Writing is...

An essay — and a challenge for November

November. How???

Lightning-fast pace of the year aside, I’m excited to welcome the month and the slower pace it will bring after a very full October. I plan to take advantage of the slowdown by establishing a daily writing practice again.

This year, I’ve struggled with writing consistency. My writing time has consisted more of furtive sprints than the slow and steady pace I prefer. Additionally, my Morning Pages habit tuckered out, and I miss it. But just the thought of getting out of bed twenty minutes earlier, when I’m already waking at an ungodly hour, makes me tired.

In the spirit of the no-longer-existent NaNoWriMo, I’ve decided to set a daily writing goal – one far less ambitious than 1,667 words per day: one hundred words. That’s it. A paragraph, or two short ones. A quick journal entry. A poem. As long as I’m putting pen to paper or tapping away at my keyboard, it counts because it’s helping me re-establish a writing ritual.

If you want to join me, I’ve created this handy downloadable tracker. Anyone wanting to establish a daily habit of creativity is welcome to join and tailor it as you see fit. If you’re a photographer, maybe your goal is taking one great photo each day. If you’re a visual artist, perhaps it’s ten minutes per day of creation.

Download here

Share your wins and challenges in the comments of my weekly posts, so we can encourage one another!

Now, for some inspiration. I stumbled across this essay I wrote during Sonya Spillmann’s amazing “Writing with Purpose” Exhale workshop last year and thought it’d be helpful in reminding us why we write and create.

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Beyond definition

I’ve always loved dictionaries. As a child, when I encountered a new word while reading, I’d excitedly heave the dusty leather book off the small family bookshelf. I knew I was about to be gifted a new piece of language for my collection — one I’d promptly use without abandon for the next few days (“Mom, I just don’t have a propensity for chores”). Thirty years later, I still get the same thrill when I tap an unfamiliar word on my Kindle, and the meaning pops up.

When I saw the “Writing is…” prompt, my brain flooded with ways to finish the sentence. It was overwhelming, but then I thought about my dear old friends Merriam and Webster and their ability to succinctly articulate the meaning of a word, to get to its core. How would they define it, a word that holds so much meaning?

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary provides four definitions for writing, and I was heartbroken to see that the pithy meanings I often admire fell woefully short. Only the first focuses on the act versus the finished product (“something written”):

1. the act or process of one who writes: such as

a: the act or art of forming visible letters or characters

b: the act or practice of literary or musical composition

I sadly mulled over this definition, then experienced a surge of hope: I needed to look up the root word. That’s where the good stuff would be. Among the ten definitions provided:

1. to form (characters, symbols, etc.) on a surface with an instrument (e.g. a pen)

2. to set down in writing

3. to communicate with in writing

Sigh. I don’t presume to think I can do the job of the dictionary writing team, but as an editor by nature and profession, here’s what I think they left out. Writing is:

1. the act of pouring oneself onto a page (see also ‘bleeding out’)

2. a means for processing and communicating emotions and experiences when words fail

3. agonizing, painstaking work that can bring tears and frustration but also joy, peace and exhilaration (see also ‘running’)

4. a form of play

5. a mechanism for temporary escape

6. a way to create new worlds that entertain, educate and/or inspire others

7. a powerful tool for effecting change

8. a means for memorializing a moment on paper

9. a natural, involuntary urge necessary for homeostasis (see also ‘breathing’)

10. for some, a lifeline

The fact that words can hold so much meaning — meaning that’s personal and unique to everyone — is a major reason I love writing so much. Reflecting on this has shifted my initial perspective on dictionaries, too. They actually don’t fall short; rather, they equip us with a word’s fundamental definition that we can then weave our own meaning around. And that’s a beautiful thing.

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How do you define writing? And who’s in for the 100 words challenge?