Sometimes our dreams seem like a wound that we work to heal, but it remains open, festering, bothering us just enough that we keep picking at it. There are many people who believe they have a book inside them. 83% of Americans, in fact. Some of them dive into their project and string word after word together until it forms a kind of story. It might be complete, it might be harder than they thought it was going to be, so some finish later and others never get around to typing "The End" on the last page. Beginning anything can be hard, and something that requires pieces of us can keep us locked in fear and therefore not having the courage or trust to just start. How does one begin writing? There are more ways than there are books in a library. One just begins. An idea, a conversation, a picture, an event, a realization or epiphany, a dream or a job can all spark a person to just begin. Most people can begin anything, but it takes a lot to complete that same project.
Every artist creates differently. However, what many of them would agree on is that the creating needs to come first, then the editing. But what can happen, especially with someone just starting out, is that they begin to write, think about how their readers may interpret what they've written, then change their words, the direction of the story, make the characters less evil, less broken, less flawed. And that changes everything. Only with practice do we get to understand how the creative process works for us. What we need to begin, how to keep going when things begin to slow in the middle, and how and when to end our session comes with familiarity. We figure out what works for us, and we apply that time and again. And if we get stuck or blocked (for a number of reasons) then we change that familiarity.
Practicing for a sports team begets familiarity with the plays, the bat, the ball, the field, the equipment, teammates, and opponents. We begin to focus on the game, the fundamentals of the plays, the rules, the possible scenarios. Then we notice how we think, how we move in our body. With familiarity, comes understanding, and then trust. It's helpful to create anything if we can understand the workings of it. And once we understand, we come to trust that it will operate in a particular way.
After the novice, or the tenured, begins once, we return to the starting point. For some, all they want to write is just one book, one poem, one song. That's fine. For the rest of us, we begin again because we become addicted. Whether it's the feeling when we're entrenched in our project, the elation and exhaustion of completion, or the opening of the floodgates of ideas from our Muse, we begin again and again and again. Sometimes we discover something vital about ourselves. Other times the dream of being a professional artist, of challenging ourselves to overcome the critic or the fear that holds us back becomes the driving force to return to the beginning. The more times we begin again, the more practice we get, the more familiarity blossoms, laying the groundwork for understanding and trust.
Michele Venne published her first novel in 2008, which was followed by another five novels and two collections of poetry. All of her books include an introductory "Dear Reader" letter and concludes with "Questions to Ponder", as she encourages readers to contemplate their opinions and beliefs of societal ills. Michele lives near Cave Creek, Arizona, and devotes herself to the joys of riding her horses, tutoring, writing, and yoga.
http://www.myjoyenterprises.com
