In Creative Writing, we have recently begun our fiction unit with an encouraging teacher, Christian Wilburn. We started the unit with perhaps the most important part of writing, the process. The past year and a half I spent in Creative Writing, my work has been inconsistent. Sometimes I would write pieces that I would be extremely passionate about, while at other times, my work would be mundane, unenjoyable to write, and feel low effort. I would just put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and write just enough so that I would get a decent grade. I’d occasionally have these sparks of inspiration in which I could come up with a piece I would be proud of. What I have recently discovered with Christian is that writing for Creative Writing is a wild safari of demanding patience and practice. The only way one can be consistent in writing is with practice. Heather Woodward, the Creative Writing teacher, has recently assigned daily practice. This entails sitting down at your desk, or on the muni, or wherever you can. Set a timer for 30 minutes, and write. You are not allowed to edit your words and rather wait and see what comes out. To be entirely honest, a lot of my work hasn’t been top tier. A lot of the writing I have put out has been subpar, but many of the ideas have been fresh. The stories I am generating are something I can work with and eventually develop great and intricate stories out of. 

Christian has taught us the importance of turning off our internal editor. Letting the river in our minds carve a path effortlessly, without dams, and seeing where that thought ends up. In the past I did, and still do occasionally get caught in the arid desert of blank pages, desperately searching for the oasis to push me down that river. All it takes is patience. Patience will always guide you to that river. A practice Christian has taught us for coming up with ideas is to grab a piece of paper and a pen. Write a starting sentence over and over for five minutes until you can get to a phrase you can write without judgment. Christian shared a time in his life, when he had to write the same word for hours on end until he could figure out a direction to go in without thought or judgment. He would let the river flow freely. 

Creativity has its own rhythm and flow. If you were to approach it with judgment and extreme force, your writing would end up being tangled sentences that smush in with one another. One must trust their words, that every comma and every letter is a prelude to brilliance. You must be willing to not be judgmental. You need to be willing to write without thought, because when the words are on the paper, sincere thoughts will appear.