Live To Write And Write To Live

I drove three hours recently to crab in the Chesapeake Bay, was rained upon, caught one crab, and drove three hours home.  This time could have been spent cranking out a couple thousand words or conducting a short story overhaul, but the experiences of being in the marsh, in the rain, tasting a hint of salt on the breeze, and hearing the primordial croak of the blue heron among the rustling grasses behind me provided vivid setting descriptions for a story I’m crafting about rafters in the early 19^th century.

Curiosity and a passion for new experiences can seem to get in the way of my writing, but I’ve come to understand my words and life would suffer should I devote every moment to a keyboard.  My writer friends join me in this struggle between interests, productivity, and time.  We tend to be curious and like to explore the world around us yet crave more time to write.

Life experiences enrich writing, which, in turn, help to convey deeper meanings and appreciations for what we would otherwise take for granted.  Being mindful of our balance between writing and living can keep our writing realistic, authentic, and rich.