April 2008

Two Desks

In my office, there are two desks. One of them holds my computer and printer and reference books on writing. Stuck to the walls around my computer monitor are sticky notes scribbled with ideas, and beside my keyboard is my ever-present pot of tea.

When I’m in my office, this desk is where I spend most of my time, writing new stories or editing ones already in the works. Much of the time I am having fun, but sometimes the writing is very hard. I may be plugging along nicely for several days, feeling as if the story is leading me and my work is easy. Then I get stuck. I don’t know how to move forward in the work. I’m lost.

It’s because of the inevitable stretches of darkness and difficulty in my writing process that I keep a second desk in my office. It’s a long folding table piled with colored markers and rubber stamps shaped like horses, and wire I can twist into pretty rings.

I have Shrinky Dink paper that I cut into shapes and bake. I have clay to play with. I clip pictures and words out of magazines and make collages with them. I have a sewing machine and plenty of fabric and thread, and yarn that I use to knit hats and mittens. I have princess pictures to color with crayons.

When I get stuck with my words, or a plot starts to unravel, or I just can’t look at the computer screen anymore, I swivel my chair across the room to my other desk, my craft desk, and start making something. It doesn’t really matter what I make or how it turns out. The point is to just dive in. Playing at my craft table, I am free from the pressure to be stunningly smart or outrageously funny or heart-clutchingly poignant. Making crafts jostles me loose when I am stuck and fills up the empty corners. It helps me find my way back to the place where creating things is fun, not work. Then I can return to my writing desk with a renewed sense of willingness. Even when the writing is flowing fine, doing crafty things keeps me open and reminds me to not take myself or the things I do so seriously.

My favorite authors have said that if you want to be a writer, you should read a lot and write a lot. I agree with both of these things, and I’d like to add: Find as many ways as you can to be creative. Paint, sew, collage, bead, knit, dance, sculpt, sing, act…and you will find many tools to help you stay open and playful on the page.