I have an enamel pin that reads "There are artists among us." A friend brought it back from a visit to the Whitney Museum in New York. The sentence gives me a little frisson of delight because it reminds me that everywhere I go, whether among strangers or friends, I am with creative beings. I never know what extraordinary projects people are working on, what secret talents hide within ordinary, workaday bodies.

You might read this thinking, "Oh but no. That's not me. I'm not an artist. I just dabble." But I would argue that much of art is dabbling. We experiment, we play—and along the way we get better at it. Being an artist isn't a destination; it's a journey. It's a practice. Being an artist means that you get to represent your unique way of seeing the world in the things (the stories) you make.

For those of us using the written word as our medium, it can be difficult to separate the end goal (a completed story, a book, publication) from the process of making the art. We can't just dabble, can we? This is serious business! I acknowledge that many of us (most?) write because we have something we want to tell others—a point of view, an experience, a story. Separating the end goal from the process of putting that story on the page can be really hard. That end goal also supplies a lot of pressure.

Here's my encouragement: Use your end goal as a carrot, not a whip. The more play you can bring into your work, the more fun you will have. Dream on the page. Imagine. Let future you worry about technique and grammar and shaping the narrative.

There are phases in creating art, no matter the medium. A potter selects the clay, wedges it, molds it or casts it on a wheel. She may scrap a piece a dozen or more times before she has a form she likes. She decides how to glaze it, her firing technique, and whether the piece needs any additional work after firing.

Writing is the same. There are a thousand decisions to make, things to try and discard and try again. The work is all part of the art.

If you haven't read it recently, Betty S. Flowers' Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge is a helpful essay on the different phases and mindsets needed to produce your story. And, crucially, what to do if they are in conflict.

Read.

• "Writers often come to memoir because they’re circling a wound, but no reader comes to memoir to circle your wound with you." A must-read from Brooke Warner for anyone writing memoir.
• ​Maris Kreizman on the realities of seeing your book out in the world. Her advice on managing expectations is especially good!

​

Let's have fun creating our art this week!