Tip #2: The Writing is Your Responsibility

One of my favourite quotes on writing is from Natalie Goldberg: There is no excuse. If you want to write, write. This is your life. You are responsible for it. You will not live forever. Don’t wait. Make the time now, even if it is ten minutes a week.

Those words sum up the essence of this tip. Too often we blame other people and other things for distracting us from our writing – the messy house, the children, the friend who insisted we meet them for coffee, the work we had to bring home, the house, the children …you know what I’m talking about. But the bottom line is this: if you want to write – really want to write – you’ll make the time for it somehow. Maybe you can give up that tv show that you just have to watch or say no to the coffee invitation just for this week. Perhaps you can take a notepad on the train rather than the newspaper ir your iPod. You could even ignore the unruly house, just for an hour, do the writing first and then the cleaning. Why not try taking your notebook or laptop out somewhere – a coffee shop, garden or the backyard – if you simply can’t stand being indoors.

As for the children, or other loved ones who demand our attention, be tough. You deserve time for yourself each day or week to do something  you love. Explain this to them clearly and calmly, put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door and write for your life. Another option is to try getting up even 15 minutes earlier before the chaos starts and spend time writing in the quiet hour before sunrise. If you’re a night owl you might prefer to stay up a little later.

Whatever actions you decide to take to carve out some writing time for yourself, remember what Natalie Goldberg says:

There is no excuse. If you want to write, write. This is your life. You are responsible for it. You will not live forever. Don’t wait. Make the time now, even if it is ten minutes a week.

For more information on Natalie Goldberg go to www.nataliegoldberg.com

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Why do I write?

Well, it’s been a while between blogs but I’ve now sufficiently recovered from completing my novel to get revved up about writing again. Recently I started thinking Why do I write anyway?

In answer to this question many writers would say I write because I have to. And not having done any fresh writing for a while now I’m beginning to realise what this means. When I don’t write I lose focus, I get crabby without knowing why, I shuffle papers and (sometimes) tidy the house and send emails, but feel no real sense of purpose or achievement.

In a recent interview with Genie Zeiger ( http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/335/keep_the_hand_moving) my original “writing guru” Natalie Goldberg had this to say about writing:

There’s a difference, though, between writing as practice and writing as art: Writing as practice is an acceptance of your whole mind and whatever comes through you, moment by moment. Writing as art is taking what comes through you and directing it. Writing practice is the whole ocean, but when you’re creating art, you dig a canal and direct the force of the water in a particular way.

It’s the writing practice that Goldberg talks about here that’s important, allowing the words to come out in whatever shape and form they want, connecting to the “wild mind” inside of us and writing because we love to write not because we want to impress somebody else or see our names in print. Of course this too is a worthwhile goal, the creation of the art that Goldberg also speaks about. But we need to remember that writing practice is crucial to our lives as writers, that we write because it connects us to ourselves and to some deeper voice which flows through us and out onto the page. And in turn connects us to others.

Of course there are many other reasons to write – what are some of yours?

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Memoir Writing

This week I’ve been reading a book on memoir writing by another of my writing gurus, Natalie Goldberg. This book, Old Friend From Far Away, includes many of the gems first introduced in the classic, Writing Down the Bones. Writing practice, mindfulness, walking, first thoughts – all these and more are described for the budding memoirist. There are also pages of ten minute exercises to get you putting pen to paper. Goldberg is a great exponent of what she calls “going for the jugular”, being completely raw when you write, in order to find and develop your voice. Her timed writing exercises aim to put on the pressure so that the writing is less considered, more frantic, but as a result more real.

Writing memoir pieces, even for the fiction writer, can help you recapture memories and feelings that can then be filtered through to your characters and stories. Or you might decide you actually like writing about your own life and keep going.

Here are ten exercises from Goldberg’s book to try, in ten minute bursts:

• What tortures you and awakens you at night?
• Tell me everything you know about ice cream.
• Tell me a memory associated with a bicycle. The spokes, the wheels, the narrow seat.
• Write about a cup you loved.
• Write about a time you itched. It could be physical or metaphorical. Go.
• Tell me about a funny or odd thing that happened in your car.
• Tell me some details about an uncle or grandfather. Make sure to name the uncle: “I remember Uncle Phil…”
• Write about a time you slept outside. Go.
• Where is home for you. Go. Ten minutes.
• What have you held onto too long?

It’s easy to make up similar topics of your own. Or take a look at any of Goldberg’s books for more inspiration.

Happy Writing!

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