Peace In The Margins

A dear friend went on vacation. She packed her bags, fueled up her car, and hit the road. She shared her adventure on her blog glitzyadventure.com, and of course, I’ve had to read it. In one of her posts she closes the dialogue with this statement:

Our road is presently uncluttered.

Kathy Leigh – My Glitzy Adventure

This sentence seems to hang in the air begging for contemplation. In me, it stirs up a need to answer questions: Which road? Where does the road lead? If it is presently uncluttered, what cluttered it before? And who uncluttered it? What was the Clutter? Why was the Clutter there? Who was affected by the Clutter? Will the road become cluttered once again?

From the perspective of a writer, Clutter is an inevitability. It can rear its head on the strangest of roads (like your current project) and usually takes the form of ideas and creative sparks. Sometimes Clutter becomes friends with your muse, and together they forge inspirational rabbit trails, which in turn peaks the interest of Chaos who begs to join the happy band, you know, just to mix it up a bit.

Clutter can equal tons of ideas – and that is not necessarily a bad thing for writers. Although, when the creative juices do start to flow, oftentimes it can be like drinking from a fire hydrant (as the old saying goes). Yet, too many thoughts and ideas can implode into mind-numbing chaos (see, told you he wanted to mix it up a bit). Somehow, a writer must find some sort of order to that chaos without sacrificing creativity. John Lennon may have said it best…

Creativity is a gift. It doesn’t come through if the air is cluttered.

John Lennon

This is my personal problem. My air is indeed cluttered. Narrowing down all the topics, ideas, and internal conversations can be a tad overwhelming. I haven’t yet found my groove – the one “trick” to quieting my muse so I can hear through the clutter on the road. Maybe I just need a compass directing me to the uncluttered road, allowing me to leave the cluttered road behind.

Whatever the answer, I bet we can all agree a cluttered road is counterproductive when it comes to getting your story on paper (or computer file, or however you solidify your writing).

Sorry readers, I’ve provided no solution for this issue. I have no sage words of wisdom to share with you detailing how I have risen above this problem and now coast on a clear and beautiful road unhindered by my old nemesis, Clutter. I believe Clutter is a personal villain we each must battle alone. Once the best way to eliminate Clutter is discovered, we can then proceed down our individual road unhindered and able to say, “Our road is presently uncluttered.”

Until next time,

Alicia