On Writing
Stephen King wrote On Writing, a beautiful book about the writing process. It is always inspiring for me to read about how other writers put words on paper.
I want to share my ideas on writing with you, but I almost didn’t. I didn’t think I was experienced enough, or good enough. Then I remembered that while this blog is only 18 months old, I’ve been writing my whole life.
I’ve written…
- homework assignments
- in journals and diaries
- on other blogs
- love letters to my husband and daughter
- ebooks
- apologies
- poetry
You’ve probably been writing your whole life too.
Here are a few things I’d like to say on writing …
Write until you can’t, then move. When you have writer’s block or words don’t fall onto paper, move. Many experts suggest that the way through a block is to keep writing. I disagree. When you can’t write, stop and then move. Walk, stretch, do yoga, or cartwheels and don’t have pen and paper near by. I know all of you Moleskine addicts just shivered, but the brain works in mysterious ways. If you don’t have a way to jot down ideas, your brain will deliver them on a silver platter and dare you to remember your flash of genius.
Write alone, and only write. Sometimes I write while drinking a cup of tea, or while a meal is cooking, but my best writing is when that is the only thing I’m thinking about. The magic happens when I show up and get lost in the words.
Write to feel. There are times when I put words on paper and it feels like work. Interestingly, that is never my good work. It’s when words start to move me that I know I’m onto something. Listen to yourself and trust how you feel. Oh, and if it doesn’t move someone else, it might still be your best work because it made you feel something.
Write upside down. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain was a text book I used in an art school drawing class. Included is an assignment to draw a self-portrait from a photograph. You have to draw it upside down. The exercise makes your brain think differently. You have to draw shapes instead of an eye or a nose. Why not write upside down? Start at the end. Draw the conclusion and then figure out how you got there.
Write everyday. Put words on paper every day. Drop perfectionism when it comes to grammar and spelling and just spill your thoughts and ideas. Use 750words.com, a journal or even scrap paper.
Write and let go. Just because you put something on paper doesn’t mean it’s good writing for you or anyone else. Don’t get hung up on holding onto something that isn’t working. Delete or crumple and toss and start again. You will have another brilliant idea.
Write and ask for feedback. It’s ok to write privately, in fact I highly recommend it. I also think it’s important, especially if you love to write, to ask for feedback from friends or people that you trust. Take the feedback as information, not good or bad, just information to guide you moving forward. You will always be your harshest critic. If you love to write, don’t be afraid to love what you write.
And now, for your homework…
Write something about a detail of your childhood. Describe your 3rd grade lunchbox, the perfume your mom wore, or how you fell and scraped your knees running for the ice cream truck. Anything that you remember in vivid detail, write about it. Then post it on your blog if you have one to inspire your readers to do the same, or send it to me through email or in comments below, or post somewhere else publicly. If that doesn’t work for you, write it down, fold it up and sleep on it. Remember how writing what you know makes you feel.
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Loved this post. I took me awhile to realize that I have written my whole life. I started journaling when I was around 9. All through my life when I was upset or needed to work something out I would write.
Now that I’ve started blogging, there is all this comparison stuff that happens, but two years in, I’m finding my voice and posts like this help me to realize…. I am a writer. I am an author. I love that.
And… for anyone contemplating working with Courtney. Do it. I did. It was well worth it.
Jt, You are a writer! Thank you so much for your kind words. It was such a joy to work with you and watch your vision come to life, and continue to see it change and evolve. Since I started independent consulting, I work with the most thoughtful, interesting people. I feel so blessed that amazing people choose to work with me.
I very much appreciate you writing about this. I also advise my one writing client (and have for years) to work on her writing/books and when she’s stuck go for a walk. Yes, it’s sweet that when you stop thinking about it and let your life flow, the answers come. I have been writing a book lately. I have 14524 words written just by sitting down and writing 500 words at a pop
I’m grateful. Thanks for your lovely website.
Marina, It’s amazing how those words add up. Congrats! Writing always makes me smile, even when it makes me scream.
Hi Courtney! Thank you for these words. I have been writing psych reports on children for 25 years and recently have become somewhat “stuck.” I also write a blog called Balanced Style, but it is more a photo-journal (and just for fun). Thanks for the encouragement! Steph.
Steph, Your blog may be just for fun but remember it is likely inspiring others too. Well done!
My wife gives me a Moleskine pocket diary every year now as my memory fades a bit. I used the back of beer coasters for a long time; Oh! here’s one now in front of me.
Working for The Whitsunday Coast Guardian newspaper for over twenty years, I wake early and think about what I might write, then sit down and let the words flow. Then edit, edit, edit. Or one could always take Hemingway’s advice, Write drunk; edit sober. Regards
Love it. Writing first thing in the morning is always a refreshing way to start the day.
I’ve been a finance executive for the past 23 years and never would have considered myself to be a writer (maybe of emails and contracts, but that was it). Then I started a blog about a year ago on how to be happier and make the changes you’ve always wanted to make. I discovered that I love to write! I have endless ideas of things to write about. My challenge is finding the time to focus and write. I work from home and have one or two of my three small children home with me all day. Getting up early doesn’t work as the 2 year old always hears me and gets up with me. Sometimes I can stay up late and write then but my energy levels don’t always support that. So I do what I can and know that, with little kids, things are always changing.
I’ve read a lot of books about writing (including the one by Stephen King), and I find it reassuring that the basic thesis of most of them is “just keep plugging away and hopefully something good will come out.” Also a lot of metaphors about physical labor, like brick laying. Again, reassuring, because you can’t control whether or not you are brilliant but you can control whether or not you show up to lay some brick.
Have you read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird? It’s my all-time favorite writing book.
Courtney, as a blogger and author, this post really resonated with me. Thank you for sharing.
Keep writing and touching lives!
I just wanted to mention that I’m always reading even though I don’t get by to comment much anymore.
I also wanted to mention that this is a great post. I feel like I’ve written at least one of everything through the years, and my writing and my life improve with every piece I write. Writing orders thoughts, releases emotions, moves people…
And congratulations on continuing your blog. Most of the blogs I was reading a year or two ago are already gone.
Again, good job!
Gip
Hi Courtney,
I love this post! I just found your blog through a Google News search and am so glad I did.
As an educator, I try to instill my love and passion for writing in my students (both at the elementary and adult level). So many people have this notion that writing is a chore, a difficult task to get through but, I have always seen writing as a love and a companion.
It’s nice to find a place to celebrate our love of writing.
Thanks,
Sara
Hey Courtney! I’d like to share a book that I read in graduate school as part of my Expressive Art Therapy Program called Opening Up by James Pennebaker. It is a about the healing power of writing and contains lots of research on how writing actually changes brain chemistry ~ especially for those who have survived trauma. I used it for my graduate thesis. Awesome post, as usual. ~ shawn
You hit on several things that help me write at my best: alone, after moving, from feeling, letting go of grammar.
And, one of my favorite things to write freely about is childhood. I remember walking barefoot everywhere. And, I especially liked to pop tar bubbles with my toes and make gold from lightning bugs. I was barefoot and fancy free. The world was my adventure to explore.
(I could go on, but I have to get back to work…)
One of the funny things about writing is that it either flows out of you or it doesn’t. When I used to write music, it sometimes seemed like when it was right, the song was practically given to me out of the air, like a gift. I think it was Bob Dylan who once said that words were hanging in the air for anyone to grab and the trick is to be around when they appear….which means that you need to constantly be writing for those little moments when everything falls into place.
Sometimes, you read something that seems to have come from your own soul; a paragraph, a sentence, or just a phrase that resonates…as though the author was writing something you didn’t even know you knew.
I read your “Write to Feel” section; “It’s when words start to move me that I know I’m onto something. Listen to yourself and trust how you feel. Oh, and if it doesn’t move someone else, it might still be your best work because it made you feel something.” and the light bulb went off.
I’m a digital artist, rather than a writer, but I get so caught up in wondering why people might love the work I banged out in no time flat, but ache when no one seems to care about the image that took blood, sweat and tears to come to fruition. Thanks for the reminder that so long as it moves me, it’s good, maybe great, work too.