Michelle Kessell – Jumping Out Into Faith & Writing!

Dive: Artist - Published Author
Description: Has written and published books
Level: Level 1
Level Requirements: Has a completed title, outline, table of contents (TOC), & back cover blurb for a book
Certified On: Jun 6, 2020

Editor’s Note: On all dive certifications, we try to edit the writing as little as possible to preserve authenticity, personality, and writing style. We typically fix spelling errors, but minimally modify grammar and sentence structure (just enough to ensure readability).

Name: Michelle Kessell Break Diving Level: Recruit Number of Certified Dives: 1 From: United Kingdom In: United Kingdom

1. When and Why Did You Decide to Pursue This Dive At This Level? What was your inspiration and motivation?

About three years ago now I achieved something that I never thought possible for me — something I thought I would never do in my life (and to be honest, something that I had absolutely no drive to want to achieve either). You see, three years ago, I fell from the sky, free falling for what felt like an eternity and then having the most incredible experience of seeing my world in a way that I had never seen it before, suspended in mid air just like a bird and feeling completely free. Yes, sky diving.

What you need to know is that I am a complete risk averse, unadventurous, keep your feet planted firmly on the ground kind of girl, who was quite happy to reach the end of her life and to have never achieved this. I remember, though, saying out loud to my husband one evening that it was something I wanted to do, and I just wrote it down on my bucket list. And somehow, after a year and half of pushing and pulling myself forward on this journey, I managed to do the unthinkable for me: a skydive!

And I just knew I had to write about it.

2. How Long Did It Take For You To Accomplish This Dive At This Level From The Day You Decided To Pursue It, And Why Did It Take That Long?

Hmmm, this is such an interesting question for me.

I knew I had to write a book before I had even completed the skydive. While in the quiet and in the waiting to get this over and done with I just had this sense deep in my heart that I was going to end up writing about this journey of facing my worst fear and how my baby faith had helped to achieve more than I ever thought possible!

I began to write about how I felt in those moments over that year and a half, keeping notes and whatnot. However, the actual process of writing out my plan for my book, my structure for the book, and the back cover blurb took a whole lot longer. Writing about how I felt during that time, quite freely–it just felt like keeping a diary. It was easy, and I loved that kind of freedom. However, realising that I was actually going to turn this all into a book for other people to read was terrifying! I wasn’t even sure I wanted people to read it, as it meant being vulnerable and opening up a part of me to some of my friends that I had never shared before…my faith!

It took me about two years to begin to put together my plan and structure for this book, as I battled this fear inside of me. Then it took about three more years to complete my blurb for the back cover. Through all this, I soon realized that this book was not about me at all, but about helping as many people as I could to see that they are capable of so much more than they think.

3. What Was The Hardest Part About Achieving This Particular Dive Level?

The hardest part I found was deciding how to structure my book. It took me a while of rejigging my plans to decide how best to set out my book so that it not only flowed well but would also be exciting for the reader. I spent lots of time looking at the story that I really wanted to tell and the most important parts of it and then trying to get it all in the right order.

At first, I felt like I would have the main lead up to the skydive running thoughout my book as I also took the reader through my other journey of how I got to actually plan to skydive in the first place. I wanted there to be exciting snippets as you went though the book, probably in italics so you didn’t get too confused as to what you were reading about. But then I reverted back to just telling the whole story in chronological order, thinking that the jumping around might confuse readers and mess up the flow of the journey. Bottom line, it took me a long while of planning, organizing, and just evaluating in the quiet times to get to this point.

4. What Was The Easiest Part About Achieving This Particular Dive Level?

Coming up with the title was definitely the easiest part. The day I realised that I needed to write a book was the day the name just came to me. I didn’t have to try and come up with a name because it just came into my head straight away! I just knew that when my book was published that this would be the name on the front cover: A LEAP OF FAITH!

5. What Is Your Advice For Someone Who Is Pursuing This Dive And Level?

If you have never written a book before, like myself, spend some time reading up on how to bring together a plan for your book, how to write an outline, etc. As I said earlier, I had the idea in my head, but I just had no idea how to go about turning it into an actual book.

Another thing I have discovered through this process is to learn to trust your intuition and your instinct. They say everyone has a book in them, and I believe it: you just need to discover what book that is and how to go about putting it down on paper. Your intuition and instinct will help to guide you through the rest of the way.

6. What Are Some Of The Best Resources You Recommend to Those Pursuing This Dive At This Level, And Why Do You Recommend Them? Please Include Relevant Weblinks, If Applicable.

I found that my best way to get resources for me was to look at posts and blogs from other authors on tips on how to write a book. They gave clear and simple advice for first time writers to help get your book moving, and they also gave great advice on the reality of writing your first book and what it takes. This was very helpful as it helped me to see where and how my perception of this was similar and very different to the reality (however not always in a negative way).

My initial thought process was that I would just sit down and write a book, however I have since learned through reading other people’s stories that this is for most people not the reality. If we are to want our books to sell well, then breaking up our book into small time manageable chunks is definitely the better way to go about putting my book together. The book map template (see below) was a great resource to help me to piece together my book and look at the various ways that I could create it’s content and structure. I highly recommend using this tool or reading the suggestions to help you to come up with and create your book’s structure.

Three resources I therefore recommend are:

Resource 1: Break Diving - Such a supportive community of writers.

Resource 2: Tell Your Story - Come check it out.

Resource 3: Book Map Template - A template to help get you started.

Resource 4: -

Resource 5: -

7. Tell Us A Story Of One Of Your Adventures While Pursuing This Dive (At This Level).

I can not tell you any better story than my story itself and that is the content of this book: The journey of being an atheist and then opening my heart to something more and then to trusting it enough to jump out of an aeroplane and to see who I would become once I made it safely to the ground and achieve my unthinkable! That is the best story I can tell you about my adventure while pursuing this particular dive, and soon it will be a book! I am now even more excited to get to the next level and push myself to make this book my reality.

8. What Evidence Did You Submit to Prove You Met the Requirements for This Dive and Level?

I have submitted my book title, outline, and back cover blurb, all of which are included here:

BOOK OUTLINE:

TITLE: A LEAP OF FAITH

BEGINNING CHAPTERS:

Intro- who am I?

All about my back ground- My family story and my faith background.

Leaving church as a child as soon as possible, becoming an atheist, having a humanist wedding. Didn’t feel like I needed God or didn’t really think much about it.

The birth of my son

Mum and dad Changing church

7 weeks of summer BBQ

MY FIRST REAL INTRO TO CHURCH

I began going along with my son, but husband wouldn’t come.

Had no idea what I believed but I knew there was something so special and caring about the people and all I knew is needed to be around them.

Share stories and experiences at this point.

Share my journey.

Share my struggles and battles with being someone who now went to church

WHAT HAPPENED?:

The day mum spoke about CAP at church

Tell the story that then followed after this?

The oddest thing- experience with Michael and the Skydive.

The length of time it took to all come together

The weekend of the skydive an what that was all like.

BLURB FOR BACK COVER

“I have found myself at the limit of my faith, with a Skydive looming in front of me and a sense of sheer terror and fear enveloping me but also something in me desperate for it to be all over, but not of dread but almost of excitement as to why? How in the world have I ended up here?”

A book about a once atheist, risk averse girl who failed Higher English writing a book about trusting her faith enough to do the unthinkable.

9. Will You Be Pursuing The Next Level For This Dive? If Yes, Why? If Not, Why Not?

I am working now on getting the book published, and that’s the next step!

10. What is the Break Diver's Creed?

No Rules. No Excuses. No Regrets.

Certificate photo:

And having made this post, and provided adequate evidence to the dive committee, Michelle Kessell is now hereby certified by Break Diving, Inc. as: Artist - Published Author - Level 1. Congratulations ! Thank you for being an inspiration to others!

Certificate number: 44

The author above wrote this WYSEguidance post as one of the certification requirements to become certified by Break Diving, Inc. for a dive completed. Would you also like to find greater success, happiness, and friendship, and make genuine supportive connections with others around the world pursuing your same dreams? Come join us at Break Diving and soon your story will be the next one you read about on this site!

Read More Stories on the WYSEguidance Homepage