We have this rock, and it sits on our woodstove. It started life in a nearby river, and it reminds us to run, to move, to go, to change shapes when changing is called for.
It asks us, every day, “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?”
Because every day of your life there is a story, sitting in your lap or curled inside your heart, that is waiting to be told. There is also love, food, dancing, joy, and mysteries to be part of. But that is another story.
You be the midwife. Birth the story. Breathe life into it. If you’re not doing that, then we ask you:
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
About Meredith and Win Blevins
It’s silly, but I think I’m afraid, although I’m not sure what I am afraid of — maybe that I can’t come up with the right words — or maybe I just don’t “have it” anymore. I go to bed at night thinking up stories in my mind – and fall asleep with them whirling in my brain. But for some reason, after writing several short stories, I have become uncomfortable with my own work. My previous work has been well accepted, including numerous published magazine articles and several short stories. I think I need motivation, but then, I KNOW I just need to sit down and START! But I never seem to do it! Sooooo, if you can give me a clue as to what is going on and how to fix it, I’d sure be happy to listen!!
Mary, It’s not silly at all.
Stick with us for our WHAT IF? Fridays — just some scenarios to wrap your imagination around and get you loosened up.
Here is one thing that happens with me, and maybe it’s the same for you: I look at past writing, and some of it I like, some of it I don’t. But I can’t write the same way — which would be nice for the writing I like — because I’m a different person. Not better, not worse, just different. Emotional priorities aren’t the same as I’ve aged. So, I have to make a point of writing as the woman I am now instead of the woman I was. That’s scary because it is starting over each time. It’s scary because maybe the now-woman doesn’t have the same way with words. BUT… I am finding that words come easier. Using language is more comfortable. I am experimenting.
So, I would say, be the writer/woman you are now and forget previous work. Also, don’t look at the whole mountain, just look at a sentence. Then the next and then a paragraph. It will unfold. If it doesn’t, hit delete — no harm, no foul. Most of all? Go easy on yourself and enjoy exploring the writer that you are in the present.
Much love to you — meredith