Writing and Laziness

Yesterday, I was positively impacted to read in Wild Mind what Natalie Goldberg had to say about "laziness." That it is "…the essential ingredient in writing." (p230) She goes on to say that "After you're cleared from lying around, your desire to write will rise up to the surface like a bubble or an old dead fish. Then you can get up for no reason and write a little." (p230)

At the same time, though in different places throughout Wild Mind as well as throughout Writing Down The Bones, Natalie talks about the importance of keeping your hand moving either on paper or on computer. While these two concepts "appear" contradictory, it seems to me that what the author is saying is that we're all human, and that we need to take our humanness into consideration when we write. I know I felt relieved to hear her talk about the "laziness" factor.

Unfortunately, as in life so in writing we can be too hard on ourselves. We can and often (or sometimes) do expect too much of ourselves or of our writing. In Overcome Writer's Block Easily I discuss how to deal with the saboteur, that part of ourselves that can interfere with the movement of our writing work. While it (he/she) may have good intention for us, the tone of voice we often hear in our heads is anything but comforting. And, gentleness is what we need from ourselves in order to genuinely hear our "real voice," and move forward.