Today I have on my blog Maggie Nerz Iribarne who tells us abut her writing process and about creating oneself as a writer.
Do you realize you are an artist? Julia Cameron, the author of the book, The Artist’s Way, tells us that our inner artist is a child that needs daily attention and recognition. My inner artist emerged in my youth when I began writing poems for school and friends. Words came to me in class; I’d jot them down in the margins of my notebooks, then copy them out neatly on loose-leaf, editing and polishing them. Once, I read about a local teen suicide and wrote a poem. I showed it to a teacher who said I must send it to the boy’s family, so I did, my first inadvertent publication.
Take
Yourself Seriously
To accomplish our art, we must
view our work as important. One of my graduate professors asked my
advisor, “How will we get Maggie to take herself more seriously?” I bristled, but instantly knew this was true on
all counts, personally, academically, and creatively. Yet there was evidence to
the contrary. Mr. Washburn, my young,
Godspell-loving, guitar-playing grammar school religion teacher, encouraged my
poetry and let me taste success by always hanging my poems on the bulletin
board. Mr. Northern, my ninth grade
English teacher, wrote “SUPERLATIVE” on the top of my essay about chocolate
chip cookies. Although in high school I chose popularity over grades, in
college I got published in the literary
magazine and was inducted in the English Honor Society. These events
transformed me from high school airhead to graduate student material, yet at
the time I always thought of myself as an imposter on the brink of failure. My
inner artist was knocking at the door, asking to be seen and heard, but at the
time I could not discern the order in the chaos of my life and work.
Get Up
Early, Write in Short Bursts
The first step,
according to Julia Cameron, to recognizing your inner artist is by writing,
first thing every morning (and you might need to get up 20 minutes earlier to
do this) three pages of what she calls Morning Pages (MP), to dump out all the
chatter in your mind to make room for art, whatever that means to you. I read The
Artist’s Way when I was in my late twenties, began doing the MP, and have
never stopped.
The MP got me started
with a daily habit/practice of writing. In the last year, I have added to my
morning practice by writing 500 words of a short story or essay. This only
takes about 20 extra minutes and I finish rough drafts this way. Recently, two short stories (one of which was
accepted for publication) were written in this daily dose of 500 words.
Write
about Everything and Anything, Start Big, Messy, even Stupid
I just wrote a story
(one mentioned above) about my parents’
deceased elderly neighbors. I made the wife into a ghost that kills the husband
and haunts their house. My mother would be appalled by this; I call it fair
game.
Write about anything
that resonates for you. Start every story as long, disorganized, and over the
top as you need to get it done. Change names of people and places. After
drafting, whittle down to a more coherent, cohesive, narrative.
Take
Your Time, Don’t be a Perfectionist
Writing, like life, love,
careers, needs time to unfold, learn its lessons, slowly reveal its meaning and
potential. That story about my parents’ neighbors was written specifically for
a particular journal. I wrote it, revised, shared it with my writing partner
and my husband, revised it again, and sent it. It got rejected in under 48
hours. I reread it, revised it, searched online for another place that would take
a literary ghost story and sent it out again. I know it’s not perfect, but I will continue this process until it gets
published. So, getting rejected actually helps fine tune writing. I am not fussy about who takes my work, as
long as I think the publication is looking for quality stories. It doesn’t have
to be The New Yorker.
Find a
Writing Partner
Currently, I have my
friend Laura, who matches me in passion and productivity. One writing friend,
Libby, I cold-called after reading an article she wrote. She called me back and invited me to a writing
group. This was 23 years ago and we are still friends and ardent supporters.
It’s
Never Too Late
At age 50, I nurture my inner artist by writing a little
bit every day. I call myself a writer.
Sift back through
the story of your life; find the lost moments that spoke your misplaced truth. You
are an artist, too; say it out loud, write it, begin.
