Week 4: Writing is a Walk, so Bring a Jacket

Have you ever been on those walks where you thought it was a stroll with a specific destination? It can't be more than 20 minutes, you mutter internally as you amble down the sidewalk, wondering if you should have brought a jacket. There's a cold wind and these shoes probably weren't right and you think 20 minutes was 20 minutes ago, so when are you actually getting there?

Where's there? There is a location, an accomplishment, an achievement that feels like an ending. A punctuated coda comprised of a series of notes that were melodic, mellifluous, and never meandering. Certain, steadfast, you made it. Or, you thought you would 20 minutes ago. So, you keep walking. What other option do you have?

By now, you know that you should have brought a jacket. You should have charged your phone. You should not have spent all that time staring at TikTok. Instead, you should have been stretching, hydrating, creating a contingency in the event that this 20 minute walk would turn into an hour long walk. Not to mention you need to reserve energy for the way back. But what if there is no way back? What if the sidewalk collapses on the way there and the only way out is through in some MC Escher-like staircase that pivots on its axis and you find yourself upside down and right side up and it was only supposed to be 20 minutes!!

That's what writing a draft feels like. An idea that seemed simple enough became complex and an easy journey turned into a crucible, a challenge wrapped in a need for a jacket and better shoes. In truth, there are no clear destinations with writing. The act of writing is to accept a commitment to putting words on a page in one draft and deleting them in the next one.

Writing requires a certain level of boldness. A promise to one's self that maybe you won't time the walk. Rather, you will relish the cracks in the sidewalk, the tangents that turn into detours, the discoveries that only happen through accidents and missteps. That boldness could be defined by some as foolhardy. But perhaps that's the quality all writers have: to give life to an imaginary scenario in their mind. To breathe into the ideas that wake us up in the middle of the night. To shake hands with the unknown.

After all that, it probably is a good idea to bring the jacket.