One of my favorite movies of all time is What About Bob? Now, some of you may think that's...lame. Not very intellectual. But it's hysterical, and you can use a line from What About Bob? for just about anything. So it comes in handy when you don't want to look for your own material.
Take "baby steps." Dr. Leo Marvin, Bob's new psychiatrist, tells Bob to just take "baby steps" in his life, and there's a great scene where Bob is waiting for an appointment he's made to call Dr. Marvin, and Bob keeps pacing and saying, "Baby steps to four o'clock, baby steps to four o'clock." Okay, I'm sure something is lost in translation here. (By the way, did you catch that little reference? It was totally unintentional.) I know people who actually hate this movie, but I guess I just bond with Bob and all of his phobias, most of which I understand all too well.
Anyway, baby steps is the point here, not Bob. It was my birthday over the weekend, which led to a few (brief) moments of reflection. I think I usually do a lot more reflecting on my birthday than at New Year's. So...I was contemplating what would make this year any different than the last. How on earth will I ever start writing this novel, something I'm actually terrified to do? And the answer came to me on my birthday, in the form of a story. I now know that all I need to do at this time is give this thing a little water and a little sunlight each day. Right now, it's just a seed. But it's my seed and my job to care for it. I don't have to do much -- just give it a little water and a little sun. Every day.
Perhaps none of this is making any sense to you, but for me it does -- and this idea is a relief. A little each day I can do. Baby steps. The big picture is terrifying to me. How will I finish it? I don't even have the plot fully mapped out. Can I do it? It's completely intimidating. So I mention this here because I want to have a place to be accountable. Am I taking care of this little seed or not? It's kind of ironic that this metaphor speaks to me, because I kill almost every plant I cross paths with.
4 comments:
What? You just had your 40th birthday party. That wasn't a year ago. OMG? Was that a YEAR ago?
Baby steps is totally the way to go. I too have been trying to spend more time writing. Why is it so terrifying? It's words to paper. It's a collection of things. But I have to agree, it's scarey.
Merry, it was a year ago. A YEAR.
Jen, I dunno. For me it's terrifying because I know how hard it is and I'm afraid that I won't be able to actually write what I want to write -- that I'll never do the story justice or that I'll never get the plot figured out exactly right. Yes, it is truly terrifying. I guess maybe it comes down to a fear of total failure. Isn't that a pleasant thought?
I think baby steps are all we got.
I am amazed at the forces gathered together to prevent a person from writing. Now that I have less excuses in my life, I'm still able to come up with new excuses.
For me these days it comes down to the fact that accomplishing anything solid in writing is really Work and not play and not fun. I am so sick of the story I am working on, which is based on a crummy period in my life, and I keep finding reasons not to finish it, even though I started it two years ago. I keep wanting to drop it and switch to one of the three or four other unfinished stories I have lying around. I'm sure that's a good idea, right? The only thing that propels me forward are deadlines that I set for myself. And even those are too loose right now.
But the alternative is not accomplishing anything solid in writing, and that's not fun either!
I think the fact that you even have an idea of what you want to write is some kind of proof that you should write it.
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