“Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.”
Proverbs 26:30

This proverb struck me this morning in light of my desire to write and the continual struggle I find in going forward. One problem is that even when I find the time or make the time for writing, I have no “oomph” or passion or strong desire. I am like a sailboat listlessly paused in the doldrums. And so I sit uninspired. No wind. No current. Just a brooding heaviness as I sit. What is my problem?

The problem is not lack of inspiration or desire; the problem is that although a fire burns, there is no fuel for that flame to feed upon. I need to feed the flame because “where there is no wood, the fire goes out.” So, what is fuel for the writer?

A writer feeds the flame by reading, by observing and, interestingly enough, by writing: reading, observing, writing or R.O.W. as an acronym. If I am going to go anywhere as writer, I have to ROW!

First, feed the fire by reading. I don’t have much to say about this, but just make time for this…and do it! This kind of reading is not feverish; it is not academic or specifically studious. It is enjoyable, it is enlarging, it is interesting.

What interests you today? French architecture? Cooking with herbs? Historical accounts of bravery from the Second World War? Then read it! Ponder. Learn. Take something of value from your reading. Do not “try” to feed the fire. Enjoy your reading excursions. You are not feeding the fire yet; you are merely stacking wood. The wood will be there when you need to lay another log on the fire.

Second, observe. Open your eyes and see those things that are close-at-hand; the scenes, the objects, the doings of your daily life. A vacation is not needed; new surroundings are not needed. The only necessary thing is an attention to the details: the familiar details right where you are living.

Are you working in the garden? Have you looked above you and noticed the sky? Is it clear? Hazy? Cloudy? Is the outside light piercingly bright? Or softly muted by overcast? Or strobe-like in the passing of clouds overhead? Is the temperature comfortable? Or are you chilled and your joints stiff? Or are you overheated and sweating? Can you hear birds singing? Or an airplane’s rumbling drone as it passes above you?

Now invert your focus in that same garden. Notice how a flower is constructed. How one type of flower differs from another. See the quality of the soil: dry, damp, rocky, smooth? Are you sharing your space with bugs? Which bugs? Do they bite? (just kidding)

Do not spend your time in a space without observing. Train yourself to observe. Observing: but you are still not feeding the flame. You are stacking wood.

Third, write! If you have spent some time stacking your wood by reading and observing things around you, chances are when you sit yourself down to write, you will have something to write about. I have found it to be so.

But here is a caveat. It will require self-discipline; you have to “sit yourself down” to the purpose of writing. If you do not, the thoughts and impressions you have been gathering will dissipate and fade into the background and vanish away. To postpone a time for writing, day after day, is like inviting termites to infest your carefully stacked wood. They will destroy it and leave behind a fine, powdery mess.

Do you want to write? Read. Observe. And write.