I started writing before I could read or do more than scribble with a pencil. I’d make up stories and silly poems in my head and recite them for my family or random travelers on the train in my native Holland. Did you write stories, poems, or private thoughts in a journal as a child before the world of your imagination was forced to shrink into the world of your education? Did you write as a teen when your changing body chemistry was exploding into something wilder to ride than an unbroken mustang? Or did you start writing for your own benefit only after a long career as an engineer, nurse practitioner, financial advisor, or restaurateur?
No matter your answers to these questions, if you are writing now, then I am glad you are reading this blog. I want to encourage you to keep at it, to develop your skills and your enthusiasm for this art form that will reward your efforts with a sense of fulfillment and achievement.
When you write, you bring to the blank page, one word at a time, a living thing. It is an act of creation. You are taking a single strand of thought, and like a strand of yard, you are weaving it into a fabric that holds together with an intuitive genius that brings warmth, comfort, beauty. It’s also an act of magic. You are pulling a rabbit out of a hat! It takes courage, a bold bravado to do this. You have to face not only the blank page, but also the internal realities that have prompted you to sit down with your journal or at your keyboard and speak your truth.
When you are daunted, don’t let that stop you. This is a noble endeavor you are undertaking, and it will make you grow in ways both unpredictable and marvelous.
If you’ve already started on something, stop reading this and go write! If you need a jumping off place or have become a little stuck, I will offer a writing prompt each week to get your muse back in the saddle again. Here is this week’s writing prompt.
Think of an early childhood memory, a moment still vivid in your mind. Choose something before you were ten years old, something brief and poignant. Start by just writing a few notes, a few visual and experiential details. Describe the physical setting, any other people involved, the weather, any colors you remember, any emotions you recall. Then write a short piece of prose or poetry about this childhood experience. Keep it precise and focused. Just describe the moment as a snapshot using a zoom lens. Make the piece no more than 500 words for prose, no longer than a single page for a poem. Have some fun with this.
More about the author at www.jazzpoeteve.com
