The Hard Work, The Real Work.

In my quest for 1000 words each day I have found some things to be true:

Not writing is just as hard as doing the writing. Finding a reason to flake out, making up an excuse or two, looking for justification in avoiding the task takes as much creative energy as it takes to sit down and do the writing. The words that I conjure in my mind to explain to myself why doing this task is ridiculous are as numerous as those I am able to put down in observation, reflection and revelry of the things that are important or interesting to me.

Not writing is just as hard as writing. When it all comes down to that basic truth, it is that “not writing” yields nothing and so while it takes energy (all the ways I avoid writing), it isn’t real work. The real work is pushing aside the excuses, the reasons, the justifications and putting words to page. The real work, the work of the heart is making something that can be shared and may last beyond the blink of an eye and a bottle of beer.

The real work is mining the depths of experience and finding the gems that amuse, that delight and amaze me in a way that not writing them down would be a travesty. Finding the things that others can feel and see in their own lives.

It’s interesting to me that some of the most interesting people I know have had many of the same experiences I’ve had, and the only difference between us is that they have written the stories down or stood up in front of people and told those stories. The story, wrtten or told, is durable and will carry on. The story kept inside will die with a good smack to the head.

The real work is caring enough about the other person to share the story out of love or caring or concern. It is the caring of one for another that prompts so many stories. We have told or have heard the “when I was your age” story, and the purpose is always to give guidance or to save the audience from the perils of the choices we, the storytellers, have made. It is in us that we have a duty a responsibility to our audience to save them from our own misfortunes that appear to be on the verge or replay in the audience lives.

Not writing is just as hard as writing , but not writing is selfish, stingy, stodgy. It is like having a secret and whispering about it to yourself and when asked what you said, replying with a bemused, “Oh, nothing.” and then smirking as though to say “Ha! Take that! I know something you don’t know. Nyah nyah nyah!” Writing is living out loud, living in a place where it is better to be open, vulnerable, and honest. This notion is scary, I admit, but it is easier and friendlier than the alternative.

But what if I share and someone doesn’t like it…? What if? So what? What’s the worst that could happen? Nothing. That’s the worst that could happen. Sometimes I worry about the thing I think in my own mind that bears no truth in reality. The fear of being rejected is powerful in keeping me from moving.

Not writing, jams the storage unit full to overflowing and is like packing the used kitty litter in the suitcase and tossing it somewhere in the middle of the pile. Writing is like spring cleaning, airing out the linens on the line in the sunshine and taking stock of what is good, bad, or otherwise unaffected. The real work is getting the stuff out of storage and putting it up to see what is useable and has value.

Why would anyone write 1000 words a day? Why 1000, why not 100, or 500? why not something just a bit easier? The answer is this… If I only had to do 300, I would have stopped before I ever wrote a line that I really like. 1000 pushes the writing past what is comfortable and easy. If it’s easy it’s unlikely that real gold will surface. Sure there would be lots of fools gold, clever cliches and idioms, but in looking back, nothing that is truly gold (or perhaps silver) ever really occurs in the first 300 words.

The real work is writing even though it is hard. Real work means that something gets accomplished. A wall is built, a fence is mended, the compost is stirred and sifted, the ideas take shape, the characters come to life, the life is saved, the heart is healed. Writing is the real work and it is the work worth doing. Why write 1000 words today?

For me, it’s because not writing these 1000 words would mean that I am denying who I am and what I enjoy. To not write these 1000 words would mean that I didn’t practice discipline. I would have thought 1000 words and never come up with a good reason not to write.

I committed to have 1000 words every day. Yesterday and today I almost talked myself out of it. So in a sense, these 1000 words today are a small victory over the failures of my past. I know that tomorrow they will probably be even harder to get down on paper. In the end, it is about showing up. I showed up today to do the real work.

The real work is writing so that I can become a better writer. The real work is becoming what I believe I am supposed to be. The real work is finding my voice and sharing it with you, 1000 words at a time.

What are you NOT doing that might make a difference for you? Because here’s the thing, not doing, whatever it is for you, writing, sewing, dancing, singing, planting is probably just as difficult as actually doing it, and NOT doing it bears no fruit, no reward. Go and do that thing today. Don’t wait.

Thinking, watching, waiting… and going nowhere fast.

Thinking watching waiting

I sometimes think it’s funny how I find myself dreaming about doing this or writing that and I end up getting nothing done. Take this blog so far. Dreams, thoughts, ideas, false starts, halting attempts all lead to nearly a year between posts.

Recently, I spent a few weeks writing 1000 words each day. Most of those words were garbage, but in the trash heaps of drivel and junk there were bits of gold. There were things that struck my fancy and made me smile.  The bigger and perhaps more important thing that I  learned by doing this silly exercise is that I can, in fact, write 1000 words every day. This in turn means that my original goal of 1 post per week is actually doable.

Thinking… What do I write that other people will want to read? This is probably the most paralyzing question I have encountered. The answer really is, who knows? Audiences are fickle… so really maybe I should just write the things I enjoy reading and let the chips fall where they may, after all, no writing equals zero audience anyway.

Watching… Google reader is my best friend and my worst enemy. I use reader to gather together all the really neat stuff I like to read. These are the things that inspire me to write my own take on life. But at the same time I am not getting anything done while reading. Creation is my goal. Reading isn’t the most creative way to spend time, which leads me to…

Waiting… I have no idea what I am waiting for most of the time. Why don’t I get started? Who knows? The evil little procrastinator that lives inside my brain wins again and again… and I end up getting nowhere fast.

So here goes another attempt to get past the initial wall of starting a blog. Count on posts that are at least interesting to me. Follow along if you like and respond when you like, that way I know what you are interested in too.

Spring break has sprung… Ought to write some letters.

Well… It’s Saturday. It’s the first day of Spring Break. I’d like to say that means my productivity will go way up and I’ll blog every day and write a few “extra” posts to have around for those days I don’t feel like working on this thing. I somehow doubt I’ll go all blog ninja on the thing this week, but I did want to consider letters.

Letter writing is really the precursor to blogging for me… In other words, I meant to write letters regularly but let other things distract me from that effort. Writing letters has always been kind of a romantic notion to me. Not like the “romantic” boy meets girl and woos her from across the miles with elegantly written letters ala Norman McLean . It’s more of a notion that I want to take a few minutes to communicate with another person viscerally… taking the time to write down whatever is on my mind and then send it in a medium that expresses the care that went into the communication itself.

The interesting thing to me is that it isn’t even simply about the communication. It is about the artistry of the the hand written letter. Of all of the things I treasure, some of the most important are the things that someone took the time to write and send or deliver in some way. Notes, letters, cards… all carry, for me, a specialness that I can not ascribe to an e-mail or Facebook message. While the electronic counterparts are special for their words, the other, the pen to paper versions are worthy of being kept in special places to be held, reviewed, turned over and felt.

As I was thinking about how important letters have been to me, I was also thinking about a TED talk I was watching the other day. The talk was given by a guy named Matt Cutts and he’s talking about trying something new for 30 days. In his talk he mentions the potential to write a novel (or at least enough words to comprise a novel) in 30 days. That started me thinking about how it would probably also be possible to write a letter each day for 30 days… and then see what happens. Honestly, I’m already procrastinating on this one. It’s going to be a lot of work and I already committed to a 30 day challenge in April (I imagine there will be more to come about that so stay tuned). So I’m thinking about making May a month for writing letters.  Here is my strategy (I am only sharing it in case someone reading this would like to join me.)

For $20 dollars I was able to procure a set of linen paper and matching envelopes. I am fond of Uniball Signio 207 pens and I set aside 30 stamps.  Total for materials $35.

The hardest thing about this whole project is going to be to decide who to write to. My solution: Print the names of the people I know have current addresses in my address book and draw one each day. I have 227 contacts in my address book for whom I believe I have correct contact information.

I am setting aside 45 minutes each day to write. If I finish early, great. If I do not finish in 45 minutes I am making myself finish before I go to bed. No excuses. Not finished? no sleep!. (That’s Cutts idea).

In the comments section I’d invite you to share your thoughts on letters. Also, if you think you might like to take the 30 day letter writing challenge, let me know. Maybe I’d even write to you.

Cheers!