I like to write. Ever since I was in grade school, putting pen to paper and jotting down thoughts, ideas, and stories has helped me to relax and get my mind right. Some people say its my default setting – if I don’t have a camera in hand, odds are that pen and paper are present. Editors seem to like it – apparently the double threat of write and photographer in one can be rare.
So, when I was trying to sit down and write out an article for a national equestrian magazine last week, I was understandably perplexed when I found that words simply wouldn’t come. I had already put the assignment off for several weeks and it needed to be done… or at the very least started. The subject matter was something that I’m intimately familiar with; this wasn’t a case of not knowing my material. So what was it?
After staring blankly at my computer screen and the white, blank page therein; after finishing as many little odds-and-ends projects as I could think of in order to delay the inevitable, I simply started typing.
The first words weren’t very good – in fact they was downright ugly. I have no doubt that I erased far more than the 2,000 words required for the article. But slowly the words started to shape up, become paragraphs. Paragraphs became sections. And, half a day later, the main body of the article was finished.
It wasn’t so much the actual writing of the article that had me stopped; it was starting the article. Once the wheels were set in motion words began to flow and my concentration came back. And wham, it is almost ready to submit, another thing to check off the seemingly never-ending list of things to do.
Lesson learned: sometimes all it takes is some form of motion – be it good work or just any work at all – to get a project rolling. Everything has a beginning.
Another article looming this week. Hopefully this one will pen out a little easier than the last.
In other news… changes are coming to Fire Girl. Exciting, thrilling, I-can’t-wait-let’s-get-this-ball-rolling changes. The site will take on a new look; this blog will be secondary to a brand new portfolio site showcasing some new and exciting work.
Stay tuned… adventure ahead.
Tags: Fire Girl Photography
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Nice! Just wanted to respond. I thoroughly loved your post. Keep up the great work.