The Practice of Applying Pen to Paper

Okay, the plants are watered.  The dishes are done.  Laundry is going.  I guess I don’t have a choice.  I need to get this written.  Wait, does the dog need to go outside first?

You know how it goes.  You have a deadline, whether it’s self-imposed or given to you by an editor doesn’t matter.  If you’re anything like me, you tend to procrastinate.  Unfortunately, it seems to be human nature.

Then the time comes.  You sit down to write.  But…

You can’t.

What do you do? Although it sounds trite, I have found that the advice we hear most often is also the most effective.  Apply pen to paper.  And write.

Write one word.  Then another.  Next thing you know, you have a full line.  And suddenly, you have a full page.  (And all of a sudden, the dog does need to go outside now when you’re finally into the groove.)

Of course, everyone knows this.  I’m preaching to the choir.  However, I find that it is useful to be reminded of things from time to time.  Yes, we know it.  And we know we know it.  But do we actually remember it and use it?
Today, when I sat down to write, I had no idea what I wanted to say.  If you had asked what I was going to write about, all I would be able to say is, “Writing.”

I sat down and opened my notebook of quotes and seemingly empty platitudes.  The first one I saw said, “The practice of applying pen to paper is a physical connection.”  I started with that.

It is proof, I believe, that ideas and inspiration can come from anywhere.  Even from notes you took during a workshop that were half-forgotten in a dusty notebook.

In the practice of applying pen to paper, or as Natalie Goldberg (author of Writing Down the Bones ) calls it, writing exercise, can be a wellspring of ideas.  Start writing.  Follow your words on the adventure they find.  Whether you end up with a poem, a short story, or an idea for a novel or feature article doesn’t matter.  What matters is the fact that you wrote.

“But,” you say, “I don’t want to write poems or short stories.”

Fine.  Keep your pen moving.  Keep writing.  You will soon write what you want to write.  Just remember to replenish your creative well as you go along so it doesn’t dry out.

Believe me, it can dry out.  Think of it like those plants that dominate your attention when you sit down to write.  If you leave your creative well unattended long enough, it will dry out.  Your flowering creativity will wilt and shrivel up.  Why let that happen when it can be avoided?  Replenish your well from time to time.  Don’t do something you think you should do or that needs to be done.  That won’t restock your well at all.  Do something fun.

Then write about it.  Well, if your going to do something fun, you might as well have another use for it later, right?

Don’t worry about watering the plants, washing the dishes, or doing the laundry.  They’ll wait until after you’re done writing.  Oh, and don’t forget to put the dog outside before you start.