Writing at its best completes one tiny job over and over: find the beauty, find the beauty, find the beauty. The writer doesn’t tell us about how bad the gash was; she describes its rose red flesh. The writer doesn’t ignore a tender moment; they pay close attention to expand on the experience in great detail on the page. The writer doesn’t forget the sensations of the day, he files every sound, smell, and feeling away as material to sculpt with later.
This “job,” understand, is also a gift. In observing my niece and nephews this summer I’ve noticed that when we are children we get so many opportunities to make life more beautiful. We’re asked to make crafts with sticks and hot glue, given breakfast in the shape of farm animals, and constantly invited to sing or dance at any old time—in line at the grocery store, sitting down at a cafe, or in the parking lot waiting for Mom’s prescription to be filled. As adults, it is far more acceptable to ignore sticks, optimize productivity by eating quickly, and avoid breaking out into song or dance even when presented with a song you love in a public space.
Am I depressing you yet? The good news is that writing has always offered me a place to play. In fact, I’ve used food, music, and even sticks as fodder for my imagination before. It is easy to lose the skill of finding beauty in the everyday, because we are not rewarded for this job in our capitalist world. But it is also possible to make a habit out of it, by simply beginning to commit acts of random beautification more regularly. The more you sing out in the car or make a practice of jotting down a silly little poem when you feel like it, the more it will feel not only acceptable, but necessary. The more you will fulfill your tiny job and become a better, happier writer.
If you’d like some support getting started or restarted in the pursuit of finding the beauty, join our first Happy Hour of the season Thursday, August 25th from 6-7:45 EST. We’ll write, share, and discuss even more ways to access our inner child in the pursuit of creativity. Sound good? Upgrade to a paid subscription to get the Zoom link and join! There’s an option for a 7-day free trial, so you can check this event out and then decide if you want to continue joining Fledgling’s five monthly community events in September.
If you’re happy with your subscription the way it is, that is awesome and I thank you for being here. Nothing will change and you will still get musings, advice, something to read, and a couple of prompts each month. But know the option is there, if you feel like getting some extra support on a project from journaling more often to finishing an essay, to just hit the “upgrade to paid” button and join us for as long as you’d like!
News:
Are you located in NYC? The Fledgling Course, a 7-week generative writing workshop that put us on the map, begins September 20th and will meet in person in Crown Heights. Find out more and register here!
Prompts:
Turn your phone on airplane mode. Choose a prompt. Write to it for 10 minutes. If you want to keep going, keep going. If you like what you write, reply it back to me and maybe see it in the newsletter next month...
Write about a moment you or a character found “softness in the tension.” How can an argument, a car crash, an earthquake change you? Begin in the middle of that tension.
Write a love poem for a friend. Think of a specific moment with them that encompasses your relationship. When did you first realize you loved them? Much like a romantic love story, friendship love stories offer rich emotion and deep memory to work with as creative fodder, though they are far more overlooked in creative writing!
And lastly, something to read:
a poem by me, for my 2022 monthly poem challenge. Join me and send me your poem if you’d like to see it here next month.
Find out how to join the August Happy Hour focused on our Beginner’s Mind and Inner Child below!
(Thursday, August 25, 6-7:45 pm EST)
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