How Do You Write when the Story is Hard?
So just how do you write something that is… hard? Something that is hard to explain, it’s complicated, it resists breaking down into the elemental pieces of word, sentence, paragraph?
How do you approach a piece of writing that isn’t about the technical difficulty of a concept – but about the emotional side?
What do you do when the meaning behind the words, the message you want to share, is elusive?
And how do you handle the line between memoir and a how-to? Navigating the muddy channels of revealing the truths from your own story to bring peace, enlightenment, teaching to the readers?
How do you get into that and not walk away?
There was an experience last week that changed me. I knew in the moment that I was being changed – I flung myself into it with open heart and bright-eyed excitement knowing it would happen, welcoming it in, understanding that the initial choice to even start would result in alterations.
But now…
Now I’m in an interesting place, one that is uncomfortable. One that is clearly showing the untaken steps of “Kim the Author” – and highlighting, rather painfully, the miles ahead of me on the writer’s journey. Miles, that frankly, I thought I’d already tread.
Humility isn’t one of my greatest virtues.
I’m working with three clients who are writing “teaching” books – that are really thinly-veiled memoirs. Three clients, three authors, who I’m in awe of as they bravely are unearthing their stories and their demons and laying their bones upon the page. Three people who are staring unflinchingly into the mirror of their message and not only bringing that message forth onto the page, are doing it with a literary aplomb that is enviable.
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Two weeks ago Ben and I went on a 5-day backpacking trip. You know the drill: load everything into a 35 pound backpack, walk for miles into the back-country, camp, repeat the next day.
I was DONE. I’d had it, I wanted out, this wasn’t fun.
As someone who considers herself a pretty creative person, it was actually really difficult to start “flexing” my creativity muscle. I can’t imagine how overwhelming and difficult it must be to try to start being creative. One of the best exercises that I did when I first started was to find out what type of creativity I wanted to become involved in. There’s photography, drawing, sketching, painting, scrapbooking, and even journaling. I was fortunate enough to find a creative outlet that fit my organizational nature. I love to plan things and make lists about everything. I found the Planner Community by accident and have just started decorating my planner and making embellished lists that I can save for years to come.
Have you ever felt like that? You are trying to be creative and innovative and unique and you see what everyone else is doing. Then you try to force yourself to be even more creative and you end up spinning around in circles and possibly wrecking that which you have already created? I know a little bit about that feeling. It happens to me from time to time.