Start Where You are, with writing and Everything

I read this bit of writing advice this morning: Start where you are.

It seems an evident fact. I can’t start over there, if I’m not over there. I always wish I was over there–wiser, far more cleaver and knowledgeable and organized, not only about whatever topic I’m writing about, but about everything. (That word ‘more’ seems to produce an abundance of dissatisfaction.) But the unchangeable truth of life is that power is only at the present moment where I am. That is where I’m living and breathing and holding all the abilities I currently possess. And it is enough to start. Simply start and more will be added.

I remember back at the beginning of my writer journey, when I read every article about writing and the writing life that I could lay hands on. Many a successful author (meaning published) told of being so passionate about writing as to keep at it late into the night. The wonderful writer Jack Bickham told of getting up at 5:30 a.m. in order to write before he had to go to work. And then I read an author recount how she kept a notebook beside her bed because she frequently woke in the night with a great idea and would jot it down before she forgot it.

I still remember that moment of reading those words. My thought was: “Oh, dear heaven, I’ll never be a writer. I can’t wake up to write anything down, or I’ll never get back to sleep! I need my sleep and can’t function without it. I am not ever going to lose sleep to write.” Quite discouraged, I rolled over and went to sleep.

The next morning, when I first awakened, I had another thought: “I may have a handicap about needing sleep, and that’s okay. I don’t have to do what other writers do. I can do what I can and see how far I go.”

I never have lost sleep over writing, and I’ve written now 40 books and countless essays (someday I need to count them), ad copy and social media posts. With each of those bits of writing, I’ve started where I am, with what I am and what I have.

It is the writing that has made more of me.

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Would you be interested in joining a small e-mail group to study The Right to Write by Julia Cameron?

I will facilitate a small study group where we will go through the book chapter by chapter. Through e-mail we will share weekly (or more often) our experiences working with Cameron’s ideas, what we learn, and what struggles we meet along the way. The point of the group is to encourage one another and feed our writer and writing life. Start where we are and grow.

The group will be kept to no more than five members. The small group will allow me to offer the opportunity for group members to submit short works for my feedback.

I’m just now putting this together, still determining how best to handle the book’s chapters and the length of the study. The level of interest will determine much of that, and yes, it is free. If you are interested, simply send a message by the form on my contact page, here.

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Grace and peace,