i don't know what it is about writing that i find so interesting. Grammar and rules mean little to me... it's something else entirely that i find captivating.
i see emerging writers grappling with ever expanding vocabulary standing in front of a wall of words that are like a wall of paint chip samples in varying shades of white - picking painstakingly the one that most closely matches their heart. They take a phrase and bend it; using punctuation and sentence structure - like an artist creating a sculpture - till it pleases their eye and the rhythm and cadence makes the words roll off their tongue, just so.
And i have felt that same call that beckons a new writer to write.
"Hear me, hear me..."
Finally with something to say - an offering - and at times the very heart of praise as truth is proclaimed and etched for all eyes to see.
Little Elmer is barely one. He stumbles on fat legs that still wobble and collapse. His words are few - most of his articulations are shrill - little commands and reports of displeasure or pleasure or desire.
Will he one day sit before a glowing box - fingers clickety clacking over a keyboard, slavishly putting the magic of his mind into sentences and paragraphs that make his mama laugh and cry and puzzle over the complexity of God's creation - a little boy woven together in my womb - and now having the ability to weave words that have the potential to change a heart - a mind - a life...
i don't know..
i re-read the words i just wrote now. They look kind of lame - all trying too hard, and falling too short.
I tweak one here - pull a sentence out there. Change the intensity, adding a blush of colour...
i want them to see me wrestling. i want them to see me falling short... i want them to know that you don't ever arrive, there is only growing, learning and change.
So, write little ones... ignore the perfectionism that would steal your words and silence the truths you're learning. Every battle you engage in to get your ideas down will make you more a more proficient, adept communicator. You'll find more clarity in your thoughts and more grace in capturing them.
You'll get better.
Let me peek into the workings of your mind - and make myself and home among your musings...
