Limbo Exercises: What They Were To Me

Self Portrait, 1981 (Acrylic on cardboard)

In the early 1980s, when I first embraced writing as a calling, I read On Becoming A Writer (1934) by Dorothea Brande. Ms. Brande was an American writer, editor, and writing instructor from Chicago. Her book, a treasure trove of practical advice on writing and personal development, is a classic on the creative process. In particular, two pieces of practical advice helped me immensely. The first: write every day. The second, however, was the game-changer. She said that it was imperative to learn how to write on command. 

In other words, don’t wait for “inspiration.” Don’t wait for the earth to move. Rather, write because it is your job (or decision) to do so. For me personally, she was saying, "Set aside a designated time to sit down and write."

 

I took this to heart. Every day after supper I would sit at my typewriter and fill a page with words. Some of it was stream of consciousness, some of it was preconceived ideas I’d organized in my head while apartment painting during the day, and some of it was poetic expression. Whether it took 10 minutes or 25 minutes was immaterial. Building the habit of producing words on paper was the aim.

 

The name I gave to these daily missives was Limbo Exercises. Just as we need to be physically active to keep our muscle tone and physical health, so it is that writing keeps us exercising our minds, which is good for our mental health.

 

What did I learn from these exercises? Discipline. In the process I also found that some of what I produced became seeds for stories, articles and poems. No Pulitzer Prize material, but a few little gemstones that could polished and shared to lift people's spirits or make people think.

 

I wrote the above as an explanation for any blog posts with the subtitle Limbo Exercise #2 or #17 or whatever.. The idea was resurrected by reading Kent Peterson’s substack, Tales from a Rolltop Desk. Kent writes the old-fashioned way, with that beautiful sound of clickety-clack emanating from his fingers on a typewriter. 

 

There are some who insist the best, and maybe only, way to write is with a pencil or pen on paper. My personal view is this: The right way is the way that works for you. 

 

Are you called to write? Then do it. 

Related

Limbo Exercise #41