Here are ten convictions about writing I’ve come to, over the past decade of writing down thoughts, whispers, wonderings.
1. What defines us as writers is simply that we write – frequently or rarely. We are writers in that we endeavor to put our experiences, questions, sentiments, into words on the page.
2. Creativity exists naturally in all of us – but in most of us, it gets blocked. We often need support unblocking and unlocking our words.
3. Creative recovery is a thing. I’ve been through my own, and am always reaching for more of that recovery. Creative recovery can happen for us – boldly and ferociously.
4. Writing heals. As we translate our lived experience into words, we make meaning out of it. We become the authors of our experience, the creators of it in some sense, in its second life on the page.
5. For women, every act of articulation is an act of empowerment, because we are in the midst of an exodus from generations of being silenced.
6. The writing work that lands most strongly in the world is born of authenticity and courage – not from polishing, perfecting, or trying to guess what readers want.
7. To unleash the flow of words, we have to write for ourselves and ourselves alone. Impact on the world or accolades may come, but only if we’ve learned to write for ourselves first.
8. Editing and craft are merely good assistants to the more important qualities of authenticity and courage.
9. If writing feels stilted, clunky, frustrating, futile, that’s okay. We just need to dip beneath the surface in you to the place where the words are ever flowing. The flow is always tappable, and community, prompts, and structure – both in how and what we write – can help us tap the spring.
10. Most importantly: your story and life experience, your ideas and inquiries are enough to make for plenty to say. That’s so hard to see in ourselves sometimes, but I can promise you, it’s true.
Love,
Tara
