Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Ebb and Flow of Writing


Like waves meeting the shoreline writing comes in, washes over the granules, recedes, all the while leaving a treasure behind, a shell or lost item of the sea. It lies on the shore in wait, for the writer to expose it to the world.

The ebb and flow of writing comes and goes. Sometimes we are pulled to write our hearts out and the words lay on the page like butter and jelly on toast, just waiting for someone to enjoy the delicious taste!

Have you ever had the urge to write? I mean have you ever just been sitting in the morning rays of the sunshine and it calls to you to write something? It happens to me all the time. I’m out here with rows and rows of cornfields, enormous trees, looming barns, wildlife wandering the grounds and boy does a story come to mind.

Writing is a craft that should be honed and nurtured. Something like a new puppy. You’ve found the perfect puppy (your writing) you think it is the best (your writing rocks) then you need to take care of it like a baby. Your writing needs taking care of. The only way to do that is write on a daily basis. You can write 500 words a day, come away feeling satisfied, or walk away feeling like there is unfinished work, then you head back to the keyboard and begin writing another five-hundred words.

I would save editing for the revision stages. If we look over our writing as we write we’re losing precious seconds where a thought or idea might get washed out to sea. Like a buoy it will stay afloat and settle out there, but the words are always calling to you for you to come and find them for fine tuned navigating. Write like there is no end in sight. The sea seems to be endless doesn’t it? So why not write until you can’t write no more. Write endlessly, never to stop.

When we stop... we forget that waves will once again come rushing at us like the waves unleashed in a hurricane. Writing is in us and it calls to us, so why not give in and be led by the sights and sounds of your world.

3 comments:

Raven said...

I often find that I'll write productively for months and then suddenly the tide will go out and I'll be sitting in the sand watching the crabs creep past my feet. During these times, I've learned to be patient. I'll pass the time by reading writing books, charting stories, reading articles on all sorts of writing topics and studying authors that inspire me.
Eventually, the tide returns and off I go.
If I can't write. I read. If I can't read, I'll draw my characters or chart my settings.

Always in motion.

Raven

Anonymous said...

Millions of stories come to my mind, but it seems that the inspiration drifts away or sides with the idea I like the least. In school, I never paid attention in English because I thought it was boring, after all, 12 years is a long time to study one language; because of this, I never learned how to organize my crazy, jumbled thoughts. I'd take off on a story and get to the fiftieth page and forget what the point was. Writing happens to me in spurts, too. I remember one day I decided I was going to actually focus on writing, and went out and bought a dictionary/thesaurus; a book on scene importance; one on description; another on how to organize your notes; and another that was more therapeutic than helpful so I saved it for last. They were so helpful. I preferred them over any English class.

Grammar, however, is a whole other issue. I'd rather not know what a direct-adjective-verb-clause-- thingy is. ;)

joni said...

It's okay Lilly! What you need is an outline! This will help tremendously in keeping you focused and on the same story. It's good to get it out and revise later, so words on the page is all good.
An outline. Try an outline and your story will take shape. :-)

Thanks for visiting!

Joni