One of “my” writers in the Just Do the Writing Accountability Circle, Molly Yarrington, has taken on a brave and courageous challenge to raise $300 for charity by writing 30 poems in 30 days in the month of November.
Molly is a sensitive soul, a dreamer, a writer, a crew coach, and a poet with a passionate spirit — and like many of us (including me), one with a strong perfectionist streak.
Molly is courageously using this challenge and the support of the Writer’s Circle to push herself to publish a daily poem on her blog to overcome her fears around sharing her work with others and to tame her perfectionism.
“I have been a hermit poet most of my life.”
Molly says, “I have been a hermit poet most of my life, hiding my poems away and only sharing them with a select few best friends. When I took on this challenge, I made a commitment to write and make my writing public, daily.
“All the poems are fresh, ‘first draft‘ format. It is a rare poem I write in one sitting, so this has been a double challenge for me to share not only my poems, but poems I consider to be ‘works in progress.'”
From the inside of the Writer’s Circle (I’m writing this with her permission), I’ve watched Molly persevere through an incredibly busy time in her life to write a poem each and every day, sometimes posting with only minutes to spare, while we cheer her on.
It’s been inspiring to see Molly struggle with the feelings that come up around sharing such raw, deeply personal writing in such a public way, and do it anyway.
You see, when it comes to writing — or creating anything for that matter — we have to be willing to give ourselves permission to do it no matter what, and even to start.
And one of our biggest obstacles to starting is perfectionism, which is really fear in disguise.
Molly says it beautifully:
“Along with, and much more importantly than helping me develop a daily habit of writing, the Writer’s Circle has brought me an awareness of the real issues that have held me back, and believe me, they are NOT lack of time (though I did believe that was the primary issue when I began).
“Through my interaction with this amazing group, I have been able to see that what holds me back is nothing special — I share the same fears and concerns as everyone out there — and somehow, knowing I am not alone in this creative process, makes all the difference.”
The trick is to find ways to bypass that urge to perfect before we create something, and take the risk to get it out there.
Let Molly be your inspiration.
Find Out More About Molly’s Project
Read Molly’s poems here.
If you’d like to, you can support Molly’s pledge for the Family Literacy program of the Center For New Americans here.
Join The Writer’s Circle
If you’d like to have the support to overcome your inner struggles with writing, come join my Just Do The Writing Accountability Circle. The last day to register is TODAY, Wednesday, November 23rd for the session that starts on Monday, November 28th. http://JustDoTheWriting.com
Your Turn
How are you holding back? What are you ready to share? Tell us what you think.
~> November 28th. The next session of my Writer’s Circle starts. Sign up here. Get my Free Writing Tips series too, and get a coupon for a savings on your first session.
~> November 29th. It’s my birthday! I’ll be holding a birthday sale for the entire week. Details coming soon.
~> Ongoing. Writing for the ProSeries class at ScreenwritingU. Today I worked on eliminating clichés from my script. Super cool.
~> Daily and especially Fridays. Sacred writing time. The Do Not Disturb sign is up. Except this week sacred writing Friday became sacred writing Tuesday because of Thanksgiving. :)
Like Molly, I’ve become inspired to simply create and share more of myself and my creations openly since taking part in The Writer’s Circle. In fact, I was just writing about it yesterday on my blog (with a big shout out to you and this program, no less)! http://thesensitiveidealist.blogspot.com/2011/11/creativity-as-self-care.html
For me, finding my creative groove has opened me up and cared for me in a way that I didn’t even know I needed.
Pretty cool how just doing the writing (or simply creating for creation’s sake) as a more regular part of my not-so-routine life has not only helped me to bypass the urge to perfect before I create, I’ve become happier in the process! Can’t beat that!!
Go Molly! Wonderful challenge.
The Writer’s Circle attracted a great group of writers. Really supportive and caring.
Give it try. You’ll like it!
G.