Today I was asked how I clear my mind to prepare for writing. Oh dear, clear my mind? There isn't a vacuum cleaner large enough! Nor am I advanced enough to be able to meditate although that might help my writing.
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| White Bleeding Heart |
What I usually do before I write is plan. I think about what my topic might be, what photographs I have that would help move the entry along, what my readers would or would not understand, and how I can clarify my subject. Sometimes the photographs dictate the subject. Sometimes the day's activities are uppermost in my mind and demand to be let out on the page. There are also times when I have planned to write about something and before I know it something else entirely appears in black and white.*
Basically, if you were to ask me for advice on writing a blog, I would say:
- Do it.
- Write 5 days a week because the more often you write, the easier it becomes.
- Write as often as you can about things you really enjoy.
- Open yourself - let glimpses of the private you out (for example, the entries about my painting from the first dabs on canvas to the finished work).
- Open yourself to learning through writing (for example, verbalizing what is happening with the painting and what I'm trying to do forces me to really think about the process of learning to paint).
- Ask for feedback and accept what people say as another step in your learning process.
- Allow yourself the freedom to enjoy the activity of writing and the benefits of keeping track of what is important to you.
- Be CAREFUL. Do not give away too much personal information.
*This entry is an example of having something in my mind to write about, and then, due to a comment from a reader, writing on an entirely different topic. Thank you, Anon!
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