Recently, I rediscovered TED Talks. I fell in love again instantly and then spent the next three hours watching 15 minute moments of brilliance and commenting as the TED Community member I am.
I crafted my profile thoughtfully, hoping to attract like-minded TED-sters. We are not limited these days to the people in our immediate physical communities and I invite my readers to see that for the gift it is. We live in an age that allows for us to have friends and colleagues around the globe and to live more than one life in our life time:
One TED Talk presenter got my undivided attention for the first hour. Sarah Kay of Project V.O.I.C.E
http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_how_many_lives_can_you_live.html
If you have a desire to be a writer then I have one simple piece of counsel.
Write. And find the courage to share it.
One comment by a John Smith on this TED Talk struck me for it could have been my words:
The only way to learn to write is to write. There is no substitute. There will never be. You can’t sit back and THINK about writing, you have to write. It’s the same with everything else. Here’s the catch, tho. Some people are born with an instinct about what sounds right. They write (or play music or do mathematics or hang dry wall) and that instinct gets stronger. I don’t know Sarah but I can guarantee that she spent hours and hours reading and writing from the time she was little. Though she has found her ‘voice’, I can also guarantee that she’s a voracious reader and writer even now. There’s another thing everyone needs to know about people who are good at what they do: they HAVE to do it. Sarah probably HAS to write. Something in them compels them to do it. When you’re not compelled to write you may put it off.
To have a voice you need to spend your 10,000 hours just like everyone else.
Hence, he the original commentator suggested reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outlier (on The Reason for Success) over doing The Artist Way. I recommend reading Malcolm Gladwell anytime AND embracing The Artists Way process for it supports developing confidence in our writing skills and stretches us creatively in the process. I concur it is magickal to be a voracious reader and writer!
AND I would reiterate that writers of every level capture the raw moments experienced via spontaneous writing and then step away from editing it. When you return to this writing, you will find “coal” that could be transformed into a “diamond.”
First pass is best unedited. Therein is the pure and raw feelings and thoughts. Then let it sit some and return to edit to the piece that can be healing for you and helpful for others.
We must remember we are humans having seemingly individual experiences BUT in truth, we are never the only one feeling what we are feeling.
When we share our experiences people come forward to say, “me too.”
Bottomline from this lifelong student of writing and the spoken word: The more permission/freedom we give ourselves to capture our napkin notes as life is lived, the better a writer and storyteller we will become.
It cannot be avoided when we practice the craft with enthusiasm, commitment, passion and an open mind seeking to improve as much as we can. Good writing and art comes in many forms.
The question is which suits you best as a medium for authentic self-expression?
I pledge to Cultivate the Poet.
I pledge to Cultivate the Writer.
I pledge to Cultivate the Artist.
I pledge to Cultivate the Creative Thinker that I Am.
