Simple Story

Writing is actually quite simple if all you’re actually doing when you sit down at your desk is write. If all you’re doing is asking yourself what story you would like to tell and how best to tell it, then regardless of how long that story is, or whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, it will still be told one sentence at a time. You never really need to know more than what sentence you would like to write next, and you alone know when that sentence has been written to your satisfaction.

Writing becomes complicated when we are doing more than just finding the next satisfying sentence. For a while, I wasn’t just writing, I was trying to save my life by setting myself free from the looming guillotine of failure. I wasn’t just asking myself, “What is the most satisfying next sentence?” I was asking, “What’s the next sentence that will help finish a book that will bring me the success I require?” That question wasn’t just complicated, it was impossible. The answer kept changing.

We will write to prove our value, to prove we are smart, or creative, or for recognition, or for money, or for any of a myriad of reasons other than finding the next satisfying sentence. The more confusing questions we ask ourselves, the more complicated writing becomes, and the more we complain, and declare that writing is hard, or that our muse didn’t visit today, or that only the lucky succeed, or that no one understand our genius. Writing is like life, after all, and who said life is simple?

The owner of a now-defunct professional football team, actually. I was watching a documentary about the rise and fall of the United States Football League, which profiled one of its most successful owners. This happy Florida businessman, shortly before he died from cancer, was quoted as saying, “Life is actually quite simple.” I immediately thought, “I’ll bet he’s right.” Life did not seem simple to me at that moment, but I wanted it to be, and I didn’t trust the complications I perceived. I still think of that fellow sometimes when I finish a particularly satisfying sentence, marveling at how, when I strip away all the useless and unanswerable questions, what I wanted, what actually brought me pleasure, was always right before me.

If you like the ideas and perspectives expressed here, feel free to contact me about individual coaching and group workshops.

William KenowerWriting, William Kenower, Stories, SimplicityComment