Writing Out of Tune

When I read the first draft of something I’ve written the content is there but there’s no harmony. Like an array of beautiful instruments needing the director’s tuning fork, the words play their own melody. A thought here, a word there, and a run on sentence devouring half the page. Oh, the run ons—the’re everywhere. Ideas come whirring across the page as if they blew in from a storm. The passion and energy once whirring through my head form rivulets of disciplined work. When the storm settles, the rhythm like ocean waves gather in lines and paragraphs.

As the director of my work, I bring the parts together into a beautiful symphony that I call “The Page.” I run across the pages later and say, “I wrote that?” Wow! Then another thought dances in scattered words across my page. I scoop them up, move them around, and begin the job of forming a book out of individual pieces that were once out of tune.

Just me and my book

I’ve waited years to have time to write. My personal vision statement includes self-expression as one of my deep values. I’ve taken notes, journaled, written papers, presentations, and workshops. Now it’s time to put it all together – a blending of my career story so to speak.

I have so many ideas, thoughts, and feelings. I can’t wait to go to my computer or find a pen and paper to write them down. Now I am here at my computer with journal books, small slips of paper, numerous folders and documents, and my head just spins or draws a blank. It was so much fun to just write. Then I decided my great idea could be a book. I want to copyright my idea and share it in more than a workshop. Other people have already started using it just from the workshops I’ve presented. But then I decided that it should be a book. A book is a lot more work than presentations, classes, and worksheets. In the muck & muddle of trying to sort out all of the information I have gathered, I seem to lose the magic.

I went out to the garden this morning and watched the vegetables and herbs growing. Some get stuck in one position, while others grow like crazy without producing much. I watch the way the garden grows and realize that I am growing a book. Writing for a blog or social networking site is easy. It’s bits and pieces strewn together day by day. But a book is where it all comes together. It’s like taking individual vegetables and herbs and simmering them slowly until the flavors all blend together in harmony. When I feel the harmony of words, I get so excited that I have to stop for a moment and take a deep breath. Then I go back to putting together the puzzle that is my book.