The best writing advice I've ever gotten

+ a writing prompt for you to use

Follow your thoughts on the page.

It’s the gentle advice I got in the first writing workshop I stepped into as a bereaved mother, hoping for some way to fix my grief.

Follow your thoughts on the page.

It’s advice I share in the reflective writing workshops I now lead 20 years later, knowing my grief wasn’t—and can’t be—fixed. But it can be carried. Writing with others showed me how: word after word on the page, and some words read aloud—heard by others. It’s a tool to help us keep moving forward.

Follow your thoughts on the page.

I learned it from people smarter than me about writing—my friend Carol who led that first workshop, and Pat Schneider who taught so many how to trust their words to say what’s true.

Follow your thoughts on the page.

Margaret Atwood said, “A word after a word after a word is power.”

There is power in letting your mind wander, and following the path with words. But it’s not the way I was taught to write in school. That went something like this:

• Research the topic.

• Develop a strong thesis.

• Draft an outline.

• Start with an introductory paragraph that states your thesis.

• Support your thesis.

• Use good grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

• Finish with a closing paragraph that ties it all together.

• Turn it in on time for a good grade.

If I’d been asked to write a well-researched properly-punctuated essay on my grief 20 years ago, I may never have picked up a pen again. Instead, I was invited to follow my thoughts on the page. To just start somewhere, and then let my mind wander as it needed to, recording as I went. Forget grammar and spelling. No one is grading it.

Just follow your thoughts on the page.

I’ve been following my thoughts on the page for a long time now. Sometimes the paths my words wander down are familiar. I’ve been over them so often the dirt is packed down into a smooth trail, leading to memories suspended in time: the patient way the anesthesiologist talked to me, West Side Story on the radio on the way back to the NICU, shopping for funeral shoes because none of mine fit my swollen feet, the orange rolls someone brought, Jack’s little hat, the what-ifs, and whys. I can write my way to these places now, hardly breaking a sweat.

But sometimes following my thoughts on the page takes me down a completely new path. I veer off those worn trails and have to bushwhack my way through the rough. It’s not smooth. It takes effort and intention. It might not lead anywhere, really—some days are like that. But there are days on the page when following a new path leads to a view I’ve never seen before. Out of breath and full of wonder, all I can say next is thank you.

Where will you end up by following your thoughts on the page?

a writing prompt to practice following your thoughts on the page

It always helps to have somewhere concrete to start—a quote, a picture, a fragment of a poem, a suggestion. I tend to like a list because it gets several ideas on the page right away, and my mind starts making connections behind the scenes without me even realizing it. So let’s start there.

Make a list of sounds you love. List 5 to 10 of them.

Then pick one and write more about it.

Don’t worry about proper essay form, or developing a thought. This writing is for you. Keep your pen moving. If you get stuck, write I’m stuck but I’m going to keep my pen moving until the next thought comes….and it will.

Follow your thoughts on the page.

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welcome to new readers and writers

I’m glad you are here! Some of you joined through recent workshops, and some through connections online. Grab a pen and paper, use the prompt above, or take a look through the archives for one that resonates today. Take some time to wander on the pages of your journal. It’s good for your health and your soul, and your words matter.

Photo by Ashlyn Ciara on Unsplash