Writing for the Oasis
by Pennie A. Nichols
Why do you write?
This question might not be as prominent as the “how” questions a writer receives.
How do you write?
How do you come up with those ideas?
But, in my little writing nook, the “why” question is the most relevant.
One of the AWA tenets is that everyone is a writer: if you write, you’re a writer. The page doesn’t belong to the elite. It belongs to all of us.
Last March, a series of life events created a dry spell in my writing corner. I attended the AWA Monthly Write in time to break the spell. The facilitator, Karen Rosenberg warmed us up with a choice of prompts:
Arriving today, I realize… or Today I suspect that I might want to explore…
I chose the first, and this is what I wrote (unedited) during the three minutes she gave us.
Arriving today, I realize I haven’t written much this week.
Aha! Say my frazzled nerves.
Not writing is like forgetting to take medications. Not vitamins. The medications.
I feel the absence, the lack when I don’t have, make, take time to write.
I feel uncentered, frazzled, unmoored, even.
How can I know what I’m doing and what I think if I don’t visit the page?
It’s a desert with no prayers.
A dining room with no chairs
The food is on the floor, pick it up! Hurry, hurry, the five-second rule.
I am grateful for this hour.
Otherwise, my writing drought would stretch into next week or beyond.
I’m grateful for these sessions, buoys in the middle of the ocean to steady me and give me rest.
Like an oasis in the desert to quench the thirst, my need to recenter.
One of the AWA tenets is that everyone is a writer: if you write, you’re a writer. The page doesn’t belong to the elite. It belongs to all of us.
Whether you hail from an ivory tower or a potato field, the alchemy of the pen on paper and the healing as words find their way to the page—that magic is for you, too.
As a young girl, I failed Diaries 101 and all advanced Journal courses. The diaries seemed too important, the paper too fine to spoil with my pen. It wasn’t until I embraced morning pages and generative writing that I discovered the transformative power of a routine that invites me (and all the monkeys of my mind) to return to the page every day, day after day. I shared my unedited generative write so you could see how harmless the monkeys are when they make it to the page too.
Back to the question: Why do you write?
“I write to know who I am” is my short answer. Writing, I understand how I feel, what I think, and where I fit into this world. When I don’t, when there is a drought, even three-minute quips with the pen feel like an oasis.
My answer to the why question isn’t unique. Other writers have said similar. Some have answered differently. But all the answers attest to the power in the act of putting our pens to paper and allowing our words to flow.
If you haven’t made a routine of finding your way to the page, if you haven’t experienced generative writing, maybe this is your nudge from the universe. Spoil the page with your pen. Let the monkeys spill out. And experience the magic and restorative power of finding yourself on the page.
Pennie A. Nichols is an Amherst Writers & Artists affiliate and a Louisiana-based author of literary fiction. Pennie is passionate about fostering safe spaces for creative expression. Alongside her own writing, she facilitates in-person and virtual workshops, meetups, and retreats that help writers tap into their creative flow.
pennie.a.nichols@gmail.com
https:/www.pennienichols.com/
https://www.innergardenretreats.com
Did you learn about Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) through Writing Alone and With Others by Pat Schneider?
New to AWA and curious how you can get involved?
Join us for this free experiential introduction to the AWA method.
This is the perfect place to start if you’re not sure what AWA is all about! You’ll participate in some generative writing and responding time, and then we’ll open the floor for discussion and questions to help you find your place in this community.
We look forward to writing with you!
AWA’s next online write is on Friday, July 17th at 1 p.m. Eastern. Everyone is welcome to join. This month's facilitator is Vickey Finkley-Brown.
V. ELLASHAWN BROWN is a Southern-born poet, novelist, truth-teller, and language conjurer whose work centers Black womanhood, disability, ancestral memory, and linguistic reclamation. Rooted in the rituals, rivers, and rhythms of the South, her writing blends oral tradition, cultural theory, and healing. A certified Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) facilitator and member of Fellowship of the Griot, she curates sacred creative spaces—including her Monday-night Decolonizing the Erotic workshop—where women explore the erotic as power, practice, and divine feminine energy. She serves as Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and is the founder of Southern Momentum Publishing House and the Black Writer Therapy Podcast, both dedicated to amplifying Black and Brown women’s voices. The author of novels including A Kindness and Broken Souls, Brown writes to reclaim language, honor the sacred in the everyday, and affirm the erotic as a site of liberation and rebirth.
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Love this!!! Writing is our very life force. Laughed out loud at the ‘not the vitamins. The actual medicine’ comment!
Wonderful observations on writing. I feel the same way. Unless I write everyday (whether on projects or scribbling in my journal), its something that must be done.