A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Thousand-Three-Hundred-And-Twenty-Seven

I have been thinking a great deal about the writing I am not doing.  I do a lot of writing, but I also have a lot I want to write but don't.  I often start these things and then get stuck or lost or just distracted enough to set it aside too long.  I know that I need to find the focus and dedication, but more, I need to let myself be messy on the page.  In poetry, I can let loose and just set off, but I find that I am not certain how to do that with prose, whether it is fiction or non, and so I get flustered.  It is okay, I must remember, to not know what is happening while writing a piece.  At some point, of course, it must become clear, but that can happen quite late in the drafting process, and any longer work will always require rethinking when the whole is clear.  That is, the impact of that initial confusion can he sorted when it becomes clear.  Revision is always waiting, so why be hung up on the draft?  I am not certain that really helps, though.  In the moment of writing, it is a matter of feeling confidence enough in the words that are coming out to let them continue to reach the page.  I need to give myself permission, need to stop the process of doubt that sometimes takes over. 

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