My review of Jen Grisanti’s new book Change Your Story, Change Your Life: A Path to Success
I have know Jen Grisanti for about 5 years-wow has it been 5 years since 2008? Yes it has. I found her when I came across her website and immediately felt a connection to her spirit. I have followed her blogs and even signed up for a few of her workshops, and of course follow her on social media. At first there were two reasons I did this, 1) I wanted to write for television and I know that Jen was A) connected and B) a great person to learn from. That said, it wasn’t long before my opinion of Jen went from someone who I could learn from in the industry to someone I could learn from in life over all. Her spirit is what makes her special and the way she shares all her knowledge with the rest of us is just, well, amazing. She gives and gives constantly.
The second reason is that I was immediately drawn to her positive spirit and I felt happy every time I read one of her posts. She made me feel like I could accomplish anything if I just believed enough and worked hard enough.
Jen knows how to inspire writers, and she knows story.
I have read all three of her books.
STORY LINE: FINDING GOLD IN YOUR LIFE STORY
STORY LINE: FINDING THE GOLD IN YOUR LIFE STORY is about fictionalizing your truth in your writing. It is for anyone who has a story and wants to learn about the best platform to write their story in. It is a writing book for television and feature writers but also a business, life and spiritual book for anyone who has a desire to learn how to add fiction to their truth and bring it to the page
TV WRITING TOOL KIT is a compilation of 5 of my top selling workbooks put together into a book. It covers my philosophy on story (Log Line For Your Life, Goals & Dilemmas, Log Line For Your Story), story structure for the TV spec and pilot script, 5-week program for writing your TV spec script, 5-week program for writing your TV pilot script, gearing up for staffing & development season, finding your voice, crafting your pitch and ways to start preparing yourself for success.
And finally her latest book and my personal favorite- CHANGE YOUR STORY, CHANGE YOUR LIFE: A Path to Success
This book is amazing for so many reasons. Jen talks openly about her past, which I can’t imagine doing the way she has shared the hard times in her life and how she overcame them. She gives step by step guidelines on how to change ‘your’ story and thus change your life. What makes this great is how she shares her own personal experiences so we, the reader, doesn’t feel alone-we connect to her.
Jen talks about the turning points we all have and how they are the “all is lost” moments that all “heroes” have in film, books, TV or whatever story medium you are writing or reading. She shows how we are the hero of our own life and she mirrors real life with that of character and for a writer, that is a great way to understand life as we know it. She gives exercises at the end of the chapters which are extremely helpful.
I have to be honest here, I have been through hell and back over the last 12 years-seriously the only thing that has happened in television or film that hasn’t happened to me is 1) I haven’t encountered any aliens, and 2) no zombies-so as you can imagine I have lots of reasons to say “this is why things aren’t working in my life.”
I am the queen of positive beliefs, the Secret, Robert Collier’s Secret of the Ages, Napoleon Hill, Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins-the guy from Yes Man played by Terence Stamp, you know what I am talking about. Believe it will happen, say it will happen, say yes to it happening and it will. I am a very positive person despite losing my brother, my mother, my father, many friends and having my career disappear in front of me in seconds all in the last 12 years-honestly my motto-that which does not kill me, makes me funnier is what I live by. Otherwise I would be crying non-stop. That said, I have found myself saying things like, “I can’t because….” whatever the reason, money, depression, work, etc, I was making excuses, constantly until last week when I read Jen’s book and it all clicked. “I” am the reason things weren’t working, sure I could put a positive spin on anything-trust me-anything-but there was always a reason, “I’m too old, my mom died, my father died, my dog died, I can’t afford it, I have to work 90 hours a week, I can’t, I can’t I can’t”….Boo hoo right? Cry me a river.”
In Jen’s book she talks openly about her lowest moments and how she got past them but changing the way she thought and making a new story for her life. It was like a slap in the face that I have needed for a very long time.
I read a ton of self help books-The Secret-which for the longest time I have been calling “The only secret is stealing Napoleon Hill’s book, regurgitating it, renaming it and making a million dollars book” you know what I mean. I do mediation and Jen is the one who got me into it when she suggested Deepak Chopra’s 21 meditation challenge on either Facebook or her blog, or both-I honestly can’t remember. I practice yoga, I do so many things to always see the positive, but something wasn’t working.
Now since reading Jen’s new book, I am changing my story and changing my life. It really has given me hope on many levels. I believe this book is a must have for anyone wanting to be a writer and anyone wanting to be happy-it’s like nothing I have ever read and I can’t recommend it enough.
You can get the book here.
http://shop.mwp.com/products/change-your-story-change-your-life-a-path-to-success
I honestly can’t recommend this book strongly enough. If you want to take control of your life, you must get it.
You can find out more about Jen here.
Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach 