Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower

It’s impossible to overstate how important it is to think in small steps. After all, every novel or memoir is written one sentence at a time. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, think small. It’s how you get someplace big.

At its core, creativity must be fun. Here are the two rules for having fun that I learned while playing Dungeons & Dragons that apply to games, writing, and life.

It’s almost impossible to grasp the effect our work has in the world. Most of it happens where we can’t see it. But know that it’s happening, whether you ever learn of it or not.

Here are the three steps I take whenever I start doubting and worrying about my work.  

Writing teaches us every day that the pleasure of creating is discovery. The same can be true of life away from the desk, if we accept that we don’t need or want to know the future.

Whether you’re walking a balance beam or wondering whether you’re good enough, the goal isn’t perfection but rapid course correction. Balance is always available if you pay close attention to how you feel. 

It loves the unknown, which is the only place it can exist. It’s only when you doubt it, resist following it, that you suffer. It will never steer you wrong.

If you have an imagination, curiosity, and desire you always have what you need to create anything you want. These can never leave you, but you have to trust they’re enough.

The imagination is faithful, but it doesn’t discriminate. It will answer any question you ask it. Make sure you only ask those to which you sincerely want an answer.

Sometimes our most creative moments stem from things that bother us – stories that we wished ended differently, or passages that seem sloggily written. To be truly creative, however, we can’t complain, which is focusing on the thing we don’t like. Instead, our attention must be on what we want, the story we want to tell, and the life we want to live.

If you’ve spent a lot of time taking care of other people, it’s easy to start believing their lives, their happiness, their safety and well-being, matters more than yours. It doesn’t. Writing demands we close the door and acknowledge that our life matters to us more than anything else. 

Writers sit down every day at their desk and summon all kinds of feelings, from joy to grief. When you’re not writing, focus less on the result you want, and more on the feeling you want, something you’re already good at. 

A story from my brother that serves as a great reminder of how easy it is to lock our attention onto what we don’t want. Creativity is all about thinking deliberately, knowing that whatever we focus on increases.

Our craft evolves to match our creative desires. With time, you will always be “good enough” to write the kind of story you most want to write.

We can’t let fear of being misunderstood keep us from sharing our work. Not everyone can get everything, and that has to be okay.

Sometimes we go a few days or weeks without writing and feel disconnected and dissatisfied. Try not to despair. Your true creative self is always with if you know where to look.

Nothing we dream exists outside of us. Just like our stories, it starts within us and then we dream it forward onto the page and into the world.

You must be willing to tell the story you most want to tell in the way you most want to tell it. That is freedom. 

Writing is a great way to practice creating on purpose, rather than accidentally or by default. The blank page asks what we want, and only we can answer that.

You need to know your character’s motivation to really understand them and tell compelling stories. You also need to be clear about your own motivation when you sit down to write.

Starting this week, begin practicing how you think when you sit down to write. Practice caring about the story, not what other people think about the story. It’s as important as craft.

I'll be hosting a Fearless Writing retreat January 26 - 31 in Portland, OR. Space is limited! I'd love to see you there. Retreat: https://www.portlandretreathouse.com/fearless-writing-with-bill-kenower Bill's website: https://www.williamkenower.com/

We all have a personal aesthetic that’s unique to us. We can’t control it; we can only obey it. In this way, what we create is not dissimilar to the stuff we love that other people created. 

It can be hard to connect to why we publish aside from money and possibly acclaim. It’s important to remember that if you’re sharing something you love, you’re making the world just a little bit better. 

Writing has taught me, and continues to teach me, that the only thing real in life is love. You can’t manufacture it, you can only see it, find it, notice it, and then obey it.