Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within (23 page)

resist the urge to look for a single Holy Grail guide for your writing practice. You are not the same person each day. When you find a practice that works, commit to it, but be flexible with that commitment. The time may come when it is no longer a fit, and you may feel that you’ve “failed” at your writing practice. Don’t place the blame outward. Instead, reflect inward. What didn’t work for you and why? Be honest. What would you rather do? or are you observing simple laziness?

Allow for this freedom in your writing too. Yes, you need a container. That container may be a scene or a character or a driving question. But let there be room to bounce around within the container. Don’t hold too tightly to an outcome or a result. That may keep your characters marching in line, but it won’t let them speak with their own voices. As a writer, be ever respectful of your characters’ voices. Let them know that you are there and that you will love them no matter what they say.

Though the bones of a human body create a person’s frame, they are not the person. For there to be life, there must be air—breath and the space within the vertebrae, space within and around the organs. For there to be life, there must be water—the fluids of blood, saliva, water. For there to be life, there must be fire—the electricity of the heart’s pulse. And for there to be life, there must be earth—the flesh itself, the ivory of the teeth, the eternity of the bones. You can arrange a skeleton’s structure, but you won’t get a human being. For that, you need that bit of magic that occurs when everything is in perfect order. And for that to occur, you need patience and persistence.

Show up. That’s all anyone can ask of you, and indeed, that is all you can do. Show up. No conditions. No preconceptions. No agenda. See how light that feels already? conditions, preconceptions, and agendas are bulky and heavy. There’s no need to clutter up your writer’s self with any of that baggage. Lose it on the connecting flight, sit back, and relax. It’s not as complicated as you think.