by Paula Gail Benson
Lately, I’ve been facing days with a lot of tasks coming to
me at once. I’ve had to clarify the order and set priorities. Unfortunately,
I’ve often been told all matters are urgent and do the best I can. So, I do,
and hope for the best.
After a flurry of activity, writing is a much stiller, calmer course. Its quietness in fact can be disconcerting and make me wonder, am I able to do this? Can I be alone with my thoughts and create when no one is imposing requirements upon me?
The empty page becomes a frightening thing because it makes no demands upon me. It simply reflects the demands I make upon myself: to produce, and hopefully to do so brilliantly.
When I dispel the feeling of possible failure and convince myself to write, I begin to recognize what a gift it gives me. The time and words are mine to explore. I can center myself on the topic I select and then focus on the elements as I uncover them.
Thanks to the Internet, I can stop briefly to look up definitions; historical, mechanical, or scientific facts; or verify that I’m remembering something correctly. Then I push myself back to my waiting page and develop what I’ve determined to create.
At this moment, I don’t let the pressure of finishing or summarizing make me frantic or turn to AI. These will be my words carefully considered, my discovery new and fresh.
I may be able to visit a place I’ve never seen or return to a familiar spot. Like an actor, I can walk around in a character’s shoes, focusing on what I might fail to notice in the hustle and bustle of everyday existence—maybe even regretting that I might not ordinarily see it.
With pen in hand, I feel the flow of the creative process through my body. I guess I feel it also when my fingers are poised over a keyboard, just in a different way.
I am centered. I am focused. I pursue the creative process alone, but hopefully I will share the results of that process with others.
How is it for you when you come to write after being involved in another experience?
I love it! Yes, it seems that there are sooo many distractions these days.
ReplyDeleteLife is full of "other experiences." They may feel like they stand in the way of our writing, but really they enrich it and help form our stories. Eventually.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, Paula. Writing time after time away always feels like coming home.
ReplyDeleteAfter such busy work days, I don't know how you have the time or energy to be creative. Congratulations on all that you accomplish.
ReplyDeleteWhen I sit to work on a creative project, I can usually block the rest of the world out - and when it intrudes, I look out the window at the natural world and recenter.
ReplyDelete