Laying Track

"The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way." -- Henry Miller  

How many times have you someone say "keep putting one foot in front of the other." It sounds like a well worn yet good piece of wisdom.  And, what a marvelous game plan it really is for getting someplace.  Guess what?  Everything in life is that simple.  Keep putting one foot in front of the other.  The outcome is assured.  You'll get there eventually.  Getting somewhere eventually is better than never getting there at all.

While preparation, vision and planning count for a great deal of success quotient, planning doesn't get you there.  Moving gets you there.  Yes, there's a time and a place to plan and envision a successful outcome but actively moving forward toward a goal amounts to more than planning.  100 words a day is better than 0 words a day.  Don't keep yourself from your writing desk because you don't have a solid block of time to commit to writing.  Write for as long as you can.  

While every individual step may seem inconsequential, their cumulative effect is profound and certain.  Keep showing up at the blank page until it's as natural as brushing your teeth.  Some days will seem like a chore just to arrive at the page and attempt to focus.  You'll feel empty and uninspired.  The process may seem lackluster and even a wasteful use of your time.  If all you have is 20% then make the commitment to show up at the page and bring 20% to it.  You may find that once you get started you actually had 25%  The point is - do something.  Anything.  Keep covering ground.

The best selling author and writing guru, Julia Cameron calls this process, "laying track."  It's simply showing up and putting something down on the page.  There will be many days where there isn't anything magical going on.  It might even seem downright boring.  (Remember boredom is just masked resistance).  Just as a seed needs to establish roots before it can shoot out of the ground sometimes our writing needs to incubate, unseen in order to bloom at a later time.

Jhumpa Lahiri's first novel, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2000.  A gifted writer with a unique voice whose passion for story and character is fresh and exciting.  She brings out the universal humanity in her characters and engages the reader with rich detail and witty circumstances.

This week's suggested website:  - MediaBistro.com (www.mediabistro.com) This site is a good place to find freelance jobs online. Other features include forums, courses and industry news.


This week's writing prompt: Give yourself five uninterrupted minutes of quiet time.   Revisit a character biography you've been working on.  Imagine that this character is looking for a job and meets the difficulties of today's economy head on.  Prepare your character's resume and give it some realistic level of polish.  For extra fun submit it to one of the online job boards and see what happens.