Writing Practice

photo credit: Whatsername?

I’ve been listening to Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones in the car recently, and I’m in love.

She often mentions the phrase “writing practice” when talking about daily journaling/writing/skill work/tying one’s self to the desk until blank pages have words on them. I’ve heard other writers also say that is important, so I decided I should finally figure this out.

Natalie has developed a routine for writing every single day. She has developed writing exercises to make this a productive time, and she set a goal to fill one 100 page notebook each month. Sounds like a good plan.

Being someone who wants to be a writer I took Natalie’s advice to heart. I dug up a spiral bound notebook I bought on sale last year when school started (it’s only 70 pages, but will have to do for this beginner) and I started writing every day. Well, by every day I mean one day here, and one day there. And by “writing” I mean filling pages with words about the things I’m confused about in life.

After a few weeks of uninspiring ranting, I gave up thinking this writing practice stuff Natalie talked about must only work for certain people. I would need a different formula because this was unfulfilling and didn’t spur creativity or energy.

But, I kept listening to Writing Down the Bones, and today the tiny lightbulb in my head went off.

Writing practice is more than a routine, a special notebook, energizing writing places and a quota. Its a chance to practice life.

For me, this means that instead of filling a backpack full of spiral bound notebooks with gibberish like, “Oh, I’m so confused. I think I should feel this way, but I’m not sure that I do. Poor me.” I can claim my feelings and inspiration by practicing life on the page. Instead of being frozen with fear about the change of a relationship, I can write about what my life will be like without that person. Instead of wasting pages worrying if I’m a decent business owner, I can practice writing about success and failure.

Natalie shares in one part of her book that she found an old notebook where she had tried on several occasions to write about her father’s death. Finally, after months of trying she was able to approach the subject in a manner that satisfied her. The striking fact is that her father is still alive and well today. She was practicing life on the page. She was simply doing writing practice.