About Writing

I used to say learning to write was a lot like learning to ride a bicycle. At first you get on two wobbly wheels, struggle to find your balance, fall, try again, fall, and try again. The difference between the one who learns how to stay on the bike without falling and the one who does not is perseverance. Learning to write is learning to wake up to what good writing is and what it is not and that takes a lot of perseverance to wade through the fog of one’s mind until the clear air of clean writing breaks through. Discouragement can set in when you’re struggling to find the right words. When I’m in this space, and feeling a bit down, I often turn to a favorite author who reminds me what good writing is. From CS Lewis, I learn that at its foundation , good writing is good reasoned thinking, unclouded by foggy feelings. I like what Lewis writes here. “ Don’t bother much about your feelings. When they are humble, loving, brave, give thanks for them; when they are conceited, selfish, cowardly, ask to have them altered. In neither case are they you, but only a thing that happens to you. What matters is your intention and your behavior.”

My intention is to write and to write well.

I’ll behave, and get back on the bike again and keep trying until I’m hands free completely forgetting I’m balancing on two wheels, leaning back and enjoying the sights.