Final-ish Book Outline

Monday, April 30th, 2012

You found my old blog. Thanks for visiting! For my new writing, visit mikesententia.com.

I’d thought writing a book would be like writing a long blog series, but there is a ton of work to organize your material upfront. Thanks for bearing with me as I figure this out.

My first couple outlines weren’t bad, but they didn’t really captured what I wanted to discuss. But third time’s the charm, and at this point, I have a structure that feels good enough to start writing (though I’ll probably change it as I go). It’s divided into five sections, plus an intro and conclusion:

Intro

Who I am, what direct magick is, and the layout of the book. Standard stuff, taken from my front page and about page. I’ll probably write this last.

Part 1: Connecting My Terms to Your Terms

This idea came from Ananael, who asked me to step him through the LBRP in my model. That’s a great way to introduce people to my style. I’ll cover one style per chapter: Hermeticism (with the LBRP), channeled energy healing, psychic intuitions, and a few more. For each, I’ll explain their magick in my model, with a couple of tips to get better results based on my model. (It’s important to have a reward early, to get people to read, and to show that my models have some value.) For anyone who’s never done any magick, I’ll have an energy meditation, followed by the same explanation of what it is you’re feeling.

The styles should be widespread and standardized. Enochian is a match, prayers to superman is not. The goal is that everyone is familiar with at least one styles I cover. Readers would probably only read about styles they are familiar with. The goal isn’t to cover all the magick of that style, just one common practice so they have a concrete way to connect to my terms.

Got a recommendation for a style or particular practice to cover? Let me know.

A lot of these models will be quite contrary to the conventional explanation, so I’ll need a quick introduction to this section, too. It will suggest that you only read the chapters for styles you practice, and suggesting that you just treat this as a speculative model for the moment, with a promise to show you why I believe these things later in the book. I can’t convince readers of my model up front, but at least I can acknowledge that I’d be skeptical, too, and ask them to bear with me.

By the end of part one, readers should have a passing familiarity with the major pieces of my models: Ethereal software, connections, energy, signatures, mental muscles, etc. They might not know how to work with each of those, but they should at least know what the words mean.

Part 2: Using Ethereal Software More Effectively

Since most styles of magick use ethereal software, the biggest bang for your buck comes from learning to use ethereal software better. This section is about getting better results from the magick you already do. (Faster, more precise, etc.) It will follow the outline of what I taught Lisa, up to the point where she had to learn to awaken her mental muscles.

I’ll include some new ethereal software, tied to a sigil, for you to experiment with. You would use it along with any ethereal software you already use.

Part 3: A Tour of Direct Magick

Before, we were focused on getting you immediately useful techniques. Now, it’s time to explore the model, and for me to show you the things I saw that lead me to this model. I’ll give you exercises to find all the different parts of direct magick, along with a useful technique for each. The focus of this section, though, is on exploring magick and seeing the parts of the model for yourself, so you can make up your own mind about it.

I’ll write each chapter independently — mental muscles, ethereal software, connections, energy, etc — then see which chapters depend on which others, and organize it based on that.

Part 4: Techniques Unique to Direct Magick

Most readers will already know at least one traditional style of magick. So, rather than replicating skills you already have, we’ll focus on the parts of direct magick that you won’t find in most styles: Awakening mental muscles, techniques for sensory connections, and so on. The focus will be on using these techniques to complement the magick you do already. I’ll figure out the exact list of techniques after getting through the other sections, but broadly, sections 4 and 5 will cover the earlier list of techniques I’d made.

Part 5: Creating New Techniques

This is the real point for me: Using direct magick to understand how your ethereal software implements your instructions, and improving on what it does. I’ll cover techniques I’ve already developed, but the focus will be on how I developed them (and how you can develop your own techniques), rather than just having you copy my techniques.

Conclusion

What to do next with your direct magick practice, where I see magick going, and other closing thoughts.

That’s a Big Book

After putting this outline together, I read it and felt intimidated. This is a much larger book that I initially imagined writing, and I wasn’t sure I could do it. But then I made a plan: Blog each chapter. (There’s nothing in here I can’t blog as a one-off post.) Paste them all into a word doc. (I’m good at ctrl-c.) Then edit the whole thing into something cohesive afterward. (Editing an already-written book takes a lot of time, but it’s not intimidating.)

Depending on how long sections 1 and 2 are, I might pause there to turn those sections into a book before moving on. I’ll distribute it as a free PDF first, then turn it into a paper book after everything is done.

Next

Next, I’m going to write section 2, on using ethereal software more effectively. This will also answer a lot of recent questions from my comments, so it works well.

Why not start with section 1? I want my report on each style to grow from direct observation, rather than speculation based on my model. Which means I’ll need to attend some rituals. Shouldn’t be too hard to do over the next six months, but I don’t want it to delay the rest of the book.

If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.

Who is My Book For?

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

You found my old blog. Thanks for visiting! For my new writing, visit mikesententia.com.

As I was putting together the outline, I realized I haven’t answered the first question: Who is my book for?

I had a particular organization in mind, where each skill would be useful for a ritual mage or psychic, and it gradually builds up from what you’re doing now to what I want to share with you. It seems like a sensible strategy, but as I think about writing in a more personal voice, it also feels kind of dry, or corporate.

Also, I don’t think I need to encourage people quite that much to try my exercises. Most readers will either already know me from the blog or be getting the book from a friend. In both cases, I need to be interesting, but I have a bit of leeway to get you through a few exercises. So, I think it’s more important to engage my reader as a person, rather than have an immediate payoff in technical magick skill.

Of course, once I figure out my basic plan, I’ll see about adding some immediate payoffs. But that should be a bonus, not the centerpiece.

Potential Audiences

The first thing that comes to mind is to write the book for myself, when I was starting out with magick. What are the things I wish I knew? I’ve tried this before, though, and there are a few problems: I don’t remember that time my life all that clearly (I was 11); I tend to focus too much on technical exercises, and not enough on the reasons behind them; and it might be the wrong tone for adult readers with previous experience in magick.

I could write for Lisa. Really, a lot of my writing is for her already. (Most of the advanced topics.) The first few sections would be for her when I first met her, and the later sections might even be for her now. She did psychic work, and has recently learned ethereal-software-based energy healing, so that might leave ritual mages out in the cold, but it’s a good option.

The other option I see is to write for the readers who give me feedback. (I’ll be blogging each section as I write it.) That way, it’s interactive, and I’m focusing on my most engaged readers. And it would let Ananael (who I’m sure will call me on things I miss) represent the ritual mages.

So, I think that’s the plan: Write for Lisa, plus readers who ask questions and send me feedback. And I’ll put in a thank you page for any readers who help me with this (your name and website, under whatever pseudonym you want).

Thoughts? Comments? It’s never too early to get on the thank you page :)

If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.

The Main Skills for Direct Magick

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

You found my old blog. Thanks for visiting! For my new writing, visit mikesententia.com.

I’m blogging the process of writing my book, so you can see what goes into it and maybe get inspiration for your own book.

I’d planned to start my book with an outline, but most skills build on earlier skills, so the order matters as much as the list of topics. Rather than trying to organize everything in one go, I’m going to list the main skills for direct magick today — those are also the main topics of my book — and figure out the order later.

How can you help? Let me know what I missed, or anything you were hoping to see that’s not there.

Getting Started

Energy meditation and a basic ritual (LBRP?), for readers who’ve never done any magick before. Using quartz to make your energy more obvious. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll skip these pages.

Communication

How to send each concept accurately. This could be words, images, or something else, but how to send each unit of your message clearly and reliably.

Sub-topics: Quieting your thoughts. Placing thoughts in one part of your mind. Preparing that part of your mind for a particular signature. Placing your thoughts on a connection. (Maybe I’ll cover how to package your thoughts into a message, but that’s probably for a later, more advanced book.)

Personal-Growth Type Enlightenment

Magick techniques to overcome petty emotions so you are driven by a desire to create, not a drive for power. The technique will probably be based on consciousness integration, but needs to be simplified.

Sensory Connections

A set of skills to watch all the moving parts that make your magick work. This will be interspersed throughout the book, so you’ll improve your sensory connections a bit, then use them to do something else (which also gets you practice time with that sensory technique), then learn the next level.

Sub-topics: Quieting your energy (cover that with communication?). Quieting your connections. Sensing smaller signatures. Using multiple connections to sense an area, tracing a path. Sensing energy vs sensing structures, and how to notice low-power structures.

Protection

How to prevent magick attacks from spirits trying to drain your energy, or other malicious spirits and mages. Not enough to make you an expert, (that’s its own book), but enough to make you an unappealing target.

Sub-topics: Shielding. Noticing a connection. Breaking or removing a connection (and what to do if the spirit is actively using the connection). Tracing the connection to its source. A basic attack to cause a headache (in case they don’t give up).

Using Ethereal Software

How to recognize it, find it, and communicate with it. Most of the techniques are in the communication section. This will focus on finding it, and on common useful commands.

Sub-topics: Recognizing the spot in your mind where the ethereal software wants to connect, and recognizing the software’s signature. Aligning your communication to the software’s signature so it responds to you as though you were initiated. Asking the ethereal software to communicate in words, rather than intents. Common useful commands.

Awakening Your Mental Muscles

This starts with using energy to speed up the natural awakening of your mental muscles. Later, you’ll directly activate the muscles and the paths that provide them power.

Sub-topics: Finding your mental muscles. Recognizing which ones are awakening. A general map of common mental muscles. Finding the mental muscles that your current muscles want to work with. Awakening hibernating muscles, along with the paths that provide them power. What the fatigue feels like when a new mental muscle starts awakening, and how to help it so you don’t get tired.

Mental Posture

How to engage your mental muscles, particularly after awakening new ones. Also, how to keep your mental muscles passively engage, so you’re always paying attention to the magickal world.

Sub-topics: Developing a single mental posture for all your magick. Specializing your mental posture for each task. Dynamic posture, where you engage whatever you need for the current task, without practicing it beforehand. Making it all conscious.

Energy Healing

Both using ethereal software, and doing it directly. It will address energy layer, and at least one step down the path from energy to cells. I’ll probably return to practical topics like energy healing multiple times, teaching a new better version after you’ve learned new core skills. Include some case studies.

Manifesting

This is really an application of the techniques for using ethereal software. Mostly a list of commands, and tips on how to phrase questions. It will be a short chapter, or possibly the motivation for some of the exercises.

How You Can Help

It’s so, so easy for me to forget something, because once you’ve practiced these skills for a year or more, most of them become second nature, and you forget you’re even doing them.

So, let me ask you: Did I miss anything? Are there any skills you’d hoped for that aren’t here?

Thanks.

If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.

How I’m Self-Publishing a Magick Book

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

You found my old blog. Thanks for visiting! For my new writing, visit mikesententia.com.

I’m self-publishing a magick book. And I’m going to blog as I do it, to give you some ideas on self-publishing your book. I’m no expert on this, so take this as one guy’s experience figuring all this out, not necessarily the way you should do it.

I’m also going to blog each chapter as I write it, and continue posting answers to your emails and comments several days a week.

Today, step 1: Start blogging. Do this 2-3 years before you bother with the book, for two reasons.

First, your blog will be your main marketing platform, and it takes time to get traffic. (If you want details on how to market a blog, I recommend Problogger.)

Let me show you what I mean about “It takes a while to get traffic.” Here are the stats for my first month blogging, from Feb-March 2010 (click to enlarge):

The graph maxes out at 11 visits a day. Not gonna sell many books that way.

Here are my stats after 1 year of blogging:

Unique visitors are way up (from 37 in 2010 to 144 in 2011), but pageviews and total visits didn’t change much. I’m getting some search traffic, but not really connecting with people, and most visitors never return.

And for this past month, after 2 years blogging:

Between 50 and 100 visits most days, and over 8,000 pageviews* for the month. No idea how this compares to other magick bloggers, but I’m pretty happy. Certainly worth a halfway-subtle horn tooting in a blog post. And I think it’s good enough to warrant starting a book.

*Pageviews is a good measure of how involved your readers are — getting 1,000 visitors is great, but if they each only viewed one page, you aren’t selling a lot of books.

But there’s a more important reason to start a blog: The only way to become a non-bad writer is to write. And that takes time. For me, it took a little over a year. And that’s why I didn’t network much until mid-2011: I just wasn’t happy with my writing yet.

I stole the term “non-bad” writer from Study Hacks. Here’s a great section from that post on landing a book deal, which applies equally to self-publishing something worth reading:

You don’t have to be a good writer to land a book deal. I’ve been writing seriously for 7 years and am still trying to figure out how to become good. You can’t, however, be a bad writer. Your writing has to be tolerable for 200 pages. In other words, you have to shake off the stench of amateurism before you start talking to people in the publishing world. Trust me, one of the first things a potential agent or editor will want from you is writing samples, writing samples, and more writing samples.

How do you know if you’re bad? If your only writing experience is e-mails and school papers then assume you’re bad.

How do you become non-bad? My rough rule: spend at least one year writing for edited publications.

I don’t know many edited publications for magick. My best advice is to (1) get friends to review your posts and tell you what works and what doesn’t, and (2) read your posts out loud, to a friend if possible, and try to hear which parts aren’t up to snuff.

So, that’s step 1 for writing a book: Start blogging, become a non-bad writer, then build up your blog’s readership. Future steps coming as I get to them.

If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.