✍️ Cliff Diving for Writers
or, How I Take a Flying Leap with My Writing Every Day
Here’s the thing you should know about cliff diving. It’s one of the few things in the world in which you can’t change your mind once you’re committed.
I know. I literally tried once. I said, “Nope.” and turned, hoping to scramble back onto the rocky ledge. But of course, gravity had other ideas.
Spoiler alert: I survived.
Here’s the thing about cliff diving as a metaphor for writing. When you jump and commit, good things happen. Even if you say, “Nope.” halfway down.
Spoiler alert: you always survive.
Taking that leap in your writing is both the hardest and easiest thing you can do. Taking the leap means trusting that it will all work out.
And in this case, there isn’t a downside to trusting in yourself. You risk nothing, except a bit of time, ink, and paper.
The reward though is everything.
If it helps, know that I take the leap every single day. I rarely know where any particular piece is going to go, and I often feel a flutter of trepidation while treading water in that not-knowing headspace. The absolute worst that’s happened is that I’ve had to start again.
Usually though, the leap pays off.
Take a leap. See what happens. Repeat.
Over to You
Is writing a leap of faith for you, too? How do you overcome doubt and anxiety? Do you feel the wretched tug of perfectionism trying to drag you under? Let us know in the comments below!
Until next time, keep writing with wild abandon!
~Graham
email me if you get lost.
My leaps come with a semblance of a parachute. I usually know when I sit down to write how the scene will start (or maybe I'm writing a scene way further down because I just had an idea that I didn't want to let escape). It's a bit of a trick ... don't stop a writing session with nothing in the tank.