Just Write

Over the last week, I’ve done some searching. A little bit about writing workshops and a lot a bit about me. Intertwining various conclusions drawn, I’ve decided to formally taper back on the blog. At least for the next few months. I’ll still write but it won’t be as regimented and it probably won’t be as frequent. But I’m thinking it'll be a heck of a lot better.

I’m scaling back mostly because I’m adding an activity to my literary repertoire. Either a correspondence class through The Writer’s Workshop or a Saturday class through Gotham Writer’s Workshop. While the idea of shlepping to New York every Saturday for six weeks doesn’t sound overly appealing, the excitement I feel about being in a classroom, writing amongst writers, stumbling, falling down and picking myself up all outweigh the commute. And in the end, I think an in person experience will allow me to better flourish. Of course, if you give me enough time, I can easily argue the virtues of an online format. Like the flexibility to learn without locking down six springtime weekends, one of which I had hoped would leave me strolling the streets of Paris. Whatever. One way or another, I will be enrolling in a class.

With my next stepping stone in place, I sat down last night to write. Not for the sake of putting a post up on this blog. Nope. For the first time in a long time, I had the creative urge to string words together into sentences, into paragraphs, into a story. No deadline. No purpose. There was a rush as I tapped the keyboard. Thoughts, ideas and everything in between poured from me faster than my fingers could type. And no, this isn't the result of those efforts.

What I did come away with admittedly wasn’t my best piece. I know this because when I reread it a few hours later, Pinot Noir in one hand and lowfat microwave popcorn in the other, I realized the verb tense wasn’t consistent and there were seriously confusing transitions between thoughts. But now that I have edited it, I’ve come to really like the piece. At the core, it captures what I wanted to say. It invites the reader to join me on a journey. It was written from the gut instead of written from the head and it shows. Simply being liberated from the twice weekly regiment of my blog reignited my urge to write. Funny how that works. Even still, that piece I penned, the one from the gut, won’t be posted here. Or anywhere. When I started thinking more about my blog, I determined not everything should be posted for all the world (cough, all ten of you) to see.

With all of that said, I’m back. A little different. A little more aware. And a lot more excited to get going. Thanks for the words you shared last week and the weeks that came before. You unquestionably helped me get to where I am now. When I started this blog, I was teetering on the edge, fearful of falling off. Falling backwards. Fuck it, I was fearful of failing. Somehow along the way, you helped me get better footing to the point of planting my feet so I could better take a flying leap forward. And above it all, you reminded me to just write.