Being a teacher of writing and having a personal writing life, is a constant challenge. I know that having a writing life of my own is one of the best things I can do for my students, for it is through experiencing the writing process myself that I understand what it means and what it takes. But, there are only so many hours in the day, and shepherding my 50 or more sixth graders through a year of writing, reading, and history often leaves nothing more than slivers of time to devote to writing of my own. And, a writing life requires so much more than just time to sit and write; a writing life requires nourishment, too.
A few years ago, I discovered A Hundred White Daffodils, a compilation of poems, essays and interviews by Jane Kenyon. Tucked into the notes she had kept for a lecture she gave near her home in New Hampshire, was advice for poets and writers ; in them, I saw nine steps I could take, in no particular order or combination, to nourish and guide my writing life:
1. Be a good steward of your gifts: this is such wise advice. Stewardship is defined as “the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving”. If I cared about my writing life, I would have to take daily responsibility for engaging in the process in a meaningful way.
2. Protect your time: this involves making choices about where to spend my limited time, it means having to say no to some things even though I really, really, really want to participate. Wise advice, but ever so hard to have the discipline to follow!
3. Feed your inner life: reading poetry and philosophy, and listening to podcasts in which writers and thinkers share their ideas and process, have helped me to do this.
4. Avoid too much noise: see #6 ;)
5. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears: a rich reading life inspires me to want to write, and to try out new ways to craft my writing. This is a mantra I repeat every day, in one form or another, to both my students and myself. It really works!
6. Be by yourself as often as you can: my teaching days are filled with the exuberant noise of twelve year olds, and I find that seeking out opportunities for solitude and silence to mull over thoughts and ideas is essential to my writing life.
7. Walk: this one goes hand in hand with the above - solitary walks present wonderful opportunities to ruminate, but also to listen and notice. So often, I will see or hear something while walking that will lead to an interesting writing entry or the beginning of an essay idea.
8. Take the phone off the hook: my version of this advice is to turn off my iphone and forget about its existence for a period of time every day, and to always have it off when I write.
9. Work regular hours: I try to set aside a certain amount of time every single day to just write - it may be a blog post, a memory sketch, or a quick narrative; and the time set aside may vary - it might be during lunch on one school day, or right after dinner on another. Each day brings its time challenges, but the important things is to make sure to carve out time for the sole purpose of writing each and every day.
So, there they are: nine practices to choose from, and mix and match every day in order to live a writing life alongside my teaching life, thanks to the wisdom of Jane Kenyon. They’ve helped me, I hope they help you.
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I think this is beautiful, thank you Tara. I had seen this somewhere recently but didn't know its source. "Work regular hours..." is one of my goals. This helps almost everything else on the list to happen!
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