WRITING QUOTE - March 9, 2015

"You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page."

- Jodie Picoult -

I believe all writers have doubt to a certain extent, some worse than others. Some will be so immobilized by their doubt they will not finish a piece or let anyone read a piece they do finish. Others will push through their doubt, a day at a time, to give it their best shot, whether the ending is of their liking--the ending being the result of their hard work--was it published or not? And, truly, the most important question of all, or the most desired outcome, did anyone read it?

I used to be the immobilized-writer and then I changed to the push-through-it-writer, though I'm not sure it's gotten easier to deal with the committee in my head that tells me I need to give up. I think I've just decided not to let them decide my life for me. And staying out of the outcome of my writing is extremely helpful. It truly is none of my business, since I'm not there yet to add any input--all undecided outcomes happen to live in the future.

Where I am at is with my writing. The day in and day out process of sitting and writing, whether the committee is in agreement with my intentions for the day or not. The committee is not too loud today, dulled maybe, but they whisper, and I have to remind myself they know nothing more of my future than I do. Why listen to them? 

Hence, the quote. Writing is not a magical transcription of the story in my mind, not in the sense of transcribing the pure essence of the story in one draft. Writing is a showing up, sitting down, and working process. 

Writing is reading books, not watching television and surfing Facebook because there's nothing better to do. Writing is taking pen in hand and putting ink to paper, regardless if it is magical on the first draft or not. Writing is sifting through all kinds of writing blogs, websites, and books to find the ones that actually are inspiring to keep me writing, because I do need to relate to other writers, commiserate if you will. Writing is a singular journey of going within, battling the dragons and wizards inside that block the stories path to freedom, ultimately, to the page.

And writing is more than even all that. Each individual writer has their own tale, their own way of getting where they need to be.

Writing begins with a blank page, but it definitely can't end with one. There is no editing a blank page, and we all know what writing entails--revise, revise, revise.