Into The Horizon
I want to write a random story—not Michael stuff just now—but my mind is cluttered with useful and useless things. Fun fact: if you want to write, you have to exercise.
Lemme splain you: If you've ever played a sport in school or elsewhere, you most likely did this magical thing called a "warmup." It was to get your muscles ready for a real workout or a real practice or a real game. Just like the body, the mind also benefits from getting a warmup.
When I taught a small writing summer class, I had my students do what I dubbed a "Brain Drain." They would write non-stop for nine minutes: anything at all. It didn't have to make sense. It didn't have to be legible (but it did have to be words). It didn't have to be agreeable. They just had to write. I told them they could write "I hate writing" a hundred times as long as they were putting words on a page. After the nine minutes, I would have them throw away their pages. Some would exclaim that they wrote something worth saving, but I told them that was not the point of the exercise. A warmup is not something to be preserved; it's something to poise you for real work. By the end of the class, most of them reported it allowed them to write better during the actual class.
Years after that (which now also happens to be years ago), I decided to implement that selfsame exercise, and I created what I called "Rambling." If you just glance across my archive, you'll see a crazy pile of nonsensical ramblings. However, in just a year or so, I have seen a profound change in my own writing. Even some of my stingier readers have acknowledged that my writing has improved. Time and time again, I have seen a distinct difference in my writing when I do warmup vs. when I don't warmup. There are many other factors that foster good writing, but warmups have been some of the simplest, most effective improvements.
Now, I always want to fill the world with quality literature, so I would invite you to begin a warmup journal (in which you write stream-of-consciousness nonsense). Still, if there is some endeavor you wish to pursue but always feared, start warming up. The principle works for most any discipline. Learning an instrument? Warmup with scales. Learning to dance? Warmup with basic steps. Learning to draw? Warmup with silly doodles. Learning a language? Warmup by reciting a bit of vocab.
Back to writing though: Writing is not for everyone. Let me say it again: writing is not for everyone. Even though it is a basic skill, not everyone wishes to devote their energy to it, and that's ok. However, a person who will not practice writing cannot turn himself into a good writer just by insisting it.
If you want to become a good writer, there are many steps, but it is within your reach. The simplest step (and therefore most difficult) is practicing. You have to let go of pride and laziness and fear. You have to let go of excuses and comparisons. Then, you just have to write: in a blog, on a napkin, in a journal, as an email, via text, or any media you wish.
If you say, "I am good enough," that is as good as you will ever be. If you say, "I must practice," your limits will recede into the horizon.
Lemme splain you: If you've ever played a sport in school or elsewhere, you most likely did this magical thing called a "warmup." It was to get your muscles ready for a real workout or a real practice or a real game. Just like the body, the mind also benefits from getting a warmup.
When I taught a small writing summer class, I had my students do what I dubbed a "Brain Drain." They would write non-stop for nine minutes: anything at all. It didn't have to make sense. It didn't have to be legible (but it did have to be words). It didn't have to be agreeable. They just had to write. I told them they could write "I hate writing" a hundred times as long as they were putting words on a page. After the nine minutes, I would have them throw away their pages. Some would exclaim that they wrote something worth saving, but I told them that was not the point of the exercise. A warmup is not something to be preserved; it's something to poise you for real work. By the end of the class, most of them reported it allowed them to write better during the actual class.
Years after that (which now also happens to be years ago), I decided to implement that selfsame exercise, and I created what I called "Rambling." If you just glance across my archive, you'll see a crazy pile of nonsensical ramblings. However, in just a year or so, I have seen a profound change in my own writing. Even some of my stingier readers have acknowledged that my writing has improved. Time and time again, I have seen a distinct difference in my writing when I do warmup vs. when I don't warmup. There are many other factors that foster good writing, but warmups have been some of the simplest, most effective improvements.
Now, I always want to fill the world with quality literature, so I would invite you to begin a warmup journal (in which you write stream-of-consciousness nonsense). Still, if there is some endeavor you wish to pursue but always feared, start warming up. The principle works for most any discipline. Learning an instrument? Warmup with scales. Learning to dance? Warmup with basic steps. Learning to draw? Warmup with silly doodles. Learning a language? Warmup by reciting a bit of vocab.
Back to writing though: Writing is not for everyone. Let me say it again: writing is not for everyone. Even though it is a basic skill, not everyone wishes to devote their energy to it, and that's ok. However, a person who will not practice writing cannot turn himself into a good writer just by insisting it.
If you want to become a good writer, there are many steps, but it is within your reach. The simplest step (and therefore most difficult) is practicing. You have to let go of pride and laziness and fear. You have to let go of excuses and comparisons. Then, you just have to write: in a blog, on a napkin, in a journal, as an email, via text, or any media you wish.
If you say, "I am good enough," that is as good as you will ever be. If you say, "I must practice," your limits will recede into the horizon.
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