Just Write

One of my best friends is going through a rough time in her life right now. Years ago she aspired to be a writer. I read some things she'd written and it was all really good. So, tonight, while chatting with her on the phone, I noticed that she seemed restless, aimless, adrift on a rough sea. Se needed a lifeline, an anchor- something to snag her and keep her from crashing onto the rocks. She was having difficulty moving forward in her life again after a set-back. I said, "Hey, you can write, so just write something."

We talked about writing for twenty minutes or so and she mentioned that she still has Stephen King's book On Writing in her personal library. I said "You must have kept it for a reason." She had no idea where to start writing so we kicked ideas around and chose a happy memory/moment from her life as a starting point. Something light. Her grandfather was a firefighter and always had great stories to tell when she was younger (much like my grandfather was a truck driver and always had great stories to tell!). He's gone now (so is mine).

I said, "Well, your life is chock full of material, just pick one small thing to write about tonight and consider it a baby step back into writing. You can't be a writer if you're afraid to just write. Like me, she has comma issues. I offered her the services of Kelly who fixes all my comma drama without making it a trauma for me. I also mentioned that's what editing and proofreading are for. Just write raw material and worry about fine tuning it and fixing grammar and punctuation issues after. Get the basic writing done however it wants to flow out of you...the polishing comes later.

I'm hoping she'll be sending me something later via email that she's written tonight. I'm anxious to see what she can come up with.

Writing is good therapy.