Writing to rehearse

I like to rehearse. As a child, I loved to sit at the piano and practice my assigned pieces, my rhythmic scales. I would play these compositions over and over again, rehearsing for my next piano lesson or recital, hoping for creativity to come.

I do the same when I paint. I imagine what form I want to splash on a canvas, sometimes taking days or weeks to visualize the painting before I actually put a brush into my palette of colour.

That's why I gravitate to Donald Murray's point about rehearsing to write. About coming to the page (or screen) with a rehearsed or thought-out idea before I even strike one note on the keyboard. About arriving at the writing process with a considered concept, not just starting to write with good intentions or warm wishes.

So rehearse before writing. Otherwise you may stumble and fall--or hit a wrong note.