Recently, I had to write a preface for a forthcoming poetry book by a close friend who died last year. It took me forever to get started, probably the worst case of avoidance in my life. Something deep inside seemed to feel that this preface would be a last goodbye.
Eventually, a deadline (such an unfortunate word) forced me to face up to the task, and I discovered something surprising: The writing turned out not to be about saying goodbye, but instead about introducing my friend and her work to other people. It was, as the old metaphor goes, life rising out of death.
I mention this today because April is poetry month, because this is a season of rebirth, but primarily because it's an example of how writing can work us through a difficult issue. Are you facing a tough decision at work? Try writing out your thoughts, and see what you discover. After all, even a business plan or other report is as much about researching where we are as it is about informing other people.
Have you ever made a surprising discovery as a result of your own business writing? We'd love to hear about it.
—Lester Smith
("April is the cruelest month…" from T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland")
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