Parse Out…..Working Piece by Piece….with Patience

I hear it all of the time – dancers who loathe writing, whether it be a grant application, college course syllabus, or class description. I myself never imagined I would be writing about dance. Over the past years, it has simply been about a lot of practice.

Sometime during the month of July, I want to invite dancers to try out this assignment. It is not so much about content, but about approach. 

1. Ideally, consider some writing that you have to get done. Examples include – website text, workshop flyer, Facebook event page, grant application, company mission statement, course syllabus, or curriculum outline for the coming school year. 

2. Here is the main idea. Can you set up a schedule to try for this particular writing assignment? I am thinking about parsing out the task and working piece by piece. I find that this particular skill has been most beneficial to me over the years. Think of it like a dance – we rarely expect to get a dance created and edited within a week or two. Let's approach our writing in the same manner. Sketch out a plan that would work best for you, such as:

• Write a draft of your text and then look at it twice a week for the next month before it is due
• Write for 15 minutes a day, and then put the writing aside
• Schedule in an hour – M/W/F – into your planner just for writing quietly at home

I truly believe that considering writing like you do the rehearsal process — and your commitment to taking classes — will support you with tasks ahead. 

3. If you do not have any pending writing tasks, consider journaling for 5-10 minutes a day (or three days a week, or after each class or rehearsal) during the month of July. Flex your writing muscle. Write about taking classes, training, rehearsing, choreographing, teaching, sharing, community building, growing as a dancer, watching dance, etc. 

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