Three Writing Gems

Taking a page from Natalie Goldberg, (and her sage writing wisdom, Writing Down the Bones among them) I have loads of spiral notebooks, filled with story ideas, starts, notes, outlines, character names, quotes, and doodles. It took me years to feel comfortable translating my thoughts, in the form of narrative, poems, snatches of dialog, never mind an entire story, from brain to computer keys. I was more of a smooth ball-tip pen and lined paper kind of gal. There, you know my secrets. I still am and in those notebooks my orignal ideas go. Now, my fingers can't keep up, so my trusty lappy sees the evolution of my writing.

This past weekend I created a semblance of order, noting some gems among the gritty rough of first thoughts, spirals of ideas, and stream-of-consciousness notes from these notebooks. I also found some valuable reminders. Thanks ladies.

This poetic description of the lyrical alchemy of translating an idea into words into a cogent piece of literature, or at least a really convincing story, speaks directly to the complexity of the entire writing process from seed to bloom. (Dang, that was a long sentence.)

...And you're well one your way to attaining the ten-thousand-hours Malicolm Gladwell argues in Outliers it takes to master something, or at least become incredibly proficient.

In other words, don't be a phony. Instead, write with authenticity, heart, and relatability. (Not sure that's a word, but just go with it.)

I'm taking these reminders with me as I write, revise, and polish—and keep it old school with my spiral noties. Wish me luck.