diving in

I signed up for a writing course. First one. Ever. And to be honest, I'm pretty nervous. It starts in less than a week, so there isn't time to contemplate and gracefully back out (although the thought crosses my mind often). I'll have to read my stuff out loud every week. Never did that before either. Writing so far has been a completely solitary process. I sit in my living room or a coffee shop and work at it until I'm feeling the flow of words clicking together. When I'm reasonably happy, I send it on to an editor who sometimes has sliced and diced and sometimes has changed nothing. The latter freaked me out—who am I to have words put out into the universe as is? I've only ever written for paid projects—writing for the joy, the need, the thrill isn't part of my story.

Design is the way I see the world. I'm a good talker, can spin an amusing story, can hold an audience. But putting those thoughts and words into a cohesive and entertaining structure is a challenge that often bests me. Writing is really hard. I'm never at a loss for ideas, but harnessing them, pulling them together, making them make sense is very much a work in progress. And I'm just at the beginning.