Accomplishments seemed to come more easily for me when I was young. As a writer in corporate marketing and technology fields, I went to an office every day for a decade and wrote with purpose and focus, always thankful for my creative muse who never let me down. After all, the audience was well-defined, the content was focused, the tone and writing style were already determined, and the rules were established. All I had to do was write all day into the night and on weekends and holidays until I was burned out.
Nowadays, slogging through my own first writing project, Life with a Buckskinner, I've been unwilling to admit that I'm stuck and can't get myself out. That is, until I woke up this morning and had the first honest conversation with myself about why I haven't written the introductory chapter. That is, until I admitted to myself that I need to ask someone for help. That is, until my friend Terry Hess arrived today for our usual Tuesday lunch and I asked her to have the conversation with me.
Terry is in my life at the perfect right time. She has a master's degree in creative writing and has won awards for her stories. Reading her stories reminds me that we all have remarkable life experiences that would make great stories, if only we could write them with a mastery of the craft of writing combined with the grace and beauty of an artist. Terry has a wrenching life story and a rare talent of writing prose like poetry--sentences that gently rock you, while gathering you up into a storm until you suddenly break open into a wound of blood and tears. She is my example and mentor.
Fortunately, she has read my already-published stories that I will include in my book, and after a few minutes of back and forth with her, I wasn't stuck anymore. The answers were clear. And you know what? It was the way I had originally planned for the book to go, with an introductory chapter and an ending chapter. I'd been second-guessing myself and lost my way. But I still would have needed the conversation with Terry. My idea needed enhancement, with even more direction and focus. Suddenly, writing looks like fun again--at least after I've had an early-evening nap to renew my energy.
Today I promise to admit it to myself as soon as I get stuck again and to ask for help immediately. With my life sliding on a downhill slope, I don't have time to lie to myself that I can, by myself, think my way out of a writer's mud hole. I'll look for the outer signs: procrastination, confusion, and indecisiveness.
If you're expressing yourself in a creative life, I hope you have one or more creative partners who believe in you, who have experience and skills that complement your skills, and who inspire and challenge you to rise to your highest and best.
No comments:
Post a Comment