WriteMeditations™
By Beth Mende Conny
© 2002-2010 Beth Mende Conny. All rights reserved in all media.
The content of WriteMeditations™ may be forwarded in full without special permission, provided it is used for nonprofit purposes and full attribution and copyright notice are given. For other purposes, contact Beth Mende Conny at Beth@WriteDirections.com.
Attribution: © Beth Mende Conny, the founder of WriteDirections.com and the author of more than four dozen books and collections.
Use these meditations to build your writing muscle, frame your thinking, and—perhaps most importantly—get you over, under, around and through your blocks.
Setting ground rules
If you're not a serious writer, don't expect others to take you seriously. Respect from others begins with self-respect. You must set the ground rules that they — and you — will follow.
Coming out of the closet
Writing is our way of coming out of the closet, our way of going public with our hearts. And this can scare the crap out of us. For once out of the closet, we are not content to get back in. We want to move forward, shout our presence to all who would hear. We become more willing to stand up for ourselves and all we know to be sacred and true. We begin to live our dreams.
Why words matter
Words are words — anyone can get them onto paper. Why then should our words matter? Because they are ours. They are born of our experiences, thoughts and feelings. They make their way into the world through our distinct filters. They have no other door by which to enter.
Silent partners
Projects are partnerships. Don’t make your writing the silent partner. Listen to what your work has to say; let it tell you what it wants to be.
Advanced degrees
Inexperienced as you may be at writing, you are experienced in other, equally important ways. You have attended the School of Life, from which you may even have earned an advanced degree. Who you are, where you’ve been, what you see and think and feel — all matter. Good writing, after all, is good, rich living.
The force within
Writing may be a solo journey, but that doesn't mean you must travel alone. Know that there are others like you out there. Find them. Know, too, that the creative force within you is within all things. Seek it out. Join with it. Gain strength from it.
The open door policy
Writing may be a mental activity, but it can be physical as well. There is no reason you cannot write while walking or jogging, or turning over the dirt in your garden. Thoughts after all, are like the wind: They’ll come through any open door. So why not get out of doors? Why not enjoy the day and the fresh perspective that comes from moving away from your keyboard?
Ready, set, go
You don’t need to be published to call yourself a writer. You just need to write. Funny how many of us forget this simple fact. We spend so much time on plot lines, research, how-to lists and goal setting that we fail to do the one thing that would catapult our efforts: write. Isn’t it time you got started?
Your most important obligation
Many of us long to hole up for hours, days, perhaps even months at a time and do nothing but write. The urge is almost physical in nature, beginning in the heart and stretching into the limbs until we can feel ourselves ache. And though we turn our attention elsewhere — we have jobs, families and other, more pressing obligations, after all — the longing lives on. But what of our obligation to ourselves? If we don’t meet it, who will?
Grit and bear it
Writing requires a lot of doing — doing stuff you don't like, that is. You’ve got transcribe notes, do hours of research, organize your notes ... Sometimes you even have to write. No fun there. Complaining helps, as does procrastination. At some point though, you’ve got to grit and bear it. Might as well make it today.