|
"Oilcan, Oilcan, Oilcan"
|
John Caruso
|
Apr 14, 2003 14:30 PDT
|
“Oilcan, Oilcan, Oilcan”
-Or-
To quote Samuel Clemens, “Rumors of my death have been greatly
exaggerated.”
Rusty. Creaky. Lethargic. I suppose that would sum up my Daily Grind
activity for today. (Look, already I’ve used too many adjectives and not
nearly enough active verbs.) No, your eyes are not dazzled. Your mind
engages in no tricks nor dupery. This is indeed a brand new post.
During the past few weeks, I hope you have been keeping up with your
writing. I have not—or at least not as much as I wanted and certainly
not with the Daily Grind. Sure, I could give you a laundry list of
justifications. I’m certain you have many of those self-same reasons on
your various excuse lists. So instead of whining’ and moanin’, I’m just
going to jump right into this week’s post. Here it goes:
Sometimes, circumstances conspire against us. We fill our plates to o’er
flowing at the buffet of life (and sometimes we don’t even use the GOOD
paper plates). As a consequence, we let our writing slide. Sure, it
starts off innocently enough. “I can’t write today, but tomorrow I’ll do
double.” “Those errands aren’t going to run themselves.” “I’m in such a
foul mood, how well would I be able to write, anyway?” Before we know
it, a few days becomes a few more days. A few more days becomes a week.
A week becomes…well, you get the idea.
But it’s alright. Really. I began worrying that I was damaged. I worried
that I would lose my edge. I worried that I would rust. Then it
happened: I wrote more than just a few creative sentences at a time.
Yes, I was rusty. I wrote some drivel, piffle, even a fair amount of
hokum. But it was MY drivel, piffle, and hokum. Through the stiffness of
my writer’s brain, I felt a recognition. I remembered enough about
writing to FEEL like I remembered enough about writing. I kept squirting
oil into my creative mind and loosened the ol’ stiffened synapses.
So what does this solipsistic rambling have to do with YOUR writing? I
wanted to let you know that it’s o.k. if you take some time off. We’ve
all chanted the mantra, “write everyday…write everyday…write everyday.”
A lovely sentiment, that, but I know we’ve also chanted the mantra,
“there aren’t enough hours in the day…there aren’t enough hours in the
day…there aren’t enough hours in the day.” It may be difficult, but
sometimes we have to give ourselves permission NOT to write. I only add
one caveat: if you give yourself permission not to write, you must give
yourself permission not to feel guilty. Guilt is the worst rust of all.
Guilt can keep us from getting back to the words. Guilt can extend our
periods of not-writing far beyond the permission period. Guilt can
squash a writer.
Remember, even though we’re writers, we’re still human. If you take a
break, embrace it. Let your creative mind marinate in the world around
you without worrying about producing right away. Accept that when you
return, you will be out of practice (but nicely marinated). Don’t feel
guilty. Just oil yourself up and write.
John Caruso
jo-@coffeehouseforwriters.com
Copyright 2003, John Caruso
|
|
 |
|
