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Bob Dylan: If Your Life is a Changin’ — Write Now

bob dylan

Are you ending a job or a relationship?
Are your kids leaving home?
And what about this crazy world we live in?

— For the times, they are a-changin’

When Bob Dylan wrote these lyrics in 1964, I was too young to understand what they meant, but in the last few years…

…I’ve watched the outer world revolve 360 degrees.

A new government. My mother died. I moved. I got married. I rebuilt my business.

Some wonky stuff was a-happenin’, but I loved many of the changes.

Why can change (even good change) be so friggin’ hard?

How did Dylan cope with the changes in 1964?

Dylan wrote in his journal.
He made art out of what he wrote.

“And you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’”

Writing about what he felt kept Bob Dylan “sinking like a stone.”

Writing also kept me afloat.
I wrote about my feelings in my morning pages.

Every once in a while, a line for a new poem swam across the pages of my journal.

What about you?

If your life is a-changing, have you tried writing about it.

WRITE NOW:

If your life is a-changin’ — write.

Don’t wait. Take out your journal today.

Write for 5 minutes. Or 15. Or all day.

Writing something is better than writing nothing.

And please, don’t TRY to FORCE your writing to be art. (I have been guilty of this.)

Dylan wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote without expecting to create art. He wrote to open the flood gates.

Do the same. Start today by simply writing one word, then another, until the words turn into a sentence. The sentences will become paragraphs.

Write about your anger, frustration, indecision, fears, doubts, and hopefulness.

Write your way to the other side of your moods.

And watch for the voice of your intuition. It will surface.

What advice does it have for you?

Write today. Write tomorrow. Write the next day.

In a few minutes a day, let ideas for new poems or songs or stories swim ashore when they are ready. You don’t need to force anything.

Happy writing,
Kelly

P.S. Want more prompts like this one? Sign up for the More Fun Writing Facebook Group

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