Road Trip Wednesday: Bird by Bird

 

Today is my first Road Trip Wednesday.  Thanks for making a pit stop here!

The question posed at YA Highway: How do you beat writer's block?

I wish I could say that I were immune to such a thing, but I'm not.  How I deal with writer's block has definitely changed over the years as my responsibilities (and children) grow.

Back in the old days, when I was in college and grad school, I would simply put down whatever I was working on and hit the pavement.  My favorite place to walk was the Lakewalk in Duluth, Minnesota.  Who wouldn't be inspired by such loveliness?  I would think about my work, turn over ideas in my head, and listen to Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield.  Music from the 80s that got my feet and brain moving.

My son Toad at the Lakewalk ~ July 2011

In Mankato during grad school, if I had time I would walk a few blocks down to the Betsy-Tacy bench.  Maud Hart Lovelace's books were the first to inspire me as a young child to write my own stories.  Betsy Ray grew up to be a writer, and I wanted to do the same.  I even lived in "Deep Valley" for a couple of years.  It wasn't as idyllic as it was in Betsy's time, but over the years, the Betsy-Tacy Society has worked hard to preserve Betsy's and Tacy's houses on Hill Street and provide opportunities to experience that feeling, even if just for a couple of hours.

The Betsy-Tacy Bench ~ Mankato, Minnesota

Times have changed.  I'm out of school with a full-time job and two amazing, busy, and (dare I say) demanding children.  Most of my writing is done after the kids go to bed or on the weekends.  I don't have time for writer's block.  I don't have time to take a walk to work out my thoughts and ideas.  I tend to have epiphanies in the shower at 5:30 in the morning. 

What works for me now is to just sit down and start typing.  Take it one bird at a time, as Anne Lamott wrote in her book, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.  I take it one scene at a time, one idea at a time.  Most days, the words work themselves out.  Sometimes those words are more amazing than I could have imagined or find a way to fix what's lacking in the manuscript.

Sometimes, when it's ten o'clock and I'm just sitting down at the computer, I'll write for a few minutes and I won't feel it.  It's just not there.  And that's okay.  I've given it my best shot for that night, and tomorrow will be better. I will continue to be struck and stuck by writer's block, of course.  Hazard of the job. 

I'll just keep taking it bird by bird.

Wolf Ridge Chickadees ~ Betsy Bowen