Saved by a Child's Words

I found myself talking to a group of enthusiastic grade one students who were keen to commence their writing pieces. As they stood up from the carpet to return to their seats to commence their writing, I realized that the spark of imagination that would fire my writing ideas had suddenly snuffed out. The students all seemed fired up and ready to create the miracle of meaningful marks on paper. I felt completely blank and could not conjure up a single thing to write about. I was trying to will my brain into action. Writer’s block had descended upon me like a damp,foggy mist

A boy stood beside me at this critical moment and said, “I’m going to write about the first time I went fishing which was on Saturday with my Dad”
“Oh thank you” I said and uttered a huge sigh of relief.
The bemused child looked at me unsure what he had done.
“You just gave me a wonderful idea for my writing this morning. Like you, I’m going to write about the very first time I went fishing. Maybe we can share our stories at the end of this writing session?”
“Okay,” he said and wandered away to begin his writing piece.

Our exchange was as simple as that, but suddenly I was visited by such a strong visual image of that first fishing adventure with my uncle at Blackburn Lake and the associated thrill of catching three redfin. I was back there again reliving the moment.

That brief exchange with a fellow writer underscored the critical nature of talking to fellow writers. - The free exchange of ideas. A fellow writer’s words had sparked an idea for my writing at a time when I was seeking inspiration. That critcal conversation assisted me to discover my writing direction.

Comments

  1. Sam Grumont7 December 2008 at 14:16

    Hi Alan,

    After our discussion I keep saying ot myself I must write a blog post and decided to check your latest musings. Nada - what's happening?
    Sam

    ReplyDelete

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