There is a power in remembering. There is a power in looking into life events and choosing how much you want to reveal to people: good, bad or ugly. The beautiful thing is when you tell this stories–they are yours.
Remember that when you become ashamed or shocked upon the reflecting of your own life. You own your story.
Good. Bad. Ugly.
Sometimes it takes ink to smoothe your life out.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
We have made it through the first quarter of this new decade, fellow oracles! This is cause for celebration, believe it or not. With that new found confidence, write today.
Write what you love, the things you love or the people you love.
Writing is the highest form of memory.
Work the memory.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
In the age of cornavirus, I want to remind you that alphabets exists. That stories exist. That storytelling is still a thing. Think of this time you are self-quarantined as your writing retreat.
People watch. Research. Look at the news–as scary as that is.
But take all that and conjure it.
Write.
Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Completing any work is hard. It is difficult, and the process to perfect is not real. The best you can hope for as you complete any WIP is contained, controlled chaos.
Today, I want you to remember the process to write is fraught with pitfalls, discouragements, and all matter of distractions! Once you acknowledge this, you can be more gentle with yourself.
Completing a WIP is akin to sailing a ship on the ocean–in a storm! When you write, the more often you write, the quicker you can drop anchor to stop the work from being lost–or set adrift!
Be vigilant, dear ones.
Keep at it.
Love & Ink,
JBHarris
*The 3 F’s of Writing will be tradmarked through JBHarris Writing Services. Look for this book to be released in May 2020 under Divinity Publishing. Thank you! -JBHarris
Avoid the frenzy.
In looking through your draft-drawer, it can be completely overwhelming! Utterly overwhelming! It can be discouraging. It can be nerve-racking! This space–if not put in the proper perspective–can look like a graveyard for your imagination. Which, no lie, can make any writer feel like a complete failure! Or it can lead to what I call ‘the frenzy’.
This is the feeling where you think you have to do everything all at once. This feeling robs you of the weapon that is creative energy. It forces you into a space of panic and doubt–a paralytic for any writer! This is the feeling you have when you feel that you cannot complete anything you have found–which is incomplete. This is also the feeling you have when you believe there is too much in front of you to try and complete what you have found–that is complete.
Conquer ‘the frenzy in three steps (the 3 F’s of Writing)’
Forgiveness. Life is hard. Writing even harder. Accept that what you have in front of you is not burdens, nor the sum total of them. They are opportunities. Wisdom dictates that you never squander them. Everything cannot be done at once–but one thing can be done. Choose wisely.
Focus. There are only 24 hours in a day. No more. No less. With the demands of your time, whatever those are, you have to be generous with yourself. The tool to develop as you take the challenge to complete a writing project is time-management. Dedicate a set day or time to work on what you have you decided to work on. Your work day will be–should be–unique to your needs. Whether this is a specific word count, page count or sprint (writing as much as you can in a set time (as few as 10-minutes or as long as 2 hours; it’s up to you!). Time can be enemy and ally. Make it an ally.
Faith. All writing is an act of complete faith. You are taking something which has only existed in your mind, and taking it –by force!–to a physical media. It’s scary! It is traumatic in some cases! But it is not impossible. Bear in mind that, every work is written one word at a time. One day at a time. One minute at a time. It can be done. It is not overwhelming, and it will not overtake you. Some days are easier than others, yes. On these days, the writing is a joy! On other days, it can feel like Sisyphus. But unlike the myth, the writer–you!–can make it to the top of the mountain. Letter by letter, word by word. If it helps, remember the words of the Little Engine That Could: “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”
If you think you can, you will.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Writing doesn’t always follow a primrose path. Sometimes the path is dark, and scary and impossible-feeling.
But what I want to remind you of this something you may not think about: you control the path.
Yes, you.
The story cannot have life breathed into it unless it has a willing vessel, a place to grow before pushed into the world. You determine how fast, and how hard you will push the story.
You control the start and the finish–and everything in between.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
Self-rejection is a slow poison.
It is a poison whose apothecary is familiar. Whom is familiar with their victims as well as their enemies.
But what happens when they are one and the same?
Every time you reject a story, a portion of your imagination vanishes. Every time you scrap a story because you’re scared to write it, more of you vanishes.
Rage against the dying of the light.
Poison is for those dying or marked for death.
Writing is a source of life.
With Love & Ink,
JBHarris
