The Blank Page: Making a Mess

Guest post by Christin Taylor

Let's begin with what's terrifying about the blank page: it holds all of our ideas and none of our ideas at the same time. When we look at that beautiful white expanse, we see possibilities. We imagine a work of art.

Yet when we sit down to write, our hands turn to cement and the words come out ugly and lethargic and lazy and we are mortified. So we put down our pens, or we stop typing, and we push ourselves away from the desk thinking, "Next time. It has to be better next time."

But all the while we're haunted by this fear that perhaps it won't. Perhaps next time will be just as bad as this time and we will be what we have feared all along - "failures" and "wannabes".

Here is the cruel irony of the blank page: While it lures us with its pristine landscape, we must first cover it with mud. There is simply no other way to write. It is a brutal act of faith. In writing, we must unleash a mess onto the page and then reach inward and grab hold of every last thread of trust, believing without sight that: "It will be beautiful. You'll see. Just don't walk away."

And here is where we have to unravel the voices in our heads, telling us not to mark on the white walls with crayons, not to scribble over the white couches with markers. Everything white must stay white or be complemented by something as beautiful and perfect as its elegant planes.

But with the blank page we must give ourselves permission to make it messy. Not just visually messy with black scrawls wiggling across the page. But also mentally messy, audibly messy. We must allow ourselves to write terrible, humiliating prose.

Because here's the other irony: Beauty follows ashes. That which is lovely does not rise out of the pristine hollows of the universe, but out of the roiling, disjointed substance of our lives. That is the act of creation: redemption. God can create something out of nothing, but we create something out of the grit of our lives.

So the blank page cannot stay blank for long. You will not magically create beauty without ever messing up, or falling out of the lines, or scratching across the margins. It just won't happen.

But there is a final image that presses itself against my mind: a rusty spigot, with a lever handle. You crank and crank the handle and the spigot sucks water out of the earth. The first sprays are nasty and muddy and rusty, but you do not stop pumping because you know what is coming. If you stopped, the water would stop, and you'd never get to where you're heading. The more you pump, the faster the water flows, and soon the particles and dirt are dispersing, the water is getting clearer and colder and soon you are clasping diamond water in your hands, slurping up big satisfying gulps.

Writing is the same way. Sometimes when we look at the blank page, we carry the conviction that we can only spill the cleanest, most satisfying water on it, but this is not true. You are a rusty spigot, and the water will not come unless you pump the handle. And you pump the handle by picking up your pen and writing, or moving your fingers heavily across the keys. And though the thoughts and words that come out may be murky and rusty and dirty, don't quit. Clear water is coming soon.

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Christin Taylor lives in Bellingham, Washington, with her husband Dwayne, their 3-year-old daughter Noelle, and their new Taylor Tot expected in July of 2011. In addition to being Noelle's personal chef, chauffeur, laundress, and playmate, Christin runs the Blank Page Writing Workshops online. Her work has appeared in Brain World Magazine, Ungrind, as well as other online and print publications. She is currently finishing her first book-length manuscript about the metaphorical shipwreck many young adults face after graduating from college. If you'd like to learn more about The Blank Page online writing workshops as well as Christin's writing, go to www.christintaylor.com.

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What scares you most about the blank page? Any comments or questions for Christin?

*Notebook photo by nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
**Paint photo by Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
***Water photo by africa / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Everyday NetWorking- It's Who You Know

I don't know about you, but the thought of networking used to make me want to cry myself to sleep at night. What would I do when I was published? How would I know how to go about it? When that golden contract landed in my lap and I had to go hustle endorsements, WHAT WAS I GOING TO DO?????

Now, first I want to make it plain, that I am not published. I don't have a contract and I don't have an agent, but what I do have are friends and my own personality. So take it with a grain of salt and hopefully the realizations I have learned lately will be an encouragement for you. : )

First of all what is networking? It is surrounding yourself with a group of contacts in your area of expertise that can help and support you and give you a boost up that ever growing ladder of publication we all long to climb. They are the ones that help get your foot in the door, the ones that endorse, the ones that do battle with editors and agents to get you rolling.

But how do you get them? Or you might even be asking yourself, "Oh, publication is so far away, I don't need to do that!"

But I don't think there is never a better time than the present. And that frankly is what used to scare me so much. No longer.

I am very much a people person and love to make friends. I love to surround myself with godly people and get to know each and every one.

Whenever I win a book I always try to get a thank you back to the author. Out of those contacts based purely on my love for their fiction, have grown some wonderful friendships. We have grown familiar of each other through our blogs and emails. Familiar enough that I would be comfortable emailing these wonderful ladies and maybe someday asking them to endorse my book.

Now, before you get me wrong, I DO NOT email authors with motives of someday getting something in return. I do it because I want to see the authors supported and let them know just how much I value them. And in the process I have been blessed with some pretty incredible correspondence.

So networking tip #1: spend some time getting to know your favorite authors. Even if NOTHING comes of it than a chance to support them, you are building a relationship that you may someday look back on as a starting point for your own writing. Generally speaking if you read an author's work, you would like to write like them, to a certain extent.

Another tip: while you have the time and energy, blog. Blog often and continuously. Blogging has become so popular today and it is one of my favorite pastimes. When I blog, I am not only developing relationships with my faithful readers, I am also developing a readership. Of the 138 followers on Writing for Christ If God willing I get a book published someday, they will be the first people I will present my book to. And many of my review friends will get a book to review.

So networking tip #2: develop a readership with blogging. You can do that by blogging a lot and on subjects dear to your heart and readers. Readers will see your passion on the screen and will most likely return for more.

Final tip #3: attend writer's workshops. I recently attended a class with author Susan May Warren and leading literary agent, Chip MacGregor. Wow, what an experience. I really loved every minute I got to spend with Susie and Chip and the rest of the attendees. And while nothing came of that class, like signing with MacGregor Literary agency, : ), I got to meet both a big name author face to face AND a big name agent and spend time with them. I even ate breakfast with Chip and his wife. And no, I didn't pitch my book, I was too petrified of being cut to ribbons in the execution (not that Chip would have you understand).

But Chip and Susie now both associate my name and my face and my writing abilities (oh scary thought). I have met Chip, spoken with him and in doing that I have gotten my foot wedged a tiny bit in the door. Because one of their requirements at MacGregor Literay Agency is before they even think about representing you, they want to have met you personally or have been recommended.

So, networking tip #3: meet agents and editors just for the sake of meeting them. Shake their hand, talk, visit, eat breakfast with them : ), but generally be friendly and yourself. It's not hard and it doesn't hardly take any energy.

When this blog was started, Pepper was the one to email me. She was so much braver than I to just email a complete stranger out of the blue (well, okay I knew she would email after chatting on her blog) but she was networking, getting to know other writers and gaining friends on this journey of learning. I have been blessed by her stepping out in faith and blessed abundantly with four lovely ladies who also write here that are willing to put up with me. : )

All of these things you can do right now without even thinking about it. I didn't set out in writing authors to gain friends, but I have (love you guys!!) and maybe someday they will be willing to help me out. If not, that's okay, because I have been blessed by their friendship. Their determination to write has fueled my own. Their stories of struggling and perseverance have pushed me to continue trying my hardest.

When I started blogging, I had no idea that in less than a year, God would bless me with 138 followers! But they are getting to know me, I them, and in the end that could prove so very useful. If not, the journey has been fantastic anyway!

That class in April was so very helpful, and maybe someday will prove profitable too. When I finally have a completed novel, I might be able to walk up to Chip and go, "will you read this?" or "can I tell you about this story?" and he might be more willing to sit down and visit than if I were a complete stranger. If not, you know what, it was pretty neat to meet one of the top guns in the industry. : )

So, go forth and network! Don't be petrified, it's really a lot easier than it sounds!

Have any other ideas for me? I would love to chat more with you in the comment section. : )