Mindful Reading: Boice pp 20-30

As I began reading this section from Boice, I started having some reservations (similar to the ones that Boice acknowledges early in this section): "Okay, I get it, writing is hard and there are a lot of things, psychological and otherwise, that make writing harder. But so what? What am I supposed to do about it? Don't tell me what I already know. You've  pathologized me, you've cut away all the barriers so what's left is my true core, and you've left me laying here on this table awaiting your expert opinion. 

Dramaticism aside, when Boice does turn to the 'solutions' to these problems, he does so in a calm, measured, insightful way. Part of me wanted him to put everything out in the open in an easy to digest chart, but I think that sort of categorizing would fly in the face of what he's trying to do here. 

The two main 'Rules' he brings up in his Formal Treatments section, Wait and Relax, are misleading in their seeming simplicity. But what I love about this section in the reading is that Boice provides many concrete strategies for how to comply with these rules in productive ways. 

The most interesting strategy Boice gives us has to do with his rationale for Rule #1. On page 23 he is acknowledging the necessity (and the difficulty) for writers to actively wait before writing. He describes that one of the surefire means for achieving motivation can both be honed in this waiting period. To Boice, involvement and patience lead to motivation. The involvement part of this makes sense to me. The more one thinks, reads, talks, invests, explores, examines, embraces their topic/task/assignment, the more they might feel like they haves something to contribute to that conversation. The patience part (although now it seems like a straightforward and helpful suggestion) is the one that I struggle with, and the one that Boice's writers also struggled with. 

Patience is a hard attribute to display when deadlines are looming and word-counts stagnate. But if we take Boice's advice, and we see our writing as a long-term project, one that cannot be completed in one sitting (or any less than daily sittings), the patience virtue takes on more meaning and seems to carry more relevance. I'll close this post with my thoughts on patience as described by Boice:

• Patience is possible only when brief daily sessions are a habit of mind
• Patience leads to confidence that we are smart, able, and willing to continue sustained work over long periods of time
• Patience leads to comfort which leads to a greater likelihood of sustain writing over days
• Patience allows more thoughtfulness and focus, which can only lead to better writing. 
• Patience can slow the process at any given time. But if we allow ourselves the daily time and space to write with patience, the benefits will outweigh the negatives.