28 February 2008
by 
Writing can sometimes be a lot like training a rambunctious puppy. Your willpower will flounder, distractions abound, and sometimes the energy is just too high to concentrate. The process can be slow; it requires constant vigilance and continued practice. Elements that set the groundwork must be maintained, consistently, for the rest of your writing career.
When I was a teenager my mother thought it would be important to strengthen my self-confidence by putting me in charge of training the family dog. Toby and I enrolled in obedience classes and became the best of friends. My confidence grew and along with it, my interest in animals and the structured processes involved in teaching.
Over the years, young Toby grew into older Toby. Despite having been a visitor, not the head of his pack, our bond remains. I’ve taken on the full time care of Toby in our new home and it is good to see much of the groundwork, laid so long ago, remains as a foundation on which to rebuild.
The First Lesson: Toby, Sit!
The first lesson young puppies learn is to sit on command. Their emotions are high and, surrounded by other young dogs, their excitement is set to burst. Sit is the command that focuses their attention. It calls them to listen to their owner, be prepared, be calm, be still.
Writer, Sit!
As writers we need to learn this command for ourselves. It is important to sit. We must ground ourselves, be prepared, be calm, be still. We need to practice lowering our energy levels and pulling our focus into our work. Be in the moment and be ‘the writer’ in that moment.
Learn to put aside distractions, stresses, and emotional chaos. Take on the BIC (Butt in Chair) challenge. Carve time for your writing and in any moment dig for your center; turn your attention to the work at hand. Ignore outside influences, ignore the crowded, noisy fast food outlet in the background, and put the children into a buffer for a few minutes or an hour. (I’m writing this while my three and seven year olds play outside at our local McDonald’s.). Set a timer if it helps you begin. “Writer, SIT!”
Writer, Stay!
Stay tuned for the next installment of the Dog Train Your Writing Skills Series. Next we’ll focus on two more vital commands that begin the training process, heel and stay. These commands have an interesting tie to writing and can influence the direction of your progress and your success.
What do you do to keep your writer’s training and obedience intact? Do you command yourself to sit frequently? How do you find that sense of calm and quiet when chaos abounds?
Obedience classes for writers! This idea gave me a huge smile, probably because I’m a very unruly writer, so perhaps this kind of training would be the way to teach myself to sit and write!
Perhaps we do need actually obedience classes. I know I could certainly benefit from more writing discipline. I also think writers need to be a little unruly. Chaos and clutter are important for creativity but it is also important to come out of that space and into the space of actual writing.
Thanks for your comment, Rebecca. I’m looking forward to continuing this series.
Well, you certainly have my attention, Rebecca. I can’t wait to see where you’re going with this analogy – and the post title rocks!
What a cool analogy. I never thought of it that way . . . so fitting.
Once again, Rebecca, you’ve astounded me with your brilliance! The way you approach the topic of writing has always, always amazed me. From your SG1 Series to waterfalls and now training puppies, your ideas are all over the place. It shows your creativity and your ability to pull learning processes from parts of our every day lives and apply them to our writing life to help us learn, improve, grow, and become the best writers we can be. Great job! I can’t wait to learn to heel and stay.
Oh, and I am working on blocking out distractions. Silence, where are you?
Smiles,
Michele
[...] Commenters Link Love post, my wrap up for the Absolute Write February Blog Chain, more of my Dog Train Your Writing Skills series, and even a ROAR award post from about a month ago. I promise to work on these as soon as [...]
@ Sharon: Glad to have captured your attention, Sharon. I’ll have to get the rest of this series finished up and posted so you can enjoy it. Thanks for the compliments.
@ LaskiGal: Thanks, LaskiGal! I love to compare writing with other things. Since I’ve trained dogs I could see that connection and wanted to share it with others. I just wish I had a master to command me to Sit.
@ Michele: *blushes* I’m not sure if having my ideas all over the place is such a great thing. It certainly makes it very hard to “sit” (focus) but I really do love to find connections and lessons in everything that touches our lives. That is what living is all about.
Strangely enough, silence is more disturbing to me than noise. lol I guess it comes from having little ones underfoot. Right now for example I’m constantly watching the clock and I feel like I’m half in and half out of my chair. That’s because I’m home alone with little ones BOTH at school. The silence is roaring loudly and I’m itching to bring back the noise. If I can HEAR them, they’re safe and well. It’s when it’s quiet mothers have to be concerned.
[...] the first part of this series we discovered that learning to Sit is perhaps one of the hardest lessons a dog must learn. When puppies begin the challenge of [...]
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