Fertile Soil

The cover of my new book has been sitting on my desktop since my editor sent it to me for my okay a couple months ago. I love the cover, as well as the book it will be covering, and am eager to swap it out for the Fearless Writing JPEG I include at the bottom of all these essays. My new book, however, will not be available until June 1, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to promote something people can’t act on, if only to pre-order. And so, for now, I wait, and look at it from time to time, and think about how nice it will be to share it.

This is probably the best situation for an impatient soul like me. I have always wanted everything right now. Yet writing always requires a certain amount of waiting. I often have to wait to find the next sentence. I would rather be putting words on the page, but I don’t want just any words, and so I sit, and my eyes come to rest on something innocuous like the corner of my monitor, and I wait.

This is not a passive activity, however. In my waiting, I am marinating in the feeling of what I want to say. This experience is almost as pleasing as when the words finally come. In fact, I often can’t tell the difference between what I call waiting and what I call writing. If I’m honest, there is no difference. My impatient self, this twitchy little gremlin, very much wants there to be a difference. He fears that without a difference, I might grow complacent, happy to spend the rest of my days marinating in what will never be shared.

It doesn’t work that way – creativity that is, life that is. A seed planted in fertile soil and watered will sprout. It’s always a little miraculous when the first little shoots break through, for that new life seemed to come from nowhere. Except it didn’t come from nowhere. The seed of a desire was planted, and love and attention allowed it grow. Which is why I’m happy to look at that new cover for now, growing within myself the feeling of what I will soon share.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence.
You can find William at: williamkenower.com