Monday, June 30, 2008


Write and Write, and then Write Some More


Of all the deepening places, the ocean speaks to me the most. An ocean with no land visible on the horizon, where the water surges to my feet and recedes gently, where I can see the sun rise and set on a sunny warm day, splashing a swath of colors across the blue sky and vapory clouds at gloaming.

The sight of the ocean brings me peace as no other. I can feel the breath whooshing out of me from the depths of my being at the first glimpse. Everything inside me slows down, even the very blood flows slower. I am not thinking of anything, nor feel compelled to do so. I simply exist, effortlessly drinking in every detail.

What makes the ocean such a deepening place for me? It's the waves. The sight of them; the sound of them. The continuous waxing and waning without a lull. That ceaseless effort that is rewarded by the high tides capturing victory.

Writing a book is like that, whether it's the first manuscript or the twentieth book. The effort, the efort, and then comes the high tide or the accomplishment of an even higher tide, and the writer has reached farther than they've ever done before. Genius is as genius does. It's the aspiration and the hard work with intention that makes the difference between flourishing and floundering, thriving and languishing, succeeding and stagnating.

Call Stories of first sales to publishing houses are filled with the number of years writers wrote before becoming published authors. Imagine, how poorer our reading world would be if their stories had remained in boxes under their beds or in their memories. These writers kept faith in their talents and their desire to write, and then they wrote. They idenified places, events, everyday objects that allowed them to focus on who they were and what they wanted to be, and they wrote. They published ten books, and they wrote.

Effort without pause. Page after page. Story after story. Book after book.

Over To YouOver to you, my friends. What are your deepening places? Would going over there to do your writing help with your motivation and your creative output?

15 comments:

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, do I get a rooster if I'm first here?

Anna Campbell said...

Oh, well, was worth a try!

Actually, Keira, I'm with you. It's the sea that takes me away from myself and is endlessly fascinating. I think because it's continually different and continually the same. You should come to Australia - we've got plenty of seascapes where you can't see the next bit of land!

Keira Soleore said...

The rooster thing works so well on the Banditas blog, I'd hate to steal the idea and have something similar here. Not sure what that honor would be yet.

I so-so want to visit, Fo. I'm working on Hubby for a trip next summer (your winter) after school's out in June and before summer school starts. If it happens, you'd be the first to know. Hubby has a cousin in Melbourne, who we'd be visiting, too.

Regarding the ocean, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

The (Mis)Adventures of a Single City Chick said...

I love forests. There's something about being surrounded by nature that seems to help release my pent up creativity. We have a place down in Sunriver, Oregon in the high desert/mountain area and I'm always so relaxed down there. I'm heading there this evening for the long holiday weekend and have my laptop packed. Hoping to get a lot of writing done, in between visiting with the family. :-)

Keira Soleore said...

Christina, I've heard high praise of Sunriver from a couple other people who rent over there. Sounds like you have a marvelous weekend coming up. Wish all the best writing mojo.

Diane Gaston said...

It's the ocean for me, too, Keira. Maybe if I'd been by an ocean, hearing the waves instead of a Holiday Inn Express off of Rt 81, I wouldn't have lost the last chapter to my book, making me even later than before!

Keira Soleore said...

Diane dear, please don't beat yourself up over the mistake. It can happen to anyone and anywhere. I'm confident the rewrite is going to be better than the previous one.

jo robertson said...

Oh yes, Keira, I get the same restless, energetic feelings when I'm at the ocean. There's something so uncomparably magestic, peaceful yet frightening, about the ocean, the tides, the waves.

I loved your blog today. We writers need constant reminders not to give up. When those manuscripts pile up under the bed, month after month, year after year, with no success, it's so easy to become discouraged.

Thanks for the lift.

Terri Osburn said...

The ocean sooths me into total relaxation, but I'm not sure I could write while being near it. I'd want to just watch and listen to it without the distraction of writing. Then again, I could always take my laptop to the beach this weekend and test the theory.

I think I could get more done in the mountains. Just me, the laptop and a little cottage. I know that would be the perfect setting to get this story out of my head.

This is a beautiful blog and good luck getting that trip to Australia. *g*

Amanda McCabe/Amanda Carmack/Laurel McKee said...

Have to agree--I love the ocean so much, but being near it just makes me want to loll around in a hammock and close my eyes, listening to the waves! I love the mountains (especially when it's cool and green) for getting creative work done. Wish I was there now. :)

Keira Soleore said...

Hey Jo, thanks for your kind words. I have my rituals and my music and other memorabilia as daily reminders, but sometimes it's journaling (and blogging), essentially writing it down in words, that help to get my mind out of tight spots and revive my flagging spirit.

Keira Soleore said...

Terri and Ammanda: So the ocean reminds you of snoozing in hammocks and not of writing, but the trees (cough ents cough) talk to you and egg your muse onwards. I seem to need wide, open spaces to do my thinking, whereas stillness of the forests and mountains ensure that you can hear yourself think. Er, and mountains where it's cool and green always...cough Seattle cough.

Terri Osburn said...

Keira - I read a book once set in the Pacific Northwest and I've wanted to go ever since. I can only imagine how gorgeous it is over there. I'll get over there someday. Hopefully, someday soon.

Cassondra said...

It's the Ocean for me too Keira.

I've never spent much time near the ocean, but the one time I was so severly blocked that I simply couldn't write, I went with my husband on a business trip and I hung by the ocean on the balcony of my room and POOF. The clarity rolled in with the tide.

I can sit all day like a little kid in the edge of the surf, trying to catch the shells that ride in on the lapping waves.

People think I'm nuts.

Keira Soleore said...

Terri, one day soon I hope. Perhaps the cross-country trip in July will work as the good luck charm for a second one, this time to Seattle.

Cassondra, I don't think you're nuts, erm, perhaps b'cos I'm, too?! Every time I've had the occasion to go to the ocean, I've spent every moment I could watching it. It's a sight that never bores.