At 9 months our little girl is starting to attempt walking. She's gradually gone from gripping our fingers with both of her hands to gently holding only one of our fingers to letting go and walking alone. Part of her letting go also involves letting go on my end; it's scary watching her walk, I want to hold her hand so she doesn't fall.
There are many "letting go" moments in writing, too. The biggest letting go hurdle for me is to write freely without the barrier of self-critique keeping my words in check, which also corrals my creativity. I'm also learning to let go of a manuscript when it just isn't working. Either the idea is not innovative or the writing itself is stagnant, and I need to let it go and move on to something new. Letting go of a manuscript also involves settling with the notion that it is as good as it's going to get, maybe not perfect, but ready to be sent off to a publisher. With the envelope sealed and stamped, my little package of hope leaves my hands, but in my mind I haven't let go of it as I am chanting words of encouragement and luck for it to rise out of the slush pile on an editor's desk.
Like my daughter who is learning to walk, my writing may stumble and fall and get bruised, but hopefully when it picks itself back up, it will be stronger and ready to take a few more steps than it did before.
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