The Pointe Shoe and the Pen
I recently saw the movie Black Swan with a good friend. We both share a history of being life-long students of ballet and lovers of all forms of dance and despite being "all grown up" we continue to love ballet. As we began to critique the movie, the parallels between two of my favorite creative pastimes ~ ballet dancing and writing, became more than obvious. On the surface, ballet dancing and writing may seem like light years apart, having only the common thread of being "creative pursuits," but digging a bit deeper I found numerous qualities that make both a ballet performance look just as effortless as holding a copy of your own finished novel.
Though dancing is a singular pursuit, dancers rely on musicians, choreographers, instructors and other dancers. The telling of the story requires all the parts to work as a whole to bring the ballet to life. Similarly, writers need editors, publishers, reviewers, artists, web designers and agents; all these people help us bring our creative piece to life and get it out into the world. And we can never forget the audience. The people we write and dance for. Those precious people just beyond the lights who support us, cheer us on and continue to inspire us.
As a dancer, I can't express what it's like to work within a group towards a common goal. We rehearsed long hours on a piece that might only last two minutes. Months of work for two minutes on the stage! It reminds me of my writing process. I may spend three hours writing a scene. When I go back to it, I may decide it is perhaps something worth saving but not anything I want to use in my current novel. Sometimes I may take a sentence or two from all that writing, and then again, I may decide it's not worth keeping at all. Much time is spent banging away on quantity, hoping to cull quality, but it doesn't always work out that way.
As a self-published author, I am constantly striving for balance in my life, because I am the one responsible for writing blog posts, keeping up on Twitter, Facebook, my website all while finding book reviewers, readers, you name it. In the world of ballet there is a continual balancing act and I am not just referring to being on Pointe. Balance requires an even flow of energy into and out of us. Writing, like dance, requires us to recognize and harness this flow which allows us to manage all the pieces of our lives, for most of us have other jobs, spouses, children and friends. Every part of our lives is important and requires energy. We need to think ahead, plan, schedule; just like we might plan a party or our weekly dinner menu. Each step leads to the next which creates the whole. Thinking ahead may be difficult but it's necessary to your success, whether in the studio or in your writing career.
Ballet rehearsals require hours of repetitive exercises that have more to do with improving ones technique which lends itself to becoming a better dancer. The ballet barre is repetitive and through this continuous structure the dancer builds stamina and discipline. To do something over and over again can be frustrating, yet a dancer, like a writer can only hone their craft through repetition, discipline and focus. Writers must write. It's that simple. The creative process that comes forth can only thrive on the foundation of focus, discipline and repetition. As writers, we must always push and plan ahead, whether it's a blog post, an article, short story or a manuscript. Dare I say the creative process is hard work?
Finally I mention the creative process! In dance you rehearse a piece that is not yours ~ it is given to you to learn and perfect and only then can you as a dancer make it your own. Suddenly, an age-old story takes on new meaning and in retelling the story it becomes new again, possibly open to an interpretation you never imagined. Writing and reading are like that and always makes me marvel. How many books can be written? I never tire in my search for words woven together in such a way to make me laugh or cry or to be inspired to create something greater than myself and to marvel when others do so.
And that is the beauty of the creative arts. They are ageless and timeless and hopefully we are forever inspired by them to work harder, to keep writing or dancing and never lose sight of our dreams.
