Ask the Author: Andrew Gentile
Answered Questions (6)
Andrew Gentile
As I mentioned earlier, I let the writing drive me. If months go by where I feel I have nothing to write, I do something else. I trust in the power of the subconscious mind - that information is digesting, ideas are forming, emotions are ruminating - that sooner or later my latest set of observations and experiences in the world will crystallize into some new insight into a pattern or mechanism that underlies human emotions, psychology, spirituality, and behaviour.
Hence, I don't use the term writer's block for myself in my own writing process. I welcome the quiet times as I welcome the season of winter - life continues in the soil, the roots, and at the bottom of the lake. Only when springtime arrives does the activity return to the surface.
Hence, I don't use the term writer's block for myself in my own writing process. I welcome the quiet times as I welcome the season of winter - life continues in the soil, the roots, and at the bottom of the lake. Only when springtime arrives does the activity return to the surface.
Andrew Gentile
Simply being able to communicate. Language in general is so limited in its ability to convey the depth and breadth and complexities of the human experience. When it comes to speaking, I'm not quick on my feet. Writing gives me the time to construct my thoughts in a sensible, digestible manner and to convey complex ideas in much clearer ways than other forms of communication such as talking or interpretive dance ;)
I feel like writing is my best way to let other people understand what I think, how I feel. It allows me to feel connected and understood in the world, and allows me to share the perspectives I have to offer, which hopefully make the world a little easier to live in.
I feel like writing is my best way to let other people understand what I think, how I feel. It allows me to feel connected and understood in the world, and allows me to share the perspectives I have to offer, which hopefully make the world a little easier to live in.
Andrew Gentile
I'm not a writer for the sake of writing, so I am not in a position to give advice to writers who just love to write. Writing has always been a part of me, but only as a means of communicating a deeper message of passion from within. If I were to translate that into advice, I would say find content you are passionate about. The emotional connection to your material will will strengthen your commitment to the process and will provide levels of satisfaction with your work that will be independent from how successful your work is in the outer world.
Andrew Gentile
I'm working on an overall instruction manual to the mind and emotions, of sorts. Compared with HeartBreak Therapy, this information will be useful to every human being, not only those identifying with the heartache experience. The material is pretty dense, so I'm feeling like it will be dual-purpose content: both for a book and also for training programs, workshops, and classes.
Andrew Gentile
My writing comes in surges of inspiration, often months apart. As a part-time writer, I don't try to manage or drive the writing process as much as I allow the content to arise within me and demand itself be written. It's like those brilliant ideas you get in the shower - an inspiration that you can change the world, alleviate suffering - and you try to figure out what to do with that idea. When I have those moments I scribble them down in my notebook that I carry everywhere with me.
Some of my biggest waves of ideas come while riding the Toronto subway. There's something about being out in the midst of a variety of people in an underground tunnel that seems to allow me to tap into the depth of the human mind and emotions in a bigger way. All that body language, all those facial expressions of people sitting still, passing time, going somewhere.
At other times, inspiration comes while I'm out in nature, away from people. I think humans the contrast between these two situations is interesting. Perhaps its that humans show me pain, and nature shows me healing.
Getting inspired is an exciting and mysterious process to me since I never know when the next wave of insight will arrive. It gives me good reason to get out, move around, and spend time in different environments that may trigger different energetic and though resonance and give rise to a new sequence of concepts and perspectives.
Some of my biggest waves of ideas come while riding the Toronto subway. There's something about being out in the midst of a variety of people in an underground tunnel that seems to allow me to tap into the depth of the human mind and emotions in a bigger way. All that body language, all those facial expressions of people sitting still, passing time, going somewhere.
At other times, inspiration comes while I'm out in nature, away from people. I think humans the contrast between these two situations is interesting. Perhaps its that humans show me pain, and nature shows me healing.
Getting inspired is an exciting and mysterious process to me since I never know when the next wave of insight will arrive. It gives me good reason to get out, move around, and spend time in different environments that may trigger different energetic and though resonance and give rise to a new sequence of concepts and perspectives.
Andrew Gentile
Seeing the power of hypnotherapy to heal clients out of their heartache inspired me to make these techniques available to a wider audience. The inspiration came from years of experience of helping people out of their post-breakup pain. I've written the story of how this book came to be in a blog article called "Birthing HeartBreak Therapy." You can find it on my blog at www.torontohypnotherapy.ca/blog/
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