How I Wrote My First Book Without Knowing How to Write

25.09.25

Back in May, I launched my book PISTIS – Demystifying Jungian Psychology on Amazon, and now, over 200 people have a copy in their homes.

I can’t tell you how insane this is!

Now, people tell me all the time about their projects and unfinished books and ask me how I was able to write such a phenomenal book (the phenomenal is on me, haha).

It’s interesting to notice how people see you differently when you’re able to bring to life an audacious project, they not only respect you more, but they also think you have many secret techniques.

And my secret… is that I didn’t know anything about writing.

Funny enough, that’s precisely why I think I was able to finish the book, as I didn’t have any preconceived notion about what was feasible or not.

I didn’t know if I was being crazy.

When I first had the idea for the book, I didn’t consider myself a writer, and I don’t say that in a demeaning way, I just never dreamt about writing a book, never took any courses, nor had mentors.

I just gave myself full permission to experiment, try different things, and fail. I allowed myself to be a beginner.

Of course, I fully committed to the process as I’ve been writing (almost) daily for the past 2 years.

But after launching the book, I could clearly see how powerful labels can be as they impose many expectations and limitations.

Before I ever thought about becoming a therapist, I went to music school. At that time, reaching perfection was the law. I’d spend hours practicing scales and musical pieces, but I never felt good enough. Even when I got compliments, I’d shrug them off and continue with my blind obsession.

With time, the joy of playing vanished, and everything became very mechanical. I had this fixed idea about how a musician should be, and that left no room for spontaneity or creativity. I was deeply identified with my playing that any wrong note was a direct hit to my self-esteem.

Naturally, I had stage fright and avoided playing in front of my colleagues. When I got into psychology, I understood that these fears and unreasonable perfectionism were rooted in an unresolved mother and father complex.

I was relating to my craft and creativity in a childish manner and as a Puer Aeternus. Because of all these internalized rules, constant comparison, and fantastical ideals, I couldn’t enjoy playing my guitar.

In contrast, with writing, I never labeled myself, and I didn’t have any role models to compare myself to. I had a natural fear of judgment, but that was it.

This beginner’s mindset allowed me to mature my relationship with creativity and shift from striving for perfectionism to being guided by the creative spirit. Or as Carl Jung would say, the creative complex.

The Creative Act

I read The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin, about a month before finishing writing my book, and the main lesson I learned was about understanding what the creation wants to become.

Instead of coming up with your own agenda and exploring creativity in a narcissistic and utilitarian way, you become a vessel for it.

When you adopt this attitude, the most important thing isn’t the outcome anymore, please others or receive validation. It’s about producing something honest, sincere, and truthful.

It’s about allowing your soul to express itself, and as Rick Rubin says, it just happens that when you do that, others can truly connect with you and appreciate your creations.

As I was reading The Creative Act**, I** noticed many similarities between the individuation journey and the creative process. Regarding psychotherapy, Carl Jung proposes the use of the dialectic method precisely because it doesn’t work with fixed rules, and we can tailor it to the individual.

Of course, we follow certain guidelines, but we never know exactly where we’re going to arrive beforehand, as we allow the spontaneity of the Self to come forth. This is exactly what happens with creativity, if we try to control it and place expectations, we suffocate the creative spirit.

Moreover, the individuation journey lies in a paradox between fulfilling the demands of the external world and the inner world. The first is about our persona, our role in society, and the ideal image we seek to portray.

The second is about uncovering our most authentic selves and enriching our inner lives through the connection with the animus and anima.

The problem is that this image of perfection often goes against our true natures and leads us to hide important qualities of our personality that form our shadows. But during the creative process, the unconscious is manifested, and we encounter all of these repressed aspects and raw emotions.

The creative act often defies this ideal image (persona) and challenges us to see ourselves in a new light and accept visceral emotions we never knew existed. That’s why creating can be so cathartic and makes us feel so whole at the same time.

Creating is a way to symbolize what is hidden, connect with our most authentic selves, and dare to do the impossible. When we fully open ourselves to the creative experience, we have the chance to become who we are meant to be.

That’s why creativity is directly linked with integrating our shadows.

The Creative Shadow

One of the biggest challenges for me was always to accept my sensitive and emotional side, as I learned that feeling anything was not only a threat but also that it was “for pussies”.

Of course, this made me feel not only anxious and depressed all the time but also incapable of creating anything. I’d look at other people’s creations and feel jealous, and I’d try to diminish them by saying, “I could do better”.

The problem is that I didn’t.

I allowed fear and shame to rule my entire life, while others were rising above this childish narcissism and sharing their creations despite being afraid.

Because to create anything worthy, we must be vulnerable, and as I worked on myself and started integrating the anima, mostly through Active Imagination and music, I learned to feel again.

I understood that the quality of our creations is directly correlated with our inner work and how willing we are to challenge the beliefs we hold. Because more often than not, what blocks creativity isn’t technique but our fear to allow it to be fully expressed.

But the more we create, the more we give life to important parts of our personality, and the more whole we become.

If you desire to create anything worthy, you must follow your fear, sacrifice childish ideals, and truly commit to developing your craft.

All you need is a bit of courage.

Read Next – Demystifying Shadow Work Series

Rafael Krüger – Live an Audacious Life

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

Mentorship – Catalyze your personal transformation with 1 on 1 sessions. Master your psychology, relationships, and business.

Audacity University – Master Jungian Psychology in 1 year: Become your own analyst or integrate these tools into your professional practice.

Katabasis – The Shadow Integration Manual – My best-selling and accessible course will teach you how to disrupt the unconscious patterns keeping you stuck and integrate the shadow.