Writing

Begin with a few minutes of silent meditation.

Using either a pen or pencil and paper or a keyboard, begin writing what first comes to mind. If you feel stuck, write down the first word that comes up. Then the next word. Don't fret about those words even making a sentence or making sense. Just let words flow from your first thought through your hand(s) to your medium. Perhaps you end up with nonsense. "Dog, sky, rain, hungry, love, I hate doing this, when can I stop, I feel the cool breeze..." Let it flow and let it go. Focus on the immediate, the somatic, what you sense right now where you are. Give it voice. Give it life. "I am a chair. I am stuck here all day but this room has warm sunlight in the afternoons." Keep going.

Do this for short periods of time, then longer. No one ever needs see what you write. Making your words into something comes later. Editing comes after that. Showing it later yet. Writing this way is not about being a famous published author. It's about opening to yourself and what you discover. You'll likely throw away 99% of it. Allen Ginsberg did. To write well... be bravely honest. Tell all the truths. Mind the details. Mind the gap. Go down deep inside and wait for the voices. Do it for you, not your critics. Be suspicious of “the truth.”