“Just Put One Foot on the Ground”

About a month ago, Mimi Meredith shared her mother’s advice for cold Montana mornings: “Darlin’ girl, just put one foot on the ground.” I’ve been smiling over that ever since.

And I’ve begun noticing how often I begin projects that feel huge, day after day: creating a proposal for a workshop, reading a book manuscript for a consultation, grading a flood of student papers. (I’m sure you have your own version of this.) Once I’m in the flow, I don’t want to stop. But there’s that moment that can feel like a winter draft: do I really know how to do this? do I have enough time set aside? Am I up to this one? Will I know what to do with whatever I’m in for?

I’ve been noticing those moments and thanking Mimi as I just put one foot on the ground and realize I’m up and running.

If you want to write a book, maybe you could put one word on a page.

Feel the draft and do it anyway.

Here’s Mimi’s post: “Just put one foot on the ground”

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© Gwyn Nichols 2011. All rights reserved. WritersResort.com

 

My International Guests

Gwyn's Flag Counter as of 10 24 2011

“If you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”  — Anne Lamott

 

This is one of my favorite writer quotes, and my chief excuse for not promoting myself, but on a blog, it materializes at light speed. Recently, I noticed I was up to 73 flags on my blog’s flag counter–probably more by the time you read this. The other day my visitor report might have formed a quorum of the United Nations and resolved for world peace. You’re from Canada to Argentina, Finland to New Zealand, Ireland to Japan. Russia to Madagascar, Cambodia to Romania, Peru to Indonesia, Northern Mariana Islands to Brazil, Mexico to Luxembourg, Latvia to Bolivia, Greece to Vietnam,  Saudi Arabia to Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria to Taiwan, Switzerland to Pakistan, Israel to Bangladesh, Czech Republic to Nepal, Ukraine to Venezuela, Papua New Guinea to Lebanon, Serbia to South Africa, Singapore to Portugal. And 35 more.

With English being the chief second language in many nations, I assume most of these visitors understand me, while I’d be lost in their languages. It’s mind-boggling.

With so many readers whose days are my nights, or whose autumns are my springs (or both), I have to wonder! How did you land here? Were you looking for a topic I wrote about? Did you meet me through someone I’m connected with? Was it purely accidental, like a misdialed phone number? (I can’t imagine you’d actually heard of me, though this week was another milestone. Recommended Tags began suggesting “Gwyn Nichols.” Do I tag my posts with my own name? How odd!)

And when you got here, did you feel welcome? Lost?

I’m sparkling with curiosity. Please feel free to comment and let me (and my other guests in the room) know where you’re from, why you’re here, and whether I’m making a lick of sense. (Suddenly, I’m self-conscious about my idioms.) What would be helpful to you?

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 Text © Gwyn Nichols 2011. All rights reserved. WritersResort.com

Image: screenshot from Flag Counter. You can get one for your blog here. I don’t know how I blogged without this service, it makes life so much more fun!

Two Kinds of Writers

There are two kinds of writers:

(1) Those who make their own writing their highest (or almost highest) priority.

(2) Those who try to finish every other task before they feel deserving of writing time.

Confession: I am the latter. See, I have to finish this blog before I can write!

Where did this come from? For how many years did my English homework get top priority? What happened?

You would think this would be fabulous for my clients, students, employers, and children who know I’ll drop everything for them. (Though it’s not so great for the established novelist generously awaiting my novel manuscript.)  But actually, how am I serving you well by postponing an hour of writing with an hour of clearing every minutiae of my inbox? Or even talking to you now, instead of contributing to the critical mass of writing concentration in the world?

Lisa Yee, at an SCBWI conference about six year ago, said she was serious enough about her writing time to take her children’s laundry and throw it on their floors (where it will end up anyway) and to be the weird sports parent writing on the sidelines. (I thought I was the only one!) Of course, she and editor Arthur Levine then bantered about how much Lisa was blogging instead of writing books on schedule. Arthur is not my editor, so I hope he won’t be objecting to this post.

I took comfort from Laurie Halse Anderson at the 2011 SCBWI conference describing her top priorities. Writing is only number–five, I think she said–and she manages to be prolific. There’s something to be said for having real lives and, therefore, something to write about.

But all the same, I’m going now. I have a writing appointment. I hope you do, too. Let me know how it’s going.

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Text © Gwyn Nichols 2011. All rights reserved. WritersResort.com