For me, writing a blog piece is like stepping under a waterfall.
You brace yourself for the cascade.
Then it hits you, and you’re a human weir, diverting and shaping these thundering droplets all around you in your own image.
Each droplet is a word distilled from the waterfall of my lived experience
Part of the waterfall, yet apart from it.
The waterfall is life.
Just as I unleash the torrent of words from my head on to the page, and they pass through the filtering weir of my fingertips as I shape these too in my own image.
Each droplet is a word distilled from the waterfall of my lived experience.
If I stand under this cascade in half an hour, of course, it will be a whole new tumbling conglomeration of droplets.
And brain would throw up a whole new blog.
There’s always water, and there’s always words.
You just have to let them flow.
I was about to start writing, and brain threw up that waterfall image.
Anywhere else, and I would have edited it out and dived straight into my topic.
My blog. My rules.
I had been thinking about yesterday evening and trying to help my daughter shape an essay she was writing for a project in school.
Trying to encourage her while also trying to get her to see that the wonderful cascade of words she was unleashing on to the page needed to be shaped better for her purpose.
My daughter loves words, and they absolutely flow out of her
Guiding her.
What was required was standard enough: initial statement of premise, a definition of her understanding of that premise, a concrete example or two, and expansion into more general argument. And the conclusion.
As a newspaper sub-editor, I’m used to working with other people’s words. Generally, newspaper articles, as most of you know, are shaped around the old formula: who, what, when, where and how.
And the content should be like an inverted pyramid, in descending order of relevance. It makes it easier to cut from the bottom to fit the allocated space.
My daughter loves words, and they absolutely flow out of her.
But sometimes, you have to go with the other’s flow.
Sneak in your own little pearl or two where you can, if they serve a purpose, but basically, hold the fancy stuff.
Save it for a blog post.
Or that golden notebook by your bed, my darling.
There you can let those words flow, like The Clash sang in Straight To Hell,
Clear as winter ice
This is your paradise
- Thanks for reading. Try another one! Follow my blog and read as many as you like
EndaStories 
My blog. My rules. I like that and agree, there should be a time and place just to go with inspiration whatever the rules dictate. Thanks for the reminder.
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Hi Enda – nice to meet you and thanks for joining our link party. I think you’re right about saving the cascading thoughts and words for your blog or journal because with teenagers it often feels a little like pearls before swine (in a nice way of course!)
I hope you enjoy reading, commenting on, and sharing some of the other blogs that have been linked as part of the guidelines for posting with us and we look forward to getting to know you as you interact with the group.
Thanks for linking up with us at MLSTL and I’ve shared on my SM 😊
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Thank you so much Leanne …I think that was the lesson for my daughter … if it’s a school essay, you have to give them what they ask for, not what you want to give!!
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I love your description of how writing for you is like a waterfall. I often get my ideas while I’m doing random chores like hanging out the washing, or having a shower. It feels more like a flow of thoughts that must be written down before they disappear into thin air. Very enjoyable article.
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Hi Christina. I often get ideas and thoughts when I’m doing random housework too. I find when I’m active I have more active thoughts!. Thanks for commenting
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I love reading my the stories my kids have written and how their words flow. My 10 year old has a very colloquial style and it always makes me smile reading his stories. Even if they are mostly about ninjas! #KCACOLS
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I love that too when my kids use words in unusual and intriguing ways!
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I love the image of a waterfall of words. I confess sometimes for me it’s a waterfall and other times it’s a drippy faucet. It is good to be aware of the audience and the purpose for each writing project. That’s one thing I love about blogging, you get to make your own rules. And this particular community is so warm and accepting, it’s always a receptive audience.
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I agree with that. Writing for different audiences is one thing, but here we can be more free with our expression. Within reason!!!!#😀
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It’s writing at its best, isn’t it, when the words just pour out onto the page. Sometimes my shower head seems clogged though…;-)
Thanks so much for linking up with #KCACOLS, hope you come back again next time! x
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Thank you, Malin
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Hi Enda, great to have you join us at #MLSTL and I enjoyed the analogy of words and the waterfall. I know sometimes I feel like there is a drought and then the words pour out like a heavy shower, I suppose that is what creativity is all about. Have a great week and look forward to you linking up next week.
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Hi Sue, Thank you so much. The words are always there … it’s accessing them that can be awkward!! Hehe
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i can totally relate!!!!
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Thanks, Tanya!
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How wonderful that your daughter shares your love of words! #KCACOLS
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It is … she acknowledges this on a good day!!
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I love it when this happens.. words rushing out and over flowing like a waterfall. Like they are meant to be. Like they have to be. Though it’s hard to edit back when this happens isn’t it! You must be really proud that your daughters got the writing genes. Thank you for being part of the #DreamTeamLinky…a place where the words can be a tumble.
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Hi Annette. Yes, it is something else to see. She is dramatic in every sense, and loves being on stage. And she can sing — unlike me!
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I tend to veer from writer’s block to writer’s diarrhoea! Words are a gift but also a bit of a curse and responsibility… Thanks for linking up with #dreamteamlinky
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Yeah, they can ne. But I’ll go with enjoyable, Laura!!😀
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I get you, I really do. I have those waterfall of words but they often don’t get published. They just don’t translate so well from my brain to my fingers. Oh, and the tagline to my blog used to be ‘my blog, my way’ which I guess is similar to ‘my blog, my rules.’
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There you are, Anne, synchronicity … great minds, or fools, seldom differ!!
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