I was asked to teach a workshop on the stages of creative practice. I spent weeks thinking about my own writing practice, and what I've witnessed in students, clients, and colleagues over twenty some years of teaching. Are there stages of anyone's practice, and what did this mean? Scouring the internet didn't help. Many writers discussed their practice--how they approach their writing each day--but few had distinct steps. Some had rituals. Some knew how to begin or end. But what about the murky middle, when you're in the midst of writing and things aren't going well?
I took it as a laboratory experiment. I began making notes about what happened when I sat down to write. Where did I move from one kind of activity, internal or external, into another?
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