“The Goody-Two-Shoes Nature”

Blood at My Fingertips

It’s true isn't it?  Writing is laying our inner most thoughts out for the world to be influenced by and for us to be criticized with.  It is gutting ourselves with a dull blade and as the need and want becomes more we push harder and harder to form our blood into words.  It’s funny and head turning that this is so empowering. 

“The Goody-Two-Shoes Nature” says writing practice is “like any other sport.”  So why then does it suggest we walk away when it becomes difficult?  Any person who dreams of writing writes with their whole heart.  A bad day of writing is simply just that.  An athlete who has a bad day does not have the option to not step on that field.  They are dedicated to their sport.  They do what needs to be done to get through the practice or the game they barely had the effort to attend.  Does that mean their “heart isn’t into it?”  Absolutely not!  It just means we as writers and athletes alike are human and we all have days we need to push through life’s difficulties to do what our heart desires.  It was Stephen King in "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" who said “Stopping a piece of work just because it’s hard either emotionally or imaginatively is a bad idea.  Sometimes you have to go on when you don’t feel like it and sometimes you’re doing good work when it feels like all you’re managing to do is shovel shit from a sitting position.”

We are not all so fortunate to have the option to “rest completely for a while” and “come back more fully choosing to engage.”  There are deadlines in writing which are our game days.  So having a routine for writing practice doesn’t make us being “dutiful.”  It makes us being whole heartedly dedicated to our sport of writing.  We will take our much needed break during our off season and heal from our injuries and strains then.  But until that day comes we will step on that field, walk into that gym, sit down with pens in our hands or finger tips at our keys and we will push through any wall that tries to block us.  When game day comes, some athletes throw up before their performance, I scream before writing.  You have no idea how many times I screamed when writing this.  But I finished and you are reading it.  I poured my blood into every one of these words.