Talk is the exercise ground.

The thing I do most often in my job — is write. And because I’ve been a writer in some fashion for my entire career, I’ve had plenty of time to cultivate the following fear: running out of things to write about. Not just in my work at BRIGADE, but in general. What could be worse?

As a writer, it can feel as though you have to be constantly writing. Or preparing to write. Or thinking about what you’re going to write next. The worst possible scenario is that you’re out of ideas. The well is dry. And you better not leave your desk until you get SOMETHING BRILLIANT onto the page.

And while COVID-19 has given some of us more time, what the pandemic has not given so generously — is creativity. So this year, more than any other, I have gone to the well many times (my bookshelf is the well in this case) to draw inspiration from writers I admire.

One of my favorite books to open up when I’m feeling out of ideas is “Writing Down the Bones,” by Natalie Goldberg. My favorite passage in the whole book is as follows:

When you tell friends stories, you want them to listen, so you make stories colorful; you might exaggerate, even add a few brilliant white lies. And your friends don’t care if it’s all not precisely as it was ten years ago; it is now and they are entranced… It is good to talk. Do not be ashamed of it. Talk is the exercise ground for writing. It is a way we learn about communication — what makes people interested, what makes them bored.

This paragraph has always given me permission. Not only does Goldberg confirm that it’s ok to talk a lot (which I do). She also suggests that it’s a good quality of a writer. She’s giving permission to leave your computer and go out into the world. Mingle with the people. Be with humans. TALK for god sake.

It’s a relief to be told that the other, non-writing things that you’re doing in life may be preparing you to write again.

In this particular chapter, Goldberg also quotes Grace Paley, a New York short story writer.

It is the responsibility of writers to listen to gossip and pass it on. It is the way all storytellers learn about life.

I love that. It’s not gossip. It’s storytelling. It’s sharing and passing down. It’s recording life, as it happens, so it’s saved somewhere forever. Ok. So as writers, how do we take this advice in the time of COVID? When we can’t be with people. When it’s harder to overhear stories and to share stories with our close confidants. Is creativity strained because we’re lacking our normal material?

I think the answer is to keep talking, in whatever form that takes. We’re sick of video chatting, but 2021 will have more of it. And remember plain old telephone calls? We’re going to need those too. In addition, keep reading, walking through the woods, and watching movies. There’s material in all of it, if you’re looking. WHEW, 2020! You devil. I hope your horns keep retracting as we move toward summer of 2021.

I can’t wait, until once again, I’m hearing the gossip sitting face-to-face.