practise

How was your day? It's been extremely rainy here today, so we've spent some time clearing and cleaning various areas of the house instead of frolicking on the beach, as would obviously have been preferable. Next time the sun shines, we'll feel far less guilty about leaving the domestic disorder far behind and piling into the car to head for the seaside!

I'm going to keep this post short, since I've already published Friday's Five Favourites today, but wanted to write something to usher in the weekend and to mark day four of Jeff Goins' writing challenge. Today's challenge urges me and my fellow writers to practise, since this is what real writers do. They show up each day and practise the art of writing. This can be done privately or publicly, and there is a need for both ways of working.

An orchestral musician practises alone and rehearses with an group. Both are necessary. The honing of each individual instrumental part behind closed doors facilitates a far more successful group performance once all the members of the orchestra come together and make music as an ensemble. Conversely, a stimulating and encouraging session spent weaving together an intricate tapestry of melody and harmony in the company of others has the potential to energise and inspire each musician. So it is with writing. Wherever a writer sits on the scale of introvert to extrovert, there is a time for solitude and a time to seek company. Independence is essential, but being part of a community offers opportunities for the giving and receiving of support, the exchange of ideas and the possibility of collaboration. Practising in private allows a writer to listen to his or her own thoughts and to give them a voice. Practising in public means sending those thoughts out into the world for others to read.

With astonishingly providential timing, a friend has today invited me to write a guest post for her blog as part of a series. I'm not sure that I'm capable of writing anything worth reading. I fear that I will fail. But I want to write something, so I'm going to accept my friend's invitation. This is the next step in the challenge, and I'm determined to take that step.

"Practice doesn't make perfect; practice makes habits."

Like an orchestral musician, I'm going to add my melody to the symphony. Have a lovely weekend!