Writerly Wednesday: Moving Forward

Artist - Marie Anne Foucart

Moving Forward

Keep moving forward, looking ahead,

staying in the present,
learning from the past.

eyes to the future. No regrets.

Thoughts, fast and fleeting,

heart beating a timpani,

nerves and stress.

Nothing in reserve.

Time to regroup.

You gather yourself together.

Give up what you can't control

and charge forward.

Time to write, 

time to ponder,
wonder and believe
everything will fall into place.

You press for movement.
Do this, do that. 

Why nots and how comes,

demand a finish date.

How do we pay for it all?

Ever anxious, always afraid to ask.

We sit back in wonder.

Grateful, thankful.

Possible becomes probable.

Money, help, advice
Comes to hand,
never early, never late. 

Creativity stilted, blocked, quieted, 

hums in the background,

never ending, waiting for hand

to put pen to paper.

Some days,

one sentence, two.

Other days, pages.

Angst, thanks and snafus.

Characters jump to the fore.

Hello, what's new?

Not stewing, if that's what you think

Living, loving, breathing.

We'll jump back into place,
ready when you are.

We've made new friends
in the meantime.

Would you like to meet?

Characters, old and new.

How do you do?

We're ready, let's move.

~R.L.McCormack

Writerly Wednesday: Persistence and Practice

I'm currently reading Jordan Rosenfeld's A Writer's Guide to Persistence: How to create a Lasting and Productive Writing Practice.   Every year I find an inspirational book that lights a fire under me, spurs me on to continue writing. I have a tendency to let family and work demands, stress and worry, all life's obligations short me out. I read about the writers who write through thick and thin, like the postman who works no matter the weather, those who have been writing all their lives and I start comparing myself to others. The well dries up and I escape into a book, the internet, television avoiding the page. Which leads me back again to the question, "Why do I write?"  

Probably because I get all crotchety and grumpy when all those thoughts, feelings, ideas, and characters are waiting in the back of my brain festering, wanting, needing to be expressed. Why do I resist instead of persist?  Then call it what you will - God or coincidence, synchronicity - I'll stumble back to the page and the well opens up again.  

This time I found Jordan's book who encourages writers to persist and practice their craft.

..."Writing is not just a means to an end but a way of life, of processing information and experience and expressing oneself on a regular basis...   Writers must write. How you do it, where, when, and why are all up to you. Excuses are a way of keeping yourself 'safe' from the demands of a writing practice... Writers are the people who find a way, no matter what, to keep writing, polishing, and persisting.  No excuses.  No one will do it for you. Your writing practice is in your hands."

Rosenfeld then takes it a step further with asking 'what is the value of your writing?"  

"If your burning reason to write is because it makes you happy or releases the wild voices from your head or helps you analyze the world around you, you are exactly where you are supposed to be.  You must learn to please yourself in the process of your practice or you will become vulnerable to discouragement, despair, and giving up. At the end of the day 'writing must be its own reward' as  Anne Lamott famously said."

"The moment you see it as a 'practice' that derives from an authentic place inside you, you step outside the bounds of success and failure and enter a wholly new, deeper territory in which everything you do for and with your writing is a part of the greater sum.  No words or work are ever wasted. No failure is ultimate, instead everything is another step further on the path of your writing practice."

"Everything counts as long as you choose to see it in that light. The value of your writing practice is ultimately up to you. And once you know what the value is, no one can take it away from you through rejection, criticism, or competition." 

And the icing on the cake of life, again synchronicity, is Laura Benedict's post over on The Kill Zone - Quit Trying to Write  and her very simple statement 'If you're writing, you're a writer. Keep writing' and quoting Yoda's sage advice. "do or do not, there is no try."  I love Star Wars. *grin* 

No procrastination, no resistance, no excuses as I persist and practice, spilling words onto the page on a regular basis.  At the beginning of the year I joined the 10 Minute Novelists 365 Writing Challenge and set writing, editing, consistency goals for each week which has helped keep me on track as well.  

This month is also Mytwoblessings 12th Anniversary and I'm looking forward to sharing my continuing journey on a more consistent basis.  

"Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel."

 ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

A to Z Poetry: Epiphany

Epiphany 

Two things on your mind today.

One says pay attention to life at all times.

Eyes and ears and senses

 open wide. 

Another says it's all in your head, 

Rule nothing out and spill it all.

Fill up the page with your rage 

and your fear and the blame. 

A word becomes a sentence,

a paragraph, a page.  And

an idea is born with the 

change of a name. 

Fake people and places to 

perplex and harass.  

Cause a fuss, make them dream

Give them purpose, create a scene. 

Not true, says one character.

You give us life to live. 

None are you and you are all. 

We live through you and you through us.

 We breath, we eat, we love and

experience the profound to the silly. 

We delve into the deepest ocean of your mind 

and pull out what we find.

Tears and fears, imaginary and real.

Firsts and lasts, life and death,

Sweet and fierce, cold and soft.

You give us room to spread our wings.

You give us meaning,  

A face and a place. 

You give us space  

to be.