Last month I highlighted some key tropes of traditional Gothic fiction, and the ways in which it is a reflection or projection of the conflicts of the cultural and personal psyche. This month, I’m turning to nonfiction, and it occurs to me that consideration of personal and spiritual development books is an apt post to follow with since these books seek to assist us in addressing the demons of our individual and cultural psyches on a personal level. Some say that ghosts are the manifestation of psychological unrest.
The phrase or metaphor of “demons” might not appeal to everybody and instead terminology like: releasing what no longer serves us, seeking an enlightened mind, trauma recovery, or simply healing are employed frequently in these genres.
Defining Personal/Spiritual Development
But books of this sort do have some recognizable and identifiable features. Some titles included in this genre and its subgenres might be specific to religious theology and philosophy of Judeo Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other organized religions. But often they often consider nonecumenical, nondenominational, and eclectic/inclusive global culture perspectives—and authors who seek to bridge the gaps between science and spirituality.
Themes often include:
- Repatterning thoughts and behaviors
- Questioning and becoming aware of why we believe what we believe
- Separating from the past (especially unhealthy relationships or behavior patterns of the past) but also integrating the lessons of that past
- Moving away from superstitious or dogmatic thought or influence
- Manifesting desires
- Practicing gratitude
- Identifying your authentic self and making choices that reflect and support that identity
Other tags:
- Psychology
- Self-Help
- New Age
- Spirituality
- Inspiration
In addition to interpretations filtered through specific religions, specialty topics might include: intention/manifestation, occult, astrology, shamanism, tarot, psychic development, shadow work/integration.
Traits of the Genre
Features of books categorized in such genres often are written with elements of memoir, or at least anecdotes of the author’s story of traversing the path they are writing about. Additionally or instead, they might include case studies of others who have tried this method and what sort of results they experienced. However, books without an element of personal narrative or results analysis wouldn’t necessarily be excluded. Some titles offer discussion and description of various philosophies without direct experiential commentary, or they provide anthologies and collections of affirmations, sayings, quotes, prayers, scripture, poetry, or stories curated for a specific purpose but presented as stand-alone texts. However, many books of that type would be categorized as inspiration or spirituality instead of a subgenre of self-help.
Self-help spiritual and personal development books often include an interactive aspect through workbook-style charts and tables, encouraging self-reflection with journal prompts and progress tracking is frequently—but not necessarily—integrated.
Challenges of the Writing
The most prevalent challenges of writing within personal/spiritual development genres revolve around a wide variety of approaches, which are often controversial—or even in conflict or contradiction with themselves. If readers are in a “self-diagnosis” position, the author needs to be clear about when they would need to consider finding help and assistance elsewhere also. They also should be clear and honest about their credentials and experience level and—regardless of whether the book is guided meditations or a book of select story narratives—the reader will require some sort of contextualizing guidance about what they can expect from the book and how the author suggests approaching it. Advice about what to do next is often helpful.
Audience identification tends to be fairly essential for this type of book—still, what works for one person might not work for another, and that’s acknowledged in the concept of an individual’s personal or spiritual journey.