Writing Practice. Why Do I Do This?

Dear friends,

Last November I was roaming the living room searching for a book to read from my endless tbr. But I didn't have the mood for a new book, rather than for something already read, maybe few ears ago. Like when you re-watch your comfort film coiled on the sofa, wrapped in the fluffy blanket for the umpteenth time. I was seeking just for the same feeling. The fleece blanket was ready, together with my hot cup of tea. But the question remained. What to read? A classic? Too demanding that day. A thriller? Too much attention for details. A romance? Maybe. Non-fiction? Perfect!

I reached the non-fiction shelves in the left corner on the living room and browsed some titles. When I feel a little down, there is nothing like re-reading a book about writing and the writer's life. So I decided for The True Secret of Writing by Natalie Goldberg.

There is a full chapter about practice in that book and on page 41 of the edition by Atria Paperback 2014 it goes:

"It's something you choose to do on a regular basis with no vision of an outcome, the aim is not improvement, not getting somewhere. You do it because you do it."

"You do it because you do it." How liberating. How powerful. How simple. How enchanting. To do something not with the pressure of doing it perfectly, but just for the act itself. These few lines opened a window in my mind. I started immediately.

There was a little notebook on my desk I didn't know what to use for as it was too little for writing stories or poems, so I decided it was perfect for the records of the practice. I opened it and in the first page I wrote day, time and number of pages.

It was the 16th of November 2024 at 10am and I wrote two pages and six lines.

My method consists in writing every day at the same time (ish), in this way the practice folds the habit and everything is easier. However, there are days in which I don't do my writing practice. In these cases, I just note in my tiny notebook "skipped". It is important to not judge, myself or what I write. Just do it because I do it. I repeat it again and again in my mind as soon as the inner censor rises and tries to take control over my practice.

Too easily sentences like This is boring. Non sense. What is that? You wrote just one page, is it a practice? and, You skipped today, bad people skip their practice, you know that? sneak between a thought and another. I think it is normal as we are the best critics of ourselves.

Just "You do it because you do it." And here the freedom is total again. And the pen marks the paper and creativity streams and everything is feeling, emotion, vivid, powerful, real.

I use two notebooks. The little one is for the records, so I easily track my practice and how it is going day after day. I think it is also a nice way to collect a memory. In the future, say 5 years, I'll look again at the tiny notebook and remember how it was doing my writing practice. The other notebook is the one where I actually write, a dotted A5. Very cure, in a mustard colour with leaves painted on it.

And now the fundamental question. Why do I do it? The obvious answer is because I enjoy it, but there is more. I mostly do it, and keep doing it, as it reminds me everyday that I write just because I love to write. I do not set a topic for my writing practice, nor a number of pages. Some of the best poems I wrote in the past months are thanks to this practice. Letting my mind free from syntax and coherence opens a window for my creativity to stream and explore wildly.

It is my opinion that having a practice is a good way to increase inspiration. It is just a matter of finding what works for you.

May your day be infused with sublime words.

Xoxo Connelly