Creating "Inner Reformation," the Book

Dancer, Tessa Priem, creator of "Inner Reformation: an Autobiography Danced" & the book.

​Hi, Dear Reader. Since I've compiled the behind the scenes of Making Inner Reformation, the dance, I want to do the same for creating the book--keeping a record of me making it. So let's take a look!

• For starters, I didn't anticipate writing this book for 20 more years
• Major abdominal surgery & some heart-breaking events prompted me to write now, however
• So the project officially kicked off on October 31, 2019
• I had to write several blog posts to get over my fear of writing and revealing. Writing #1, Writing #2, Writing #3, Writing #4
• I then did an adventurous and beautiful thing: I went on a writing retreat in Eureka Springs, Arkansas 
• On this retreat, my book was born. I penned the first chapter and the Introduction
• Chapter two came next. It is a personal chapter involving my parents, so it has yet to be publicly revealed
• Chapter three came out about a month later, February 2020
• In March, chapter four was penned
• And I have been binge-writing throughout the rest of March due to the coronavirus outbreak. Chapters 5-8 were written within four days

So what's next? Thanks for asking! Before the middle of April, I hope to pen the remaining four chapters. I have two persons helping with editing. And we hope to complete this book, editing and all, by October 31, 2020. By the first of the year, or as soon as possible, I hope it is in some way accessible for purchase. And at the end of five years (October 31, 2024), I will pen the epilogue. 


Tell us about your writing process? As I said, I needed time to build up courage, and this was gained through writing blog posts, getting out what I needed to say before writing the actual book. Chapter one was easy to pen, but the Introduction was hard because I was afraid to reveal what is within me (i.e., the scope of my project). Chapters 2 & 3 were a joy to write, even if emotional. Chapters 4-8, I'm still processing. 

For my writing, by the way, I write in a journal and transfer that material to Grammarly. Then, I make public posts on Facebook to gain feedback on each new chapter. The feedback has proved invaluable and has gained me a little over one dozen faithful friends who critique my work. Being an exceptionally tedious person, I read and re-read the whole of the writing; I'm constantly editing it. 


How is this writing impacting you? Overall, I'm enjoying it. Writing doesn't give me as much of a high as making dance, but that's okay. A big concern of mine is not to hurt people I love as I write it and when I make references about them in my book. So I'm very conscious of that while making this art. I'm also a workaholic, so not going to bed at 4 am is hard for me. And some, or a lot, of the subject matter is tough, so emotionally working through that is a necessity. 


What do you hope for this book? I hope that it will pair nicely with my dance and that it will reach as many people as possible. I also hope to enjoy the remaining months and years in creating it. 


Note: links to the original writings are just that, the originals! They are not the edited, official versions. 
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Click here for my previous writing. And here you see can see a record of my Facebook post. And if you want to learn more about all I do, visit my about page! Of course, the best way to keep up on Inner Reformation is to follow me on Facebook & Instagram. You can also subscribe to Inner Reformation on Youtube where I post all kinds of lovely outdoor dance videos. Feel free to like, share, or comment on this post. And finally, if you need to reach me, feel free to contact me. Enjoy!

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