I found engaging in Free Falls the best way to get into the zone of writing. Read something for inspiration. Look at a photo. Hear a snippet of someone else’s conversation or suggest a character setting and problem and then for 5 to 10 minutes write like a fool. Do not edit, revise or worry about the best word right now. Just splat your brain down onto the page. If you are by yourself set a timer. At Haliburton School of the Arts  our instructor, Catherine Graham, read a passage  from Ralph Keyes’ The Courage to Write and then said Free Fall write for the next 10 minutes.

I thought about writing…I thought that writing felt selfish like time away from others.  I thought of mothers and how they can be very selfish about their own child. Mothers will put their child above all other children deserving or not, husbands, parents, friends and so on. Mothers are not cursed or shamed or questioned when they do this.  It is considered natural. No matter how destructive some of their choices are in putting their child first, society condones these very selfish acts and then calls it self-sacrificing…a virtuous act of motherhood. I thought I must treat my writing like my child.  I must put my writing above all other obligations, loves, passions etc in my life.  I should live  for writing. F or now I am not published as yet,  so I cannot claim to write to live.  Yes, I must do anything to live to write.

I will post my revised and edited piece about writing being my child soon.  Haven’t thought of a title for it yet.

When I am stuck  for writing now I go to my writer’s notebook and look for something to twig my interest or inspire me. Then I put on my online timer for 10 minutes.  On your mark get set go! Perhaps this photo will inspire me today…morning sun, reflecting lake, clouds drifting carrying away the dreams of the night, the ball of the sun skipping like a rock over smooth water…..Give it a try.  On your mark, get set, Free Fall!