“the fog rolling in” by devi laskar

Ok, sports fans the Giants have won the World Series and we can take a day off, in fact, we can take the rest of the year off, because of all that we accomplished and how much we struggled and how we persevered when we were down 3-1 and….wait! wait! what? You mean the Giants didn’t win the World Series because of our collective prayers and hours of training and determination and strategy and sheer will? You mean, that a team of baseball players did it? Well, that’s an extraordinary assumption and what’s more I’m highly offended that my contributions in anxiety have no merit in a professional baseball team’s victory.

By now, I hope I have your attention.

What’s more, I’m using a sports analogy to help shape your feelings.

What you should be thinking right now is: “there’s no I in T-E-A-M.”

And that’s the mentality we need to adopt, the collective of the team, the generosity of spirit that we in the Book Writing World need to have for each other to push each other along to finish our books-in-progress and move on to the next creative endeavor.

After spending the weekend with some dedicated writers of non-fiction in The OpEd Project, I’d like to institute what I learned and pay it forward to my colleagues at the Book Writing World. I’ll be writing at length about the OpEd Project in another blog, but for today, I’d like to issue a challenge to my colleagues in Elizabeth’s mentoring and writing craft classes, and I’d like to receive your commitment to take this journey with me.

I’m going to call my “call to action” the 3Bs: Buddying-up, Bartering and Buying-In. It is a three-step process and each step is equal in importance.

First, find a friend, preferably in the Book Writing World. Find another writer, and become buddies. This does not necessarily entail any commitment to read each other’s work or provide pages of commentary, though you and your buddy at some point may want to exchange, but that comes later. What Buddying Up entails is a daily check-in: either through email or text or smoke signals or telephone, check-in with your buddy every day and say the following: “Here’s what I did today (for 30 seconds, 3 minutes, 30 minutes, or six hours) regarding my writing. What did you do?” When the buddy responds, congratulate him or her and make a plan to check in with each other the following day.

Second, bartering. Each of us has a skill and a talent and a special insight. It is extremely important that we each acknowledge that we are experts in one thing or another, and to share that expertise with those around us. My expertise is organization. I’m married but my husband is always on the road, so essentially I’m a single mom with a parcel of kids who play sports and have after-school activities that I manage on a team level. So, I’m sharing my organization strategies and tips with you in the Book Writing World, and I’m hoping that you’ll reciprocate by sharing your insights about what you’re an expert on, and sharing what “works” and what doesn’t. I’ve also been doing an art-a-day challenge for more than a year: this means I draw/paint something every day OR I take a photograph. Every day, after I draw or photograph, I post it on Facebook, as a public way to hold myself accountable.  So, I’m also an expert on setting, meeting and beating a deadline. You don’t need to hold yourself publically accountable, but you do need to hold yourself accountable. By making a commitment to your art, and by contributing to the BWW conversation about the things that can help each of us finish our projects and move on to the next creative endeavor, you can be accountable, you can share your expertise, and it helps the collective group.

Third but not last: Buying-In. Each of us is a writer and an artist and each of us has a valuable contribution to make. We have to believe this about ourselves. This means we have to subscribe to the notion that our writing and our art is just as important as anybody else’s. That means we have to make a commitment and stick to it, no matter what. We generally don’t negotiate with anyone on whether we shower or brush our teeth or eat. So, why should we give up our right to create art? I’m not saying to drop everything and spend eight hours each day on our art. Most days, our obligations to our paying jobs or our families or both keep us away from doing what we want. But everyone, no matter what, has 15 minutes to devote to their craft every day. Some days, for the art challenge, I only have 8 minutes, but I spend those eight minutes thinking hard and doing what I have to do to turn in my art. It’s not quantity. It’s quality of time to focus. Take a few minutes each day and give yourself that time to really think about what you want to accomplish, and write that sentence or that line, or that string of words that you like the sound of. And then put the date next to it, and the day: today is Tuesday, October 30. Day 1. Start today, and then by the time NaNoWriMo comes along Thursday, you’ll be on day 3 and well on your way.

I will be creating a “NaNoWriMo” thread in the Community Center in the BWW by Thursday. Please sign up for one of Elizabeth’s writing craft classes or the mentoring class, and please make a commitment to the BWW and to yourself. Post your intentions! I will be participating in NaNoWriMo in the sense that I will be writing something for my new book every day in the month of November. I encourage you to make a commitment to your art and to the craft by doing the 3 Bs and joining me —

Let’s see what we can do together.