Writing Demystified
Find your unique voice––clear, simple tools for everyone.
Creative Flow
Ponder This
“When I say work I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs.”
“You do not have to explain every single drop of water contained in a rain barrel. You have to explain one drop—H2O. The reader will get it.”
“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.”
“Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.”
Everything you do in the prewriting and first draft process is about creative flow. The most difficult thing about writing is starting. I know how it is, I spent four years as an undergraduate and two years in graduate school making myself sick avoiding assignments. Yes, I’m an expert procrastinator, slothful at heart; I feel like I could have invented the all-too-familiar phrase, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”
One of the biggest hurdles on my path to a starting place was feeling bound by someone else’s rules and regulations. “Do this, don’t do that,” instructions, caveats, suggestions, formats . . . . I resisted all attempts by authority figures to guide me in any direction. I thank my parents and their hippie ideals for this particular character defect. And while that statement may be edged with sarcasm, the truth is I do thank them, for even though it caused me some pain, it also ultimately forced me to stay true to my own judgment when it came to writing.
Creativity flows as individually as thoughts and learning styles. I can’t tell you how yours will come. I can tell you that I have spent quite a few years doing nothing instead of something because I was waiting for some creative magic to strike me with a tremendous blow of inspiration. I’m still waiting for that blow, but now I take some action too.
I hear all the time, “I have to be inspired to write.” I think most writers will tell you that’s a load of crap. Wouldn’t it be great if we could wait until we were inspired to do things? If so, I doubt my dishes would ever get done, and I’m pretty sure my toilet would never get cleaned. I don’t wait for “inspiration” to do my chores, and I don’t wait for inspiration to follow my dreams. Waiting for inspiration as a writer is the kiss of death—the quickest route to writer’s block. Like many universal truths, inspiration works the opposite of the way most people think. It doesn’t strike you out of the blue when you’re lying on your couch in total anxiety over having to complete that assignment. Inspiration comes from practice; it comes from writing, more writing, and still more writing. It’s true! The more I write, the more inspired I get. It’s like love: I don’t have a bucket full of love to give out . . . this implies if I use up my bucket, I have no more love to give. On the contrary, love is self-perpetuating. The more I throw around, the more I have to give. Inspiration, like love, comes from an unlimited source outside of me, and therefore, once I tap into it, I get to glimpse the vastness of its applications. I can’t tap into it while I’m practicing avoidance. If you figure out how to, please let me know your secret.
It’s natural for all humans to put off the tasks they dislike the most. It’s also natural for all humans to get the greatest sense of achievement from doing the things that are the most difficult for them. I promise you if you simply start, you’ll have a much greater chance of finishing. Allow yourself to be imperfect. Allow yourself to be free. Allow yourself to do it the way it makes sense for you. Allow yourself to be interested in what you are doing. Allow yourself to design your own creative self and the magic will dust you with its grace when you’re not looking.