Practice Makes Practice

I used to associate the word “practice” with a a skill—like dribbling, passing, or running lines when I played soccer. Constant repetition was part of becoming a better athlete. 

When I took piano lessons, I practiced piano. When I took ballet lessons, I practiced ballet. Eventually the practicing leaked into regular life. I found myself humming the scales or standing in third position when I was in line at the grocery store.

As a writer, I practice writing scenes the same way I practice any skill: over and over again. I don’t write a passage once and then try to fix it, I write it multiple times and trust that repetition will yield insights and growth and discovery. Practicing isn’t the drudgery or obligation that stands between me and something better. It’s satisfying and rich all by itself, no matter what happens. Novelist Mark Spragg says that practice is the only part of writing that never disappoints—and since he’s had his books published (and even turned into movies) I figure he would know.

But I don’t just “practice writing”. I also have a writing practice. People who take yoga talk about having a yoga practice. People who practice a life of prayer don’t just pray at meals or before bed (or whatever), they pray “without ceasing” as the New Testament says, until life and prayer are indistinguishable. (“What I wear is pants. What I do is live. How I pray is breathe.” —Thomas Merton). Why shouldn’t writing be a continuous practice, too? 

I tried for a long time to keep the writing part of my life separate from the other parts by scheduling it (this is when I grade papers, this is when I make dinner, this is when I write . . . ) But anything lively and dynamic isn’t going to stay inside the lines. It’s the difference between one of those potted plants you find in an artificially-lit hotel lobby versus a sprawling backyard garden full of ladybugs and bees. I don’t want writing to be a contained and obedient “thing” I boss around. I want it to emerge and unfold like anything else that’s really alive.