This month’s theme in The Year of Creativity is Perspective and we’ve been talking a lot about making messes in our writing. In my perfectionist, Type A world, messes and writing shouldn’t be in the same sentence. I was never allowed to make a mess with writing. There have always been rules, guidelines, a wrong way and right way. Grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and two spaces after a period. Book reports and research papers had specific formats that were expected to be followed. Even through my college Literature classes every sentence was painfully thought out and researched to perfection.
I never gave myself permission to make a mess.
I’m realizing that this is why it took me so long to start writing. I was always afraid of the jumble of words not coming out sounding or looking right. I thought they needed to be perfect the first time they left my mind, but of course they don’t.
So since this truth bomb was dropped on me earlier this month, I’ve been making messes all over the place. I’m experimenting with styles and perspectives. I’m writing with an actual pen and paper. I’m trying not to think about what’s coming out...and just letting it come.
It’s not all pretty and some of it may end up deleted, in the trash, burned, or buried. It would be easy for me to say that what comes out of the trash is what’s important, but I think what’s in the trash is equally so. If I’m not willing to make a mess, there’s a chance I could miss a lot of good stuff.
For some inspiration on how to get messy in your writing, art, work, or life in general check out these articles:
