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If there were a simple process to help you unlock your potential as a writer, you’d be ready to try it wouldn’t you? As I said in my Day 3 post, writing practice is a solid foundation from which you can write any story you want to tell. But it also helps you push through the places where you struggle and uncover solutions to your biggest writing problems. I know these are big claims, but in my years of editing and coaching writers like yourself, I’ve seen this process help many writers unleash hidden capacities.
Writing practice isn't just about improving our technical skills, though it helps us to do that. Through consistent practice over time, we can develop our voice, come to understand the message we want to send to readers, and build the mental stamina needed to finish and share our most important stories. By incorporating writing practice into our lives, we're not just getting better at stringing sentences together—we're becoming insightful storytellers and better versions of ourselves. And it’s incredibly simple.
So how do we do this writing practice?
What You Need to Begin
You need a pen and paper or your computer keyboard and a word processing program. That’s it. This frees us up to focus on the mental game of outwitting monkey mind.
If you’re writing by hand, it helps to have a fast writing pen because you want to keep up with the speed of the mind—as much as possible. Ballpoints, felt tips, and pencils are slow; I have used the Pilot Precise Rolling Ball V5 for decades. Choose a notebook that is comfortable for you, but don’t make it too fancy, which may add unhelpful expectations. If you’re typing, turn off notifications or other potential disruptions.
Start with a Topic
We choose a topic because it gives us a place to begin, something to push against. We kick things off with that topic but are free to follow where our minds go—and I’m often surprised about where I end up. During the session, if we are at a loss for what to write next, we can return to the topic.
For our Sunday evening writing sessions, we usually choose a word or phrase from a passage of a book we read together before we start. Here are a few examples:
the adept grace of the red-haired waitress
one afternoon in February
a flea market
Here are some standard topics that Natalie Goldberg suggests.
“I remember” (but also “I don’t remember”)
“I’m thinking of” (and “I’m not thinking of”)
the first time or the last time we did something (e.g., visited a favorite place, fell in love, drove a car)
The topics are deceptively uncomplicated, but our individual response to them reveals our unique perspective. And the way we write about them, our attitude and tone, help us discover our voice.
Keep Going No Matter What Comes Up
Write continuously without editing or censoring. Let your mind go, but seek the concrete details. Remember that storytelling is the art of dramatizing events that reveal a bigger truth. The reader will discover that truth through their process of taking in the unique details.
Ignore punctuation, grammar, and spelling—for now. Revising while doing writing practice is counterproductive because we can’t effectively generate and evaluate at the same time. Your goal here is not to write something great or even good. Of course we hope for that in the end, but writing practice is about collecting and getting down the raw materials of our mind. Only then can we truly consider them in light of what we want to accomplish.
If something unpleasant comes up, do not stop. When we approach something rich, our inner critic often gets louder. The act of continuing when we face topics and memories that evoke pain, is grist for our growth as storytellers and people. We develop mental toughness that enables us to face our demons on and off the page. Be willing to look at what hides beyond what’s comfortable. If we hold back, we risk not reaching our potential.
Read What You’ve Written
After the timer goes off, read aloud what you’ve written and consider the work, but don’t judge yourself. We’re looking for authentic and clear writing we can use, but we’re also studying our minds and listening to ourselves. We become aware of what we return to over and over and what we really care about. We spot the places in our writing where we go to sleep and phone it in. It’s true, there will be a lot that doesn’t work, but if you keep going, you will find gems that will take you further.
Writing practice is completely customizable. We choose the constraints: our tools, the duration, the topic. Within those constraints and from our writing desk, we can explore the entire universe, both known and what we don’t yet know.
To write a story readers love, we marry our own unique expression to universal story patterns to create something new. Through writing practice, we come to know what it is we have to say and gain the courage and confidence to say it.