Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones, covers many areas for the beginning writer. One chapter explores the question of why you write. "Why do I write?" It's a good question. Ask it of yourself every once in awhile. No answer will make you stop writing, and over time you will find that you have given every response, says Goldberg.
She suggests that writing threads through you, maybe not just for any specific reason. Sounds reasonable. Also, I ponder that maybe writing is part of who you are, part of the fabric that moves you and gives you life. For example, I write when I feel joy; Nature touches my soul, almost every moment. I write more so than not, when I feel deeply...sadness, joy, anger, fear, excitement, pain, creativity. Goldberg says, We can transform anger into steaming red tulips and sorrow into an old alley full of squirrels in the half light of November. Culturally, anger and pain are held out as negative aspects of our beings. Indeed, red tulips and squirrels are beautiful things - again, parts of Nature that give us life and breath, sustain us in a sometimes cruel and painful world.
I write when my intelligence speaks up, when my curiosity and inquisitiveness drive me. Nature again, is threaded through these parts of me. Earth Science and Geology, my academic studies, drive my thoughts and creativity, as well as my hand on the keys and pencils/pens across my writing pads. I am transported to other worlds of life and being as I describe Nature. The rush and power of Niagara Falls, as I stood in the mist below it, was unforgettable, creating paragraphs of feeling and description.
Writing has tremendous energy, Goldberg says on page 114. Maybe you write to focus your life energy, to relieve the tensions that create hostile and pent up energies, a cathartic endeavor perhaps? Maybe you are physically confined for any number of reasons; writing moves your life force, gives it wing, moves it to and through the other lives who read it later and thread it through their own energies and being.
My writing group leader told me once, I write because I breathe. Another writer friend explained at a writing conference, I don't have a choice; that's who I am.
Goldberg ends her chapter with these words; You do it because you do it. You do it to improve your handwriting, because you're an idiot, because you're mad for the smell of paper.
Questioning why you write is a great way to start your timed writing exercises. Write in a different setting each time you ask. Explore how a coffee shop or an airport or a rushing waterfall or a brilliant sunrise...or a brand new baby, affect your answers. Part of the magic of writing is that we not only give the world a part of ourselves, but we also give back to ourselves, as well. We grow as we search out who we are - not just by asking why we write, but by absorbing the answers we find on our pages. The you that writes more the next day, is a broader, deeper you, more fulfilled, indeed - a better writer.
Free your soul, your thoughts, your heart. Begin 2 write, now.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
BEGIN to WRITE...NOW
“It takes 2 baby,” says the song by the same name. And that’s a fact!
Though writing is conceived in the mind and heart, the hand and mouth give it birth. You may have a complete novel affixed in your mind, but unless your hand or mouth participates, you’ll never meet your publisher – or your banker! Brain + hand = writer, plain and simple.
We writers create more excuses for NOT writing than a teenager does for NOT cleaning his/her room. “There’s no time.” “I’m too busy.” “I’ll get to it when I can.” “I’m still creating.” “I’m not ready.” “I’m too tired.” “My stuff’s not good enough.” (That’s my favorite!) “After my housework.” “After I finish my chores.” (Are any chores ever finished?!) “My computer’s down.” “My cholesterol’s up.” ENOUGH already! The list is endless as well as useless and obviously counterproductive.
Do you really believe you want to write? Then read on and let's get you started.
A plethora of how-to books exist on beginning writing. (I’ll create a list on the sidebar shortly.) My favorite book is Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Goldberg’s premise is simple; Write. NOW! She suggests taking pen/pencil to paper – along with a timer. Begin small, start with five minute intervals. The magical key here is writing anything that comes to mind. Start moving your pen/pencil and do NOT stop until your timer buzzes. “I’m sitting here like a dork, watching the clock with a blank brain,” is a good starter. Wow, alliteration! Your first day on the job! I sense a Pulitzer in the shadows! Seriously, if that sentence - or something similar is your first thought, then keep it up for the complete five minutes, or until another thought arrives. Remember, you're creating the methodology of writing, the brain/hand connection, not the content, at least for now. Once you teach your hand to pick up what your brain wants to send to paper, then you will have the skill to write - when you choose to.
It took two months to turn on my brain/hand connection. I visited a quiet, little coffee shop nearby my house about three or four times a week and wrote sometimes for hours. I discovered that the world is teeming with things to write about..things, ideas, phrases, people, even stories. Did you know there are about seven different ways to put cream into coffee?
Parks are a writer’s paradise. Nature’s abundance of wildlife and scenery provide unlimited fuel for the brain/hand mechanics.
For some writers, the family photo album with its memories, feelings and visual stimuli give new life to many pages of written words.
A writer-friend of mine enjoys frequenting airports, train and bus stations. People-watching and the process of human interaction and busy-ness are his favorite fuel for writing.
I mentioned mouth, earlier, as one of the necessities for writing. The tape recorder is my best writer-friend. (It’s married to my transcriber). I take my recorder with me for interviews and Nature hikes. Even if I wrote and recorded completely through an interview, residual feelings, oddities, innuendos and other important ideas and information particularly helpful for feature-writing, emerge in the afterglow of an interview. The person’s demeanor, how they hesitated with a question or reacted to another...the list can be long. Additional, necessary information can seep in as you think and drive, and a handy tape recorder fits the bill. Talking and taping is so much safer than writing on the steering wheel...at 60 mph. This additional information may enhance your story as well as possibly create more questions for further investigation.
Now, I'll share a wonderful secret with you. Once that brain/hand connection is facilitated, it remains. Something magical occurs. Now that your thoughts have a way to be born, they are no longer satisfied with their former confinement. They scream to get out, to grow and produce yet more words. The writing process takes over and you are now, forever bound to be dubbed…writer.
Are you really too busy or tired or old to write? I think NOT. There's no turning back now. The coffee shops, parks and train stations of your neighborhood await you, as does your future publisher – and banker. They will thank you someday, soon. Most importantly…so will you.
BEGIN 2 WRITE.
Though writing is conceived in the mind and heart, the hand and mouth give it birth. You may have a complete novel affixed in your mind, but unless your hand or mouth participates, you’ll never meet your publisher – or your banker! Brain + hand = writer, plain and simple.
We writers create more excuses for NOT writing than a teenager does for NOT cleaning his/her room. “There’s no time.” “I’m too busy.” “I’ll get to it when I can.” “I’m still creating.” “I’m not ready.” “I’m too tired.” “My stuff’s not good enough.” (That’s my favorite!) “After my housework.” “After I finish my chores.” (Are any chores ever finished?!) “My computer’s down.” “My cholesterol’s up.” ENOUGH already! The list is endless as well as useless and obviously counterproductive.
Do you really believe you want to write? Then read on and let's get you started.
A plethora of how-to books exist on beginning writing. (I’ll create a list on the sidebar shortly.) My favorite book is Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Goldberg’s premise is simple; Write. NOW! She suggests taking pen/pencil to paper – along with a timer. Begin small, start with five minute intervals. The magical key here is writing anything that comes to mind. Start moving your pen/pencil and do NOT stop until your timer buzzes. “I’m sitting here like a dork, watching the clock with a blank brain,” is a good starter. Wow, alliteration! Your first day on the job! I sense a Pulitzer in the shadows! Seriously, if that sentence - or something similar is your first thought, then keep it up for the complete five minutes, or until another thought arrives. Remember, you're creating the methodology of writing, the brain/hand connection, not the content, at least for now. Once you teach your hand to pick up what your brain wants to send to paper, then you will have the skill to write - when you choose to.
It took two months to turn on my brain/hand connection. I visited a quiet, little coffee shop nearby my house about three or four times a week and wrote sometimes for hours. I discovered that the world is teeming with things to write about..things, ideas, phrases, people, even stories. Did you know there are about seven different ways to put cream into coffee?
Parks are a writer’s paradise. Nature’s abundance of wildlife and scenery provide unlimited fuel for the brain/hand mechanics.
For some writers, the family photo album with its memories, feelings and visual stimuli give new life to many pages of written words.
A writer-friend of mine enjoys frequenting airports, train and bus stations. People-watching and the process of human interaction and busy-ness are his favorite fuel for writing.
I mentioned mouth, earlier, as one of the necessities for writing. The tape recorder is my best writer-friend. (It’s married to my transcriber). I take my recorder with me for interviews and Nature hikes. Even if I wrote and recorded completely through an interview, residual feelings, oddities, innuendos and other important ideas and information particularly helpful for feature-writing, emerge in the afterglow of an interview. The person’s demeanor, how they hesitated with a question or reacted to another...the list can be long. Additional, necessary information can seep in as you think and drive, and a handy tape recorder fits the bill. Talking and taping is so much safer than writing on the steering wheel...at 60 mph. This additional information may enhance your story as well as possibly create more questions for further investigation.
Now, I'll share a wonderful secret with you. Once that brain/hand connection is facilitated, it remains. Something magical occurs. Now that your thoughts have a way to be born, they are no longer satisfied with their former confinement. They scream to get out, to grow and produce yet more words. The writing process takes over and you are now, forever bound to be dubbed…writer.
Are you really too busy or tired or old to write? I think NOT. There's no turning back now. The coffee shops, parks and train stations of your neighborhood await you, as does your future publisher – and banker. They will thank you someday, soon. Most importantly…so will you.
BEGIN 2 WRITE.
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