From Point A to Point B

Posted on by WritingfromtheheartwithBrian
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My wife and I have been busy with our jobs and when we have been together our free time has been sparse. When we saw that we had a free weekend recently we knew just how to spend it. My wife suggested checking out a winery that a friend had mentioned. We figured we’d enjoy the beautiful weather and each other’s company.

We got into the car excited about the afternoon together. Right on cue, my wife asked if I needed help with the directions. I told her I knew the basic general direction. We were flexible and I would figure it out as we went along.

When planning and structure go out the window

Of course, my attitude changed about 45 minutes into the drive. I took a wrong turn and we ended up on a back country road, surrounded by corn fields and lonely-looking farms. I kept expecting to come to civilization, maybe a small town or a highway on-ramp, but we just kept getting deeper and deeper into “No Man’s Land.”

My wife saw the look of frustration on my face and let out a laugh. “Mr. Flexible, right?” She pulled out her phone from her pocket and tried to pull up Maps on her iPhone. However, the app just kept spinning. We were in a dead zone and she couldn’t pick up anything. She laughed again.

I got the last laugh though. We went around a curve and came to a stop sign. What really made me smile, though, was a sign for the winery.

Photo by Pexels.

Flexibility is the key

As crazy as our drive was, I’ve been thinking about how it has a lot of similarities with writing. When you write, flexibility is important. You know that you want to go from Point A to Point B. You know where you want to end up. And yes, many times you’re going to come up with an outline, mapping out where you’re headed, but the specifics come later. They don’t come out until you sit and do the actual writing.

For example, when I sit down to write something, I often start out with one idea in mind. I’ve come up with the idea and it’s a good one, but I don’t know all the details. I actually know only a few things. With my piece Trying Something New which I wrote earlier this month on The Heart of the Matter, I knew going in that I wanted to write about my quest to write a novel. I thought I would touch on how I’ve been trying new things and even signed up for a writing program, but how and where I was going to get to the end was a mystery to me.

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Making things up as we go along

Flexibility in writing used to drive me crazy. I thought I should stick to an outline like my seventh grade English teacher taught us. I thought I was undisciplined to stray from my outline. Meanwhile, it took a lot of fun out of writing.

Now I think it’s a part of the process. Now I see that flexibility and creativity is what makes writing fun. Yes, there are times when I want an outline or map to keep me on the straight and narrow. Other times, I need the clicking of the keyboard to help figure out what I want to say and where I want to go, A crisp tap here, a tap there and I start to see the forest from the trees, I’m able to see the bigger picture in where I’m headed.

Going with the flow

In the end, we found the winery. I took a longer out-of-the-way route, but we had a blast checking out an area that we didn’t know all that much about and had never traveled. We also had a chance to chit chat and talk about a few things that were on our minds.

Yes, a flexible optimistic attitude helps balance life . . . and writing.

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Check out my personal lifestyle blog at www.writingfromtheheartwithbrian.com to read other pieces by me. Be sure to follow me on Instagram at @writingfromtheheartwithbrian. Thanks for reading.

20 thoughts on “From Point A to Point B”

  1. Pingback: Stretching my limits – Writing from the Heart with Brian

    1. I can get a little rigid. I like a certain amount of structure. But yes, flexibility helps too. For me, it’s all about balance. Being disciplined enough to sit down each day and write and being flexible and trusting enough to see where things might go. You’re so right, you never know what you might find.

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  4. I see a meme from time to time that shows Point A to B and what people imagine success to be – a straight line – and what it often is – a big tangled ball of yarn. Kinda like your recent drive! 😆 You found the winery in the end and got a great story out of it!

    Good luck with your upcoming writing adventure challenge!

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  6. Hopefully, you learned another valuable lesson on your way to the winery-always have a folding map of your state tucked in your glove box. When writing, following the flow of words sounds like the perfect strategy to me! 🙂

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  8. I think this is what you said…at least this is my interpretation and contemplation:

    As far as processes go, we each seem to find our own ways. What works at one point might not work the next. Sometimes outlines work. Sometimes flexibility. Sometimes sheer flow.

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  9. Pingback: The Discipline in Creativity – Surprised By Joy

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