Write like Rain or Waves

"Here is a man who is turning the emptiness of space into a sheet of paper, the waves of the ocean into an inkwell and Mount Sumeru into a brush."       

 - Hoyen of Gosozen, 12th century

"The shot will go most smoothly when it takes the archer himself by surprise."

- Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery

A Zen view of how to write advises that our 'artless art' must flow out of the subconscious. 

Doing is not doing. 



Technical knowledge does not provide enough.Practice and relenting to the process make it happen.

We write and write until we have created our own rules. If we move out of our way, writing springs and splashes in the stream of rain or water.

Like water, the more we write, the more we gain strength and momentum. 

If we pay attention to our "every day mind" and moments in movement, we will discover ways to express emotions and thoughts. Awareness makes us alert to all possibilities. 

What just zoomed by? How does that connect to the aroma of coffee in the morning? What does sleep feel like when tired? How does satisfaction taste?

What if and then what?

How can the 'write art' become purposeless? Aimless? Move in a flow?

If we attempt to intellectualize it, we have lost the moment. We just need to write.

Lao Tzu's water metaphor fits the writer's life. Go with the flow. Trickle or rush around obstacles. Gush. Exert and deluge. Yielding will overwhelm all.

Surprise and delight when swimming in words. Let it happen.

Take a day without a goal and write to float, swim, or splash about in words and see where it takes you.