“So, how’s your book coming? I bet you are getting so much writing done!” An innocent and kind inquiry from many a person who either is simply trying to make conversation or truly wants to know how I’m doing. It’s not coming people. I am not getting so much writing done. The world as we know it is changing minute by minute right now. Mental health experts have given us all permission to have varying degrees of immobility, lack of concentration, anxiety. What if my writing is not pertinent to current events? What if I don’t have anything meaningful to add to the important conversations we are having as a society? It feels like hubris.
But to be honest, writing was a bit of a struggle pre-pandemic, pre-nation-wide social justice awakening, too. This blog is languishing, mocking me. I know (because the all-knowing internet tells me) I need to write SOMETHING or just take it down. But are those really the only two choices? Aren’t we learning the lessons right now that the binary options are not the entirety of our realities? There is endless advice out there for writers struggling to write. And it all boils down to what worked for that particular writer, in that particular circumstance. My truth is, the struggle is part of writing. I am finding my way through it. It becomes part of the story, my story. I certainly spend my share of time reading how other writers write. What time of the day? For how long? What to do if you are stuck? There is an answer for everything on the internet, just ask it. It turns out, those tips are the most helpful for me by identifying things that do NOT work for me. The ‘get up an hour earlier’ crowd, the ‘stay up a couple hours later’ people do not know me. I am neither a lark, nor an owl. I guess I am just regular and really like my sleep. I am no less dedicated to my story because I don’t follow productivity advice.
I have found a head empty of to-dos and worries leaves space for my creativity. And, there is no universe where that condition exists persistently enough to get a book written. So, here we are. I don’t know my answer yet. I just keep coming to this keyboard and keep thinking and writing. One sentence at a time. Eventually, my story will flow from my heart to the pages. It may not have anything to do with the world as we are knowing it now. But that is another great thing about stories. They take you out of your reality and into another one; they help us view the world through a different perspective for a minute. Stories are how we make sense of our experiences, our lives. Stories help us know one another, and ourselves, better. Even if it is one sentence at a time.
paige's penumbras 