Writing, the Strategy

How many times have I almost burned down the house writing?
When hours become seconds in writing, and all conceptualization of time is gone, you become one with the document. Nothing else exists except what somehow escapes from the fingertips onto the keyboard—or pen to paper if that certain feeling is needed to savor the movement to the end of the line.

Stay Focused

At one point, living up near the mountains of California, I was on deadline and I saw the smoke rising out of the corner of my eye, but I wasn’t quite ready to rip out all of the external hardware, grab the fireproof safe, and escape. I was on a deadline.

The mountains were on fire. While I wasn’t in immediate danger—yet within the evacuation zone—when they started moving the horses out, then I knew it was time for the humans to go. The house was fine, and that’s an extreme story, but it captivates just how much the words become a writer’s life. When we’re not writing, we’re talking about writing, we’re talking about style, structure, strategy, or just plain talking about not writing.

Bottom Line:
Writing is a craft no less than fine art, or a fine chef, or brick masonry—so get out there and grab the brush, get the recipe together, work out the bricks—whatever, just get the process started.