Your ideas will make great stories – but how do you begin writing them? Sometimes it’s hard to JUST GET STARTED writing or drawing – the blank page can be very intimidating!

Here’s some inspiration from Eileen Spinelli, originally offered to attendees at the 2000 Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua.

Eileen and Jerry Spinelli

“Relax into what you’re doing. Relax into the story. Relax into the poetry. There will be a time when you can come back, get all cringed and nervous, get your coffee, redo things, and tinker with it. Allow that first draft to flow, and get it on paper first. Don’t fret over it. I think we fret too much – in everything. You have to allow the work to do its thing.

Here’s a beautiful quote that I love. Natalie Goldberg said, “If you love the work, it will love you back.” How can you love the work if you’re already a mile down the road worrying about whether it’s going to be published? You have no control over it anyway, so you might as well let it go. Keep your focus on the most important thing – the work itself, the fun, the joy, and the struggle of writing. That’s where your head and heart should be. If that’s where they are, then good things will happen.”