O is for Open

Everything we’ve talked about up until now builds to this vital function: to stay open. The muscles of the hand, unused, cramp up, clamp down. The storyteller begins to believe she made herself up. The story narrows, the way forward shrinks, the power and possibility of words, of images, begin to terrify instead of animate us. Daily writing keeps everything lubricated, flowing, open. Don’t fight the fear. Open the valves and flood it out with the stream of sentences. Practice. Risk daily and you become flexible and willing to risk more. Fear becomes second violin, a tender strain and not the whole sound.

What’s scary about writing is getting open. When you leave a house that’s build in a icy spot, you leave the faucet dripping. That tiny bit of movement through the pipes keeps them from freezing and bursting. So we keep our own flow open, even at a drip, so that nothing rusts or freezes or bursts. So that we’re ready to go.

A Practical Alphabet for Writers: Find all the letters so far at https://bookwritingworld.com/blogs/