Writing is Alchemy: Take It To the Page (A Love Letter)
Writing is Alchemy: Take It To the Page (A Love Letter)
It will absorb your anger, your sadness, your whatever, and maybe turn it into gold
Dear Lovies,
I need to continually remind myself to take it to the page already.
One morning this week I woke up grumpy, in a state. Resentful, judgy, out of sorts. My journal was open on my desk, as I was about to make notes on my WIP. But instead the following words came out: I am being unnecessarily cranky and it is more against myself—injuring myself more than anything.
Oh. Oh right.
I wasn’t hurting anybody but myself. The syntax was typical journal-ese but the message was helpful. I remembered all the times I’d written out a bad mood.
The page takes it all—out of my brain, out of my body. We all know that emotions are fleeting and the best way to deal with them is to let them pass through you. Right? But that is hard and uncomfortable. But not to the page. It’s there to accept them all, to hope you process things.
And it’s not just helpful for journaling. Taking to the page is what we writers do. Whether we are writing a novel, a memoir, a short story or a poem, and I believe we suffer when we don’t do it. I know I do. It’s just that we too easily let a sour mood or a rejection or a bad review or envy over a friend whose novel hit the bestseller list derail us.
Right after the above-mentioned sentence burst out of me, I calmly carried on to working on my novel. And I was happy again. My husband and family thanked the page. Haha, not. But they would have if they’d experienced my mood before I’d written.
Writing is alchemy. Even on the smallest level, taking it to the page is transformation. And it is available to all of us, all of the time.
Love, light, and good writing,
Charlotte
P.S. How have you alchemized your life lately?
Articles and Resources
I told all about my multi-generational living situation on my friend Cecilia’s blog.
Five ways to amp up conflict in your story.
I’ve tried this. Never works.
Books
Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl. This is the memoir we have chosen for our France workshop, pairing it with Reichl’s recent novel, The Paris Novel. I am loving the memoir almost more than the novel. Wonderful descriptions of food, but her mother, the Queen of Mold, and all kinds of crazy situations Ruth got herself into.
Driving Over Lemons, by Chris Stewart. This is the memoir for our Italy workshop. I accidentally started reading it at the same time as the Reichl book. Highly entertaining so far! (Not set in Italy, but Spain. Oh well.)
Overseas Workshops
Itching for some time away? It’s not too late to come to Europe with us. We’ve had last-minute openings for both of our France and Italy workshops. Air fares are holding steady, so come write with us!
Blog posts on our website will tell you all about the location of our France workshop and why we love it so much. You can read about art and artists in Céret, the crazy annual footrace there, and best of all, the wonderful local bakeries. Nab your spot now. And here is the promised interview with our guest resident Angela M. Sanders (written by the wonderful Shari Lane, whose book is also wonderful!)
And we have two new blog posts—one on French films to get you in the mood, and one on Italian films.
Other places to connect with me:
My website (badly in need of an upgrade)
Our workshop website
My original blog (now for archive purposes only, no longer updated)
Ways I can help you:
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