The Sit Down

If I’m being entirely honest, sitting down for a big project is a little disconcerting. Novels don’t write themselves. There is a bit of “what am I doing here”.

Poetry, in contrast I’ve always find practically writes itself. There’s something enjoyable about looking it over twice, I like to check the form of a piece, reading my work aloud is a skill that takes and builds confidence at the same time, but really the magic of poetry is in something you saw, heard, or are speaking concisely ‘aloud’ within your mind. Like lyrics, some parts just call to you. Now, when it comes to environment, a distinct detail like the kind of expression only one character of my cast would use, how I want the impact of a pommel to catch someone in the stomach, or another protagonist pondering the violet seas from a station made of silica, this happens in the same way I wrote that sentence.

It all needs to come together, and it does. Paragraph by paragraph, page by page; and as with reading, personally, although I find it takes much too long to get to the finish line, that’s a part of good work too.

Very few literary things can be rushed. I think it’s like needing the second, or third coat of paint in a new house. You really need that bit of working yourself, the little acid bite of irritation where it’s not glamorous, not easy, and when each thing in place is done there’s relief.

Sitting down, like writing this article comes from the fun seed of ‘aha what shall I write’, starting with a few thoughts, placing them together. How do they look? While there’s a lot of study, academic work and a lot of lectures on the exactitude of writing, while I do read about writing to improve, these things are best felt than referenced. Something reads well or looks good to me, or it does not. Some things like grammar and punctuation need polishing, it’s like tidying or scrubbing up something to keep it clean, but really trusting our own voice, reading back to ourselves, and trust our audiences is what it’s all about.

As I took a chance writing about meditation, I thought a similar idea was good trying to give a glimpse into how this process feels, as I know others probably can relate, but we all have our unique insight into things, and like writing something from nothing, a third is the fun creativity, another third is putting it down; now we’re at the fun last section, where people let me know what they think which makes the whole process complete.

What do you think? Over time I’ve carefully seen people show some of their process, whether that’s practicing for a marathon, or showing sped-up recordings of painting. I thought about offering a little picture with the words I have, and let writing show itself in its particular way, as other projects continue to grow around me while I’ve shifted focus back after entrenching security in other aspects of life.

What do you think? I’m sitting down, and the end point of ‘now’ is where you’re sat down reading right now.