15 Minute Writer

How to Write: Learn to Juggle Your Writing

May 21st, 2011 Posted in Mistakes, Time to Write, Writing Encouragement

Do you find yourself trying to juggle a number of activities with your family, work and friends? There are all your household and/or work responsibilities and your desire to be with family and friends. Then there is your desire to write or maybe even your need to write because your work requires it. Added to that, you want to learn how to write or learn how to write better.  Additionally, there are all the wonderful activities and resources to explore that relate to writing. Do you drop a few balls as you try to juggle it all?

Recently, my adult son and I went to see a Russian acrobat team. They combined acrobats and comedy. One of them was a clown who did a juggling act with big bowling size balls connected with a rope. My son loves juggling and so we watched with intrigue as the juggler did some amazing things with the balls. We watched the finished act and the perfection at which he accomplished each feat from one degree of difficulty to the next.

I wondered what it would have been like if we had seen him in the beginning. I am sure he dropped a lot of balls. He didn’t start out with this degree of expertise in balancing these juggling balls. Did he stop trying? Evidently not since we had the joy of watching him at his level of expertise.

At times, in your life, when you first add writing to your schedule either for fun or profit, maybe you find that the balls fall and bounce all over the place. Don’t get discouraged with this. When you add a new activity, it’s going to take awhile to learn to juggle that one in with the others ones you are already juggling. The important thing is that you make the effort to add something that is important to you.

The juggler spent hours practicing and dropped balls over and over while he learned to juggle additional balls. So don’t worry when you drop a few balls while you are learning to add a new one to your routine. In time, you will manage it as you continue on in your attempts to manage this new schedule and activity.

I am sure the juggler experienced frustration at times and I am sure he sought out help as he looked for ways to improve. He persisted until things began to go smoothly for him. I imagine long before he stood before an audience, he experienced the inner joy of achieving the skill of juggling.

Learn from our friend the juggler. Don’t give up when things feel awkward and they don’t go smoothly at first. Cut yourself some slack. Give yourself grace when you don’t do it perfectly. If the desire is in your heart to learn how to write better, you will seek out strategies on how to make it work. You will reach a point where you too can have your own inner time of satisfaction. You may even as the Russian juggler did, have your own show time to demonstrate to others what you can do!

What challenges do you face in finding time to write? What are your frustrations when you make mistakes?