Tag Archive for: Anne Lamott

Patience, know thy writing.

I’m working on a big project right now, one that has captured my heart; it came to me in a dream.  It’s taking me some time to get everything in a row.  Research.  Read.  Take notes.  Write my memories.  Interview. 

What a fabulous process.  But it requires a tremendous amount of patience.   Someone once said,  “I want patience, and I want it NOW!”

Writing often feels like that.

‘When will you send it out?” asks a friend who is a writer and accustomed to sending out manuscripts very quickly. 

“It’s not ready yet,” I say.

“When will it be?” she asks. 

I shrug.  “I’ll know when I know.”

I must trust the process. 

“. . . I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.”  Marie Curie

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And

“When you get serious about the universe, the universe gets serious about you.”  Marianne Williamson

Writing Prompt:

1.  What project are you willing to show patience and perseverance with?  What tweaks your heart and you know you must write it no matter what?  Go ahead, make the committment!  What do you have to lose?  As Sid Fleischman used to say, “Only the paper is wasted.”  Now it’s not even that half of the time. 

2.  One of my friends would say, “But what if it doesn’t sell?”   Do not be concerned with the outcome.  Be focused on your passion and your craft.  Take it step by step.  Or as Anne Lamott says, “Bird by bird.”  Worry about marketing later.  (Yes, you must think of your reader as you write it, but that is different than your focus on selling it.)

Some people are writers, and some people will always plan to write, but something always gets in their way.  Face it.  They will never be up to the risk.  It is only with creativity that one grows and learns.  If you don’t want to write, then don’t.  But don’t whine that you can’t be a writer because you’re too busy.  Yeah.  We all are.  Make a choice.  A committment. 

I know writers who have written at 3 a.m. before their day jobs.  They did it.

So can you.

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The Sylvia Beach Hotel’s Dr. Seuss room is a delightful mixture of childlike fun, primary colors, and of course, SEUSS!  We stayed next to it in Agatha Christie (larger room facing the ocean) but if I were coming up to this Oregon B&B by myself I’d book this one for writing inspiration.

Above this furry-footed bed is this sign:

There is a lovely desk for illustrators and writers:

And a chair for reading and playing with the stuffed Seuss animals:

 
 
 
Writing Prompt: 
 
1. Use Dr. Seuss to inspire your writing.  Write rhyme.  Read Dr. Seuss to get you in the mood of course!
 
2.  You have every writer’s fantasy.  You are allowed a month at a retreat.  You can go anywhere you want to go.  You may bring any reading and writing projects with you.  What will you work on?  What are your writing goals?
 
3.  What’s stopping you from starting those writing goals NOW?  Remember Anne Lamott’s advice in Bird by Bird.  Just write a little bit at a time.  Don’t look at the huge book, article, paper, or website.  Just try writing a paragraph per day or whatever YOU can manage. 
 
4.  Give yourself a goal.  Cut back on television, surfing the web, socializing, or all of the above.  Give yourself 20 minutes a day to write ANYTHING. 
 
5.  Check off the days on the calendar when you stick to your plan.  Pretty soon you’ll develop a writing routine.  THEN you can call yourself a writer!
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