Thursday, April 23, 2015

A Dream with a Plan

It's been awhile.





I've been telling myself I will write when I have something to say.

I've been telling myself I will write when I have more time.

That when either - or both - opportunities arise, that's when I'll write.






How can I move my writing forward?

How does anyone nudge a life from dream to action?


A dream without a plan is just a wish.              
           - Katherine Paterson                                           



So here's the plan:

Designate a notebook only for writing. Discover the words, sketches, memories, dreams and
worries living within its pages. Make meaning.

Write quickly the whispered ideas that drift into conscious thought and back out again almost before they're  known or recognized.

Commit to writing. Write every day. Remember: Writers write.

Set a writing schedule. A workable stick-to-it schedule. And write - no matter what other pressing needs demand  time and attention.

Seek stories that need telling. Stories that feel important to write about. Or fun to write about. Write what you know. Listen to the heart speak and write it all down. Find a voice.

Write in multiple genres, platforms, and formats. Work on more than one piece at a time.  Write to learn. Write to know. To explore. Write to make meaning. Write to sculpt words. Bend and twist and shape words until ... a new way to say what needs to be said emerges.

Read. Reading and writing are forever intertwined.

Bring a camera everywhere. Seeing life helps write it.


                        


Go out into the world. Witness. Watch. Listen. Absorb. Experience. Live. And write.

Take risks. Trust. The words will come.


I live my whole life feeling like a writer in my heart and doing next to nothing about it. It's hard to look that fact of my life in the face, but I'm looking square in the mirror now.





And it's time for me to write.

Special thanks to @elleluna for her inspiring new book, The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion  You can find it here.