Ah, the Memories

Image obtained from The Graphics Fairy at graphicsfairy.blogspot.com

Today is my eldest niece's birthday.  She's ten months older than I am so she will always be blazing the path ahead.  Naturally, we share a lot of memories.  I am often the keeper of these joint memories; however, last night she reminded me of something we did seven years ago this month.  I had forgotten all about November and Nanowrimo.  I'm glad she didn't.

Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month.  During the month of November you commit to writing 50,000 words of a novel.  The experience is not about quality but about quantity.  About sitting yourself down every day and producing.  You turn the internal editor off and you write what's there.  That's the only way you can get to 50,000 words in 30 days.  If you can get in the habit of showing up to write, you have a better chance of producing writing.  As opposed to keeping a running list of bright ideas.  Ideas are fine, but the hard work is done when you sit down and start spilling words.  Nanowrimo gives you a taste of what it takes to make something big happen.

And you learn a lot along the way.  Not just about writing--about how hard it is to sit in front of the screen with your mind frozen and your internal editor screaming at you that you're belittling the profession and who do you think you are.  Not just about how you need to do as Amy Tan has suggested and write all the pond scum so you can get to what is worthwhile.  You actually learn about yourself.  You learn that you really can do something so outrageous as 50,000 words in one month.  And that's a scary thought.  

It's easier to think we do not produce creatively because we can't.  We like to tell ourselves that we lack skills or we don't have the talent.  (Let's not even get into the excuses of time and money.)  We say things like "It's impossible."  We prefer to deflect and reject.  Unfortunately, being dishonest with ourselves can be dangerous.  We ignore the messages and stomp on our own dreams because we don't own up to who we are.  It requires courage to accept that we have a responsibility and a great deal of grit to carry it through.

The essentials are the same regardless of your craft.  Showing up and putting out are absolutely necessary to your creative life.  You may be at the beginning of a creative journey making small seemingly insignificant things on occasion.  You may be looking to expand your creative life beyond the craft you have mastered.  Whoever you are and whatever situation you are in, you are capable of far more than you currently believe. 

Thank you, Manda, for reminding me about what I can do when I put my stubborn mind to something.  For reminding me of how it feels to accomplish something outrageous.