Ain't no trick
to writing
nor magic
in doing it well.

Writing is you
and your chair
and your brain
and your heart
gathering together
for as many moments as you can string together
of work.

Writing is nouns
and verbs
and adjectives
and adverbs,
in that order,
ordered
and then reordered
over and over
and over
again.

Writing is taking
the stories you see
and the truths you hear
all around you
all the time
and letting them sift
through the filter
you have created for them.

Keep that filter clean
and in good working order:

Change it as necessary.
Air it out in between uses.
Protect it at all costs.

Now go
and catch stories
and write them down
or talk them through
or act them out.

Do not be fooled
into thinking
there is only one way to tell a story:

There is only
the best way
and only you,
trying again and again,
can tease it apart
and put it back
together
in a way
that makes sense
and sets hearts
to beating.

Okay: I lied.

Here is
the one trick
to writing
that will take you magically
from where you are now
to the heights
of where you can go:

Do it over and over
and over and over
every day
for as many
as you have left.

Go!

xxx
c

Image by Mike Baird via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.