The Writing and Marketing Show

Writing Psychological Non-Fiction

March 02, 2022 Wendy H. Jones Episode 111
The Writing and Marketing Show
Writing Psychological Non-Fiction
Show Notes Transcript

Today I talk to Dr Lisa Ortigaro Crego about writing psychological non-fiction. Lisa describes her books as  inspirational, motivational and spiritual and I would say they are also effective. 

Wendy Jones:

Hi, and welcome to the writing and marketing show brought to you by author Wendy H. Jones. This show does exactly what it says on the tin. it's jam packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news to help you with the business of writing. It's all wrapped up in one lively podcast, so it's time to get on with the show. And welcome to episode 111 of the writing and Marketing Show with author, entrepreneur Wendy H. Jones. I'm looking forward to yet another fabulous show. And this week, we're going to be talking to Dr. Lisa or to Dr. Krieger, about writing psychological nonfiction books and why they're important and why people should think about writing them. And I'm very much looking forward to that. But before we do what's been happening in the bazaars and what's been happening in my life, well, things are opening up a lot now. And I'm starting to do a lot more book signings and things. And I'm looking forward to just another two weeks until we go to the Scottish sociation of Writers Conference. And I'm very, very much looking forward to that. The following week, after that, I'm having five days off, I'm actually going away for a few days with my aunt, and we're going to the west coast of Scotland, and we're going to have some time of rest and relaxation. And, and I'm also getting ready to go to Antigua at the end of April. Now you may be thinking, Oh, that's very early to be thinking about that. Trust me, it's not at the moment, if you want to do a research trip. Now. It's like mounting a full scale battle. Because you've got to do a lot of different things in terms of coverage, you've got to check different countries, the country you're going into, you've got to follow the airport rules. I've even learned that the airport on the airline expect us to change our masks every four hours. So literally, I'll need to put a mask on as I go into the airport, then another one on when I get on the plane and then a different mask again, halfway through and another one to get off the plane, it's all going to be a bit unusual. But if it keeps me safe, if it means that I'm healthy, when I'm in Antigua and doing my research, then I'm willing to comply. If it keeps other people safe. I'm willing to comply. Because it's all about being safe, being healthy, and being able to do things when you get to your destination. And I'm very much looking forward to being able to do that. And so that's what's been taking up all my time. I'm also busy writing, and I'm busy editing for people are running the entrepreneur accelerator Academy. Before we get on to talking about talking to Lisa, I would like to say that it's a pleasure to bring you this show every week. And I do so willingly. But it does take time out of my writing day. And if you would like to support the show, then you can do so by going to patreon.com forward slash Wendy H Jones and supporting me for as little as$3 a month which is the price for Tier coffee per month. And I would be very grateful. And I appreciate that everybody's worried a little bit worried about money at the moment with rising costs. But if you can't do it, month in month out, then you can do it as a one off by going to my website, Wendy H jones.com. And clicking on buy me a coffee and again I would be very grateful. It would mean that you liked the show and you want me to continue with it past episode 111 Although it will go past episode 111 Because I have some other interviews and talks lined up. So it will be going on into the future but if you would like to support it, I would be grateful. So what of Dr. Lisa Autigara Crego Well, she resides in South Florida steps from the Atlantic Ocean. She walks daily with her buddy Southern Grace her white Swiss Shepherd. She's an avid reader and author of five books and one collection series with a new book due out in November on Releasing Your Obsession with the Phone or I think I need that one. Dr. Lisa is a clinical psychotherapist addiction psychologist and visiting professor in private practice. She has worked in the field of eating disorders for well over two and a half decades. She earned a doctorate in addiction psychology and a master's degree in social work with the emphasis on mental health and is certified as an eating disorder specialist, master certified addiction professional and National Board Certified Clinical obsession. She speaks on blogs and on recovery from compulsive obsessive behaviours using spiritual and mind approaches to healing. Dr. Lisa Origaro Crego's professional affiliations include the National Association of Social Workers the National Board for certified clinical hypnotherapist, the International association of eating disorder professionals, and the American Psychological Association. So I think you will agree that it's a really important talk to be having today about why writing these books but why those books are so important in this day and age. And I am very much looking forward to talking to her. So without further ado, let's get on with the show and hear from Dr. Lisa. And we have Lisa with us welcome, Lisa.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Well, thank you. I'm so excited to be here with you.

Wendy Jones:

Oh, now, that's a lovely American accent. You've got their Lisa, where are you in America?

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Well, I'm way on the tip of South Florida near Miami, where it's very hot, very sunny all year round.

Wendy Jones:

Oh, how. Lovely. I love Florida. I love I love Disneyland. And I love the Florida Keys.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Yes, yes, it's I do too. I love Florida. I moved here when I was 29 from Chicago, which is very cold. And I just I came here when I was 12 years old with my grandmother and grandfather as they were moving here. And I helped them move. And I remember when my feet touched the soil, and it was sunny, and it was warm. And I said this is where I belong. And so I moved here at 29. And I never ever, ever

Wendy Jones:

Great. Have you been to Hemingway's house. Hemingway's house is given for a writer.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Yes, it is. It's so funny, you should ask because I just posted a little video on on something I did. That was really kind of sneaky. I had gone to Hemingway's when I was very, very, very young. And I was standing on the bricks by his pool and one of the bricks was a little bit loose, and enough to come off. So I said nobody's looking. And I took that little brick out my writing table. I use it. And it's a true story. And I in the video that I posted that you could see the little brick I showed it.

Wendy Jones:

Well, if you if I ever come to visit your Lisa, you'll have to lock it up. You might not have it anymore.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

I will split it with you. You could have a piece.

Wendy Jones:

You're so kind,anyway. And so I want to thank you for coming on. It's a pleasure to have you here. So well first of all, can you tell us a little bit about how you came to writing? Yes,

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

I think the best way to to share how I got to where I am now, as far as my writing career is it all stems back to when I was quite young. And I when I was a little kid, all I wanted was sugar, and sweets. And I would avoid eating and I would steal little sweets from the pantry. And you know, if my mother was having a coffee clutch, I would steal the sugar cubes. And I kind of went on detected that there was something wrong because I was pretty skinny, scrawny kid. But as time marched on at 12, I began to develop. And I also began to eat more because I was hungry. And I became petrified that I was getting gain weight. And then I started to gain weight. And I didn't know what to do. And I tried all these different ways to lose the weight, etc, etc. Anyway, long story short, I ended up 100 pounds overweight. And it was a pretty rough patch of time. And fast forward, I figure it out, I became a very I don't know if it's prominent, but I was a big feature with with Weight Watchers, I did a lot of lecturing for them at their Miami base office, lecturing on how to eat correctly to their staff. And of course, to a lot of people for 13 years. And that launched me into getting my degrees. And after my degrees I said you know what, I need to take a step away from this commercial way of releasing weight. And look at it deeper from a spiritual perspective, from a physical perspective. And from a food addiction perspective. Hence my first book, release your obsession with food. Because it was the only one way I could write a book like that would be to have recovery, understand what it took to get to recovery and have that psychology background. And so it was a it was a work in progress.

Wendy Jones:

No, it sounds great. It really does. I don't know where you're coming from. I'm assuming world member. No way. What's your Slimming World? Hey, I learned to eat healthily through that because like you I was a bit of a sugar addict, you know, and I think a lot of us have been there. So I think that's why it's important. You know, it's because eating addiction and eating disorders is a really important topic, especially now because it's becoming more and more apparent. Why is it important that we write books that touch on this?

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Um, I think it's important because when you're in the thick of this type of disorder, you feel really alone and really scared. And that there's something really wrong with you, and that it's your fault. And I did a lot of reading, and I have some awesome books that really helped me food addiction was one and the author, she actually endorsed one of my books, wonderful woman. And I realised in order for me to put forth this kind of book, I would need to experience it and put the experience on the pages. I do not hold back, I let it all out. In fact, every book I write, I don't hide behind the words, I am there front and centre, raw to show this is what I experienced, this is how I move through it. And I have steps to to guide whether it's my book on Ageing, or a book on money or the book on food, it whatever, one, they're all areas that I experienced myself, and in found the recovery from them. And I felt I had the expertise to share.

Wendy Jones:

No, that's great. And I do think it is important that we're honest and raw, because people will see that, you know, they're not going through alone. You know, writing sort things like that can be tricky, but difficult. But it helps others in untold ways, really. And so things go on to my next question really, is that in many ways, right, in any type of psychological nonfiction must be a difficult process where an act is one start.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Um, I don't know if it's a difficult process, because for me, it was very natural. Yeah, probably because of all the training just to earn my doctorate, I did a lot of writing and a lot of, you know, essays and papers. And so it came quite natural. And my truth just kind of poured out on the pages. It's funny though, one today I was flipping through some of my books and I sometimes I'll read something I wrote, and I can't even believe I wrote it. So I really do go into another space when I'm writing. But if I were to advise someone how to write a book, a psychology, slanted spiritual psychology slanted book, I would tell them what someone told me many years ago, I was on a walk at Sun, a journalist from the Miami Herald fell in line with me and we were walking together. And I was in awe of her, I said, I want to bright out, that's my dream, I always wanted to write and, and she said, in order to write a good piece, you really need to know it. You really and this is for nonfiction, you really need to know and experience and be experienced. And I didn't forget it. And it was those words that prompted me to get my master's, and then my PhD, and all the training I had speaking for Weight Watchers, and learning my own food addictions, and 12 Step programmes all that helped me to write these books. So I guess that would be the answer. It's a long answer. But that's the answer.

Wendy Jones:

No, is a good answer. Actually, I think for any of you write any nonfiction you need to know inside out, you know, in order to be able to write about it, you need to have lambdas, or in a lot of ways for these sorts of things. Having walked the walk helps, yes, you know, because you You know how people feel you know, where they're coming from and where their addictions are coming from, you know, absolutely. How do you How would you go about approaching it sensitively, and yet allow the book to develop, so it's effective.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Um, I think the way I do that, is by exposing myself, I really expose myself in the darkest of times, that it lessens the sensitivity because the reader knows, oh, she did that too. Oh, I used to do that. I didn't know other people do that, whatever that would be. Whether it's hiding food, eating large amounts of food, you know, running in the middle of the night to get a stash of food. I mean, these are things that I did that I write about. And in every book, that exposure leaves the reader knowing that they're really in good company.

Wendy Jones:

No, I think yeah, you're right, as you say, it is one theme running through it that you've got to be Be honest with yourself as well as honest with your reader. And I think that's something that a lot of people might struggle with. Because it's easy to say, well, you should do this. And you should do that, and you should do the other. But exposing yourself is much harder. And I think perhaps you have to come to terms with yourself and your own addiction to be able to do that. And the thing is, it might come as a surprise to a lot of people when they've just seen you and didn't know that you had this going on or what you'd gone through, you know. So I see honesty like that can help. Did you find it difficult being so honest or not? Or did you just

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

I did not find it difficult. But I'll tell you when I do. If I have a brand new patient, I'm also a psychologist, addiction psychologist with a full practice. Yeah. And I've been running this private practice for 25 years. So pretty pandemic, everyone came in and post I don't even know for post whatever we are pandemic. pandemic. Yeah, you know, most of its telehealth, but I still have some coming in. And what what happens sometimes I'll walk in with my book under their arm, and I've not met them, and they'll flip it open. And they'll say, Oh, I can't believe you did this. Now then I feel kind of like kind of exposed kind of awkward. Because I don't know that yet. Yeah. And so that, that is the only time that I feel awkward. And it's funny, because I come from a big family of Italian English. Siblings, and not one of them have ever read any of my books. Gosh, which I'm kind of relieved. You know, not my cousins, none of them. And I'm like, Yeah, I don't think they have if they have their they have a zip lip about it. But so

Wendy Jones:

My family have read mine, but they're all fiction. So they just go, we didn't know you had that much in you when they all those that wonder Orianna. But yeah, Europe is probably a good thing, because you'd maybe don't want your family looking into it too deeply. Yeah. I'm curious, is there any particular structure that one should follow? If you're writing psychological nonfiction? Or do you just let it flow? Or how do you write it?

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

I tend to be a pastor, I tend to let it flow, I'll do a very loose outline. And as I'm working, I move things around. In fact, today, this morning, I was working on my release your obsession with the phone. And I, as I was working through it, I said, you know, I need to change a chapter. I just don't, I don't like the looks of it. And I changed it to burnout. And that's kind of how I flow, you know, whatever. It just feels right. And then I start to write it. But I write very, very quickly. I can I if I really, really wanted to, I could put a book out every five months, but I don't want to it's i It's not I wouldn't enjoy it anymore.

Wendy Jones:

Yeah, sometimes you need to I mean, I can write a first draft quite quickly. But you've got to have bring common sense into it as well. You know, you don't want to kill yourself in the process, because it just turns into yet another addiction. Yes. And you could write a book about it.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

My topics are endless. Yeah, we have obsessions with everything. So so I will always have a book coming out on some obsession of some sort.

Wendy Jones:

Yeah, I can imagine. Yes. Are there any pitfalls or barriers that the writers should be aware of?

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Um, I think that we have to make sure we take time to step away. Not put so much pressure on on, you know, getting that next book out. enjoying the process of writing, I only put one rule on myself, just one and that's 500 words a day, no matter what. And I do sit down and do the 500 Words. Almost every day. If I miss a day, the next day, it's 1000. But I include the weekends, I don't take that off. 500 I can knock that out and a half hour. Yeah. And so I do stick to that structure. And it helps keep the momentum because I usually will look at that last sentence or that last paragraph and it just puts me right there immediately and I just start to, you know, click away.

Wendy Jones:

Now, that's good. I mean, it's, you know, that is one of the things again, we come to ourselves under pressure. I've been up against a deadline, you know, and I'm writing 12 hours a day. And that's not good for anybody's health, you know. So I think that's very good advice to step away from it, you know, and give yourself time for you as well. Might you say that I'm a full time writer. So you know, if I don't have only four or 500 bucks a day, that wouldn't be a very full time job, I wouldn't be making much money, quite frankly.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

And I'm glad you mentioned that because I, I do work my practice your hour, four hours, four days a week, 10 hours, you know, straight. So I am already working a real heavy 40 hour week. Yeah. But my worlds do connect the work that I do in my practice. And the work that I do in my writing, they do connect. So

Wendy Jones:

yeah. So what would be your top three tips for anyone considering writing a book books such as these?

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

I think the number one, as we discussed is you need to know what the topic is, you really need to understand it. And know it, too. I think writing any book, any book, no matter what it is, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, you're not going to be most likely the best seller and all over the, you know, charts and you know, it's a process to grow your, your business. Yeah. And I think the last tip is know that the writing part is the absolute most blast. Everything that follows that is where, you know, it's it can be very stressful.

Wendy Jones:

Yeah, I want to I want to ask you about your own books. But I would really like to start with one you're writing at the moment, which is the one to do with the phone addiction. Now the reason I'm going to start with that is because I'll be honest here guys and say that Dr. Lisa and I met on tick tock tick tock group. So to be honest, I think I'm probably pretty obsessed with my mobile phone at the moment because of tick tock, but it is becoming a big issue joking apart. I remember reading an article about someone whose son when she took the mobile phone often for any reason. It was like you cut off heroin, you know, and he was only 10 910. And they literally had to go you have to go through an addiction programme. So I'm interested in that one.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Yeah, it really doesn't look any different than the food addiction, then the alcohol addiction than the cigarette addiction. It's that same withdrawal. To put it away is very difficult. I think the fact that most of us, at least in the writing world, we are working world, we are working with our phones, our phones are part of our job. And so you can't put it away. You can't move away from it. I was just writing about a fella that, you know, he clearly was when he presented himself in my office. I thought he might be bipolar. He was like bouncing from very depressed a very, you know, mannequin. And as we began to, you know, unpack what was going on. It occurred to me Oh, my goodness, he has burned out he has a phone addiction. He wouldn't stop using that phone no matter where he was going. It was. It's funny when when he comes in, he's in the waiting room and you could hear him on the phone talking. He's loud. And then he speaks a different language. So you really could hear him. And then he walks into the part inside the office, not my office. But like the the the hallways, yeah. And he's still on their phone talking. He's got the earbud in his ears. And then he goes to the restroom. And I could literally hear him from my office, which is very far from the restroom, still talking. And so and then he'll sit in the office and he's always looking at the phone looking at the phone. And so we have to know when is it interrupting our life? When are we not functioning? It is we should be? When are we losing concentration and sleep? You brought up tic toc. I've only been on it for I think three weeks and it has consumed me. It has consumed me right now I'm actually at my getaway house. I come here and do telehealth for the entire week and I get a lot of writing done. I came with my dog and my bird. And that's it. Just just the three of us hanging out and it allows me to unplug a little bit. We need to be able to step away in the phone is a tough one. And like I said, I don't write anything that I'm not experiencing myself. And I'm recognising whoa I'm looking at the same way too much So,

Wendy Jones:

yeah, I think we do. So I think that's an important topic to cover. I mean, my nieces, I wouldn't say we're addicted to anything. They're just teenagers. But the first thing they'll ask if you go anywhere you want to go to, you know, Mongolian holder, whatever they'll go is a Wi Fi. And that's the I bring that up. I mean, they're lovely girls, and they will put the phones down. I'm not getting it them. But it's the world we're living in.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

It is the world we live in

Wendy Jones:

Yeah. Yeah. And not only does it affect us mentally, physically, as well, it hurts our eyes. We're looking at screens all the time. Now. When I'm working, I have one screen that I'm looking at. And another screen that I'm writing on to take my notes. So I am looking in the glare all the time. Yeah. And so and we're in that hunched over position. And you know, there's there's a lot to consider. Yeah, how it's impacting us. Yeah. And I think we've we've wandered off slightly from, you know, your books. So tell us about your other books?

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Well, I don't know if we wandered off that far. Because we did that is a book on addiction, and so are all the other books, they're all addictions. I started with release your obsession with food heal from the inside out. That was the first book I wrote. And it really does talk about food addiction, and how to get recovery. All the steps are in there and their stories in there. And it I'm real proud of that book. But when I was writing, and I realised, okay, so you release your obsession with food? That's good. But what about all the talk in your head, all the chatter, and that morphed the second book, release your obsession with diet, chatter, heal from the inside out, because we have a whole world in our head chatting away. And it's not just for Daya chatter. It's for a lot of chatter, you know, what we should do what we didn't do what we feel bad about what we're guilty over. And so that that was the second book. And then I said, Well, that's not enough, because everybody's got this idea that they should have a cheat day, you know, I need a little grandma's pie, or I should have this, that and the other. That's sweet. And if you don't have a food addiction, which is a chemical disorder, I mean, there is that's a chemical that goes straight to the brain, just like a drug would. If you don't, yes, of course, you should have a slice of pie. And you know, those lovely desserts, the food addict, if they do, they're not going to stop, they're going to go into a full blown binge. And so that morphed my third book released your obsession with cheat days, and I spelt days da Ze, instead of da y s, because we go into this after actual numbed out days. Yeah, those foods. And I had a lot of fun writing that one, because I travel in the States. But I also went over to Europe, I went to London for the first time and into Italy. And I was able to write those experiences in the foods and how I was able to stay the course without suffering and staying on board. And then after I wrote that book, those three go together with collect, they're in a collection now collection one, and which is like a box set, but in a big book. And then I moved from that to I said, Well, you know, a lot of people say they can't find their bliss, and they're happy because they don't have money and they're obsessed with money. And then that's how my release your obsession with money, heal from the inside became a book. Because money seems to people think that makes them happy money is going to make you happy. And you know what, it's we need it, we need it for sure. But it's not going to make you happy, it might keep you secure and safe. And then I before the money book, I actually wrote a book on Ageing, which really, I noticed with all those that were uncomfortable with our body and their weight and their eating issues and they were focused, they went from the body and as they got older, they started going into the the facelifts and the fear of ageing and the fear of dying and anxiety over that. So that was a really interesting book to write because I wrote that during we were in shutdown, as everybody else was in because of the pandemic and I'm looking in the screen doing telehealth, straight for that 10 months I was just doing telehealth, and and the self consciousness of looking at themselves in the corner was very evident. As I was reading that book, I realised we don't like to look at ourselves. We start to look oh, do I have a wrinkle or do I have this or that? Mm hmm. Yeah. And so that's how all the books came to be

Wendy Jones:

Yeah. Well, they all sound excellent. Actually, I feel like I need to rush out and buy them all obsessed without my obsessed with the other. And so finally, final question, Where Can my readers find out more about you and your books?

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Well, of course, the books are all on Amazon and wherever books are sold. And I have a website, it's, it's, it's actually called weight control therapy.com Weight control therapy.com, or my full name, Dr. Lisa autogiro crago.com will get you there as well. And you know, I remember someone saying, Yeah, but I don't have a weight issue. Why is it Weight Control Therapy? Combo? That's where it began. Yeah. And then it morphed into release your obsessions. No, everything is housed in there. You can see the books, you can see my practice, you can see advice, recipes, all kinds of stuff is in there.

Wendy Jones:

Excellent. Well, it all sounds great. I'm going to go and have a look. So thank you very much for joining us from Florida. You're making me jealous because it's all sunny and hot. There. It is. We've got sun but no heat today. Yeah,

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

no, it's sunny. It's probably about 85 right now and it's it's quite nice. A little too cold. The swim though. We I personally can't swim to like me.

Wendy Jones:

You know, we'd be in there swimming. We think we're in the middle of a heatwave. You would be Yeah, you're right. Anyway, thank you very much for joining me. It's been a pleasure.

Lisa Ortigara Crego:

Oh, you're so welcome, Wendy. Thank you for inviting me.

Wendy Jones:

You're welcome. Bye. Bye. That brings us to the end of another show. It was really good to have you on the show with me today. I'm Wendy H Jones. And you can find me at Wendy H jones.com. You can also find me on Patreon where you can support me for as little as $3 a month which is less than the price of a tea or coffee. You go to patreon.com forward slash Wendy H Jones. I'm also went to H Jones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thank you for joining me today and I hope you found it both useful and interesting. Join me next week when I will have another cracking guest for you. Until then, have a good week. And keep writing. keep reading and keep learning