing efforts, and
that is
writing without a plan.
Writing
without
already having thought
through all the questions that we've just covered.
Who's the audience?
What's the theme?
What is this journey that we're going to
talk about in this book? And then now
that we know these things, which stories
are we going to tell?
Right? I have many ladies who come to
me and have written maybe 10,000,
20000 words
completely off topic
because they didn't ask themselves these questions
right from the start.
Okay? So I don't want that to happen
to you.
The 4th shift that I will I'm going
to invite you to use is to practice
selective storytelling.
Not everything that happened to you in your
life belongs in your memoir. Okay? And this
is something that I would like to, you
know, kind of offer to some of you
who
are concerned about
talking about certain things that happened in your
life in case of privacy,
in case of other people getting upset, and,
of course, you know, there there's always the
question that comes, you know, what if someone
sues me? Alright?
So I always say this to to to
to my clients is that
you get to choose what to include in
the story and what to leave out. It's
up to you completely.
You know, you're not beholden to anyone.
So if there are topics you do not
want to talk about, you don't have to
talk about them. Or you can write them
in your 1st draft if you need a
cathartic draft, which means that it's your first
time writing about something that is maybe quite
emotional or or traumatic,
and you need to get it all out
on the paper.
That's what I call the cathartic draft. Okay?
Even if you spill all the beans in
the cathartic
draft,
that's not the draft that you're going to
put out into the world. That's the cathartic
draft.
The next move after that is now to
go back to that cathartic draft, the first
draft, and decide
what
from all this do I actually want to
share with the world and what do I
want to keep to myself? What do I
want to remain private?
That's you, the selective storytelling side of it.
Does that make sense, everyone?
Right. So Birina says if we have more
than one theme, is it necessary that these
themes be interrelated?
To be able to answer that, sis, we'd
have to get on a call. We'd have
to be working together just to understand what
the different themes are, and and then I
would be able to kind of give you
guidance on that. But, I mean, I can't
answer the question just off the bat. Okay?
Sis says, what if I don't want the
reader to know it's my story? Well, if
you don't want the reader to know that
it's your story, personally you, you have, you
know, some options.
Using a pen name is one of them.
Okay?
Changing private details so that people can't kind
of work out who you are is something
else that you can do.
Also,
writing it and publishing it in an anonymous
form,
that can also work. Okay?
I don't advise people to try to fictionalize
their stories
unless they actually want to write fiction.
Okay?
Writing fiction is a very different beast
from nonfiction, even from memoir.
Okay? And I unless you want to write
fiction and you would like to use your
own experience as inspiration for your fiction, which
is fine,
Don't think of the fiction root. Let's let's
get creative with it and find another way
for you to tell your story, you know,
and kinda keep it as anonymous as you
want. Okay?
If you wanna talk to me about that,
I'll tell you how to do that inshallah.
Alright? Fantastic. Where are we now?
Cool. Cool. Cool. Shift number 5, invest in
your legacy.
Ladies, I know just from having seen some
of the themes of the journeys that you've
shared in this just in this short time
in being together, that
you guys have been on a journey
that can be an inspiration to others. I
know this. Okay? So what I would say
is
you've come here for a reason. You made
it here for a reason. We had over
300 people sign up for this, and it's
just you who've made it here live. Okay?
There's a reason for that. So you've already
started investing in your story. I know some
of you have already started writing, which is
amazing.
So don't be afraid to invest the time,
the energy, and the resources
in this book because
it will be part of your legacy. And
I say this as somebody who has written
a memoir, and my memoir came out, I
think, 2,005.
That book from my sister's lips,
you know, and and impacting so many people
that I will never see. I will never
know them. They will probably never meet me.
I will never meet them. But just through
me having told my story, I'm now a
part of their journey.
Just from me having shared my journey, I'm
now a part of their spiritual path, of
their spiritual journey.
And that will radiate outwards to their friends,
to their family. That's part of my legacies,
You know?
And and that's the case with every one
of you.
Every single one of you,
you do this,
if you commit and you write this memoir
and you put it out into the world
and people read it, that's part of your
legacy. To set up a journey for you,
and it's something you leave behind, nobody can
take that away.
No one can take that away from you,
and it's something that just carries on benefiting
you even though you finished writing the memoir,
it's published, it's done, but people are still
benefiting. People are still learning. People are still
getting comfort and solace. People are still growing
as a result of you sharing your story.
So it's huge, and don't underestimate
this. Okay?
Right. I wanna invite everybody to just take
a big cleansing
breath right now.
That was helter skelter.
I think we'll all agree.
So guys, today, I promised
that I would tell you the secret ingredients
that you have that no other writers have.
Yes? And I'm sure you know what that
is. Okay?
I also shared with you how you can
develop a powerful positive intention. And I know
that that resonated with you guys because I
I I felt it in the chat. Okay?
I also talked about the fear. We talked
about the fear and how to combat the
fear. Right? We said we talked about how
to make sure that there are will be
people who want to read your book. Okay?
We talked about the writing habits that we
can adopt. Okay? And the one mistake that
can jeopardize your efforts and which we're not
gonna make at all. Alright?
So with that being said,
you have a choice now, ladies, because you're
gonna get the replay for this and you'll
be able to watch it again and again
as many times as you need to. And
so now you can take what I've given
you and go and start writing that telling
that story, writing that book. Okay? You can
go it alone.
Take care of that thing. Alright? Or you
can decide that, you know what?
I want to work with somebody who has
done this before.
I want to work with a mentor. I
want to have, you know, a supportive
community around me. I don't wanna go this
alone. I don't wanna do this alone, and
I want to make sure that it does
get done. Because I know what I can
be like sometimes. Right?
So if that's the case, then really, I'm
just gonna let you know right now how
I can help you. Because like I said,
this is what I do all day every
day. What I have done for you. My
team and I have set aside some time
in the next 48 hours
to chat with you personally about how you
can follow
these 5 essential shifts to finally tell your
story and write your book.
We're gonna have a chat, ladies. Okay? We're
gonna be in that chat together, and you're
gonna share with me your biggest challenges
because whatever those challenges are, I've seen them,
and I know how you can overcome them.
And I know how you can take the
stories of your life and create something really
powerful with
it. Okay?
So after an initial chat, we're gonna chat
in messenger to be sure that we're a
fit. We will work with you to craft
a step by step game plan to turn
that dream of yours of writing a book
into a reality
So
just to be clear,
who this is for everybody, please make sure
that we've got our listening
cap on or whatever it is. Okay?
This chat is not for you.
You're merely interested in writing a book. Okay?
But this chat is for you if you
are committed to writing this book.
If you know,
you know deep inside that this book is
a nonnegotiable
and you just need to know what steps
to take to make it happen,
then you need to get in that chat
with me.
Now there's a caveat.
You must have a story to tell. Okay?
A valuable message to share. And I know
already from hearing you guys that you all
do. And you must be ready to invest
the time,
effort, and resources
required
to write and publish this book of yours.
K? And if this is you,
hey, guys. Let's start a chat now. That's
me right there. M.me
slash
Robert.
I wanna see who's the first person to
send a chat. I'm gonna put the link
in the chat as well and see who
is the first person to send me a
message. All I want you to do is
send me a message saying journey. Alright?
Send journey.
Oh, somebody's coming in late.
Send the word journey
to
m.me/
Naima b Robert. I'm gonna look at my
phone. I'm gonna see I'm gonna see who
is the first person to
message me.
Ready, steady.
I wanna see who's coming in.
Yeah. So my biggest challenge is that part
of my story was shared by sisters who
are seen as those with knowledge of the
dean. Okay.
Right. Islamia, you need to get in that
chat with me, please, my dear, and we
will talk about it. K? We're not gonna
talk about it now. We're gonna talk about
it in the chat. Alright? So who has
sent their message already?
Let me know.
And I just wanna give you some insights
into kind of why I'm doing this. Okay?
I know from having spoken to, you know,
lots of women over the years,
how many of you have a really heroic
story to tell.
Okay? And I also know the things that
are holding you back and the things that
make it difficult for you to either get
started
or to actually finish and then know what
to do with it. Okay?
This is super important.
Yeah. Some of you may be thinking, well,
you know, do I really wanna write a
book?
You know.
Ah, Lubna Rashid is the first one. Yay.
Lubna Rashid, I see you, girl. Yes. Lubna's
in there.
Lubna is in there, guys. So somebody did
it. So therefore, it must be possible. Okay?
Just
copy and paste m dot me
/naimebrobert,
and it will take you to Facebook.
Right? You just need to send that through,
and tomorrow, we'll catch up. And we'll be
able to over the next 48 hours, we
will be chatting with you guys to see
if we can help you. Right?
So what was I saying?
Yeah. No. So so I was saying that
so so I know the challenges. I know
the things that people face. Aisha, I see
you, girl. Yep. I'm gonna be hitting you
up. Thank you so much. So, Lubna, Aisha,
I've got your messages. I know the challenges.
I know the things that can stand in
our way. Iffat, I see you.
And I know how to coach you out
around those,
and I also know how to help you
to get clear on
the message that you actually have and the
story that you want to tell. And as
somebody who writes both fiction and nonfiction,
I I know how to help you to
to to tell your story. Okay?
ESA, if you wanna contact me and you
don't have Facebook, please send me an email.
Okay? Those of you who want to chat
on email,
just email sisters editor at sistersmagazine.com.
But please, those of you who have chat,
better to do chat. You can also send
me, a message on Instagram.
It's a direct message on Instagram. Just say
journey,
and I'll know what you're talking about. K?
So like I was saying, the reason I'm
doing this is I know how many sisters
have, you know, really, really important stories to
tell, and I know how
how important those stories are for our community,
you know, and for just women in general.
So
part of me is really committed to just
just
helping women tell those stories. Okay? Allowing them
to to to to find their voice and
know how to get their story told, to
put it out there in the best way
for the story. So this is really the
reason why, I'm doing this. This is why
I have the program.
That's why I I work with ladies to
do this because
your stories matter. You know, your stories are
important.
And, you know, there are there are women
out there. There are sisters out there who
are who are struggling right now,
you know, who are suffering, who are where
you once were
and don't have a role model. They don't
have an example. They don't have a way
out. They don't know that there is light
at the end of the tunnel.
You sharing your story could change that.
Some of you will write,
a short book with me. Some of you
will write a full length book with me.
Some of you may just write an extended
personal essay.
Whatever it is that we end up doing
together, my goal is to make sure that
that
that piece of work that you do, that
writing
that you do is something that is a
for you and it becomes part of your
legacy
and something that you put out into the
world that
brings good.
Okay? So on that note, I wanna say
to you, it's been so much fun
chilling with you for the past hour. I
hope I didn't go too fast. I think
I may have,
but,
the recording will be sent out as soon
as it's available.
So watch it again
and get in touch. Okay? Let's see if
we're fit to work together. I would love
to help you to write your story. I've
been there before. I've done it with others,
and I would love to do it with
you.
So I'll be checking my chat, and I'll
be looking forward to speaking to every one
of you. Thank you so much for being
here. It's been it's been an absolute pleasure.
I love you all for,
and I'll see you on the other side.
Okay?