Manifesting Your Novel
Hold on tight, we’re about to get mystical. But practically so.
Like many, I’ve been sucked into the creative vortex that is TikTok these last few years. TikTok is famously made up of little neighborhoods (or “Toks”) and the almighty algorithm shuttles you between them in a way that can feel mystifyingly accurate. How did the algorithm know that I’d like to hear from creators in the Mongolian wilderness? Or sheepherders in the Scottish Highlands? Welcome to SheepTok. I’m definitely on BookTok; almost always on CatTok; I’m somehow on DatingTok (I don’t date); and as someone who likes to ponder existential questions, I’ve found myself on PhilosophyTok and, perhaps adjacent, ManifestationTok.
These little TikTok neighborhoods are made up of all kinds of creators with varying skill and knowledge, so it should come as no surprise that ManifestationTok attracts a fair number of folk looking to increase their following by spreading the suspect belief that you can simply claim what you want (usually of material benefit) and get it. The Universe will give it to you if you raise your vibration high enough.
It’s ridiculous! And yet, hear me out, there is truth to it. Not in a get-rich-quick, increase-your-follower-count kind of way, but in a deeply satisfying, action-oriented kind of way. I believe you can manifest what you want—your novel, in this case. And I believe there is an element to it that will certainly feel mystical and destined.
The parts I agree with ManifestationTok are this:
Yes, you must know what you want. You must know it so certainly that you feel it in your bones. This thing or circumstance you want will feel purely true to you. For me, this is a physical sensation in my gut. You must be able to speak what you want out loud and believe it. Until you can do that, write it down somewhere you can see it every day.
Yes, you must believe that you can achieve this thing that you want. There must be no doubt in your mind.
Yes, you must carry gratitude: for the opportunity to receive this thing, for the ability to experience the joy of pursuing it or welcoming it into your life, for the ability to share this thing, once you have it, with others. Gratitude must be a river running through you.
And then, this is where ManifestationTok wavers, you must take a step toward getting what you want. Each day, one bold step. They can be small steps or big ones—boldness isn’t about the size of the step, but about the certainty with which you take it.
Manifesting simply means bring something into reality, and like much in life, I don’t believe that we ever arrive at “having manifested” something. Isn’t there always more to do? For example, as we apply this to writing—to bringing your novel into reality—the process of manifesting will be a long, daily process of continually bringing those bold steps to the surface and acting on them. As this novel comes into existence, your next novel (or another idea altogether) will bubble to the surface and that will become your focus, such that it won’t feel like you will have finished anything at all. You’ll have bigger goals, bigger dreams, and you’ll be taking your certainty, gratitude, and bold steps in that new direction.
Have I completely lost you, my writer friend? Maybe the word “manifesting” has too much woo-woo associated with it. If so, what if you applied your certainty, gratitude, and bold steps to the novel idea burning within you and wrote with the same determination anyway?
I say use the tools and inspiration you have at hand. And if it helps to call it manifesting, why not call it that? ✨
