Tao Te Ching Paths to Writing

Selected verses to embrace your writer’s life

photo: Elfin Lakes, Garibaldi Park, British Columbia—summer 2020

I read a verse of the Tao Te Ching each night, and am often stilled by the connections between the words and my writing of that day.

In a spirit of sharing, here are some of these connections. (The following selected verses are from Jonathan Star’s translation)

Verse 14

From nothingness to fullness

and back again to nothingness …

Know that which is beyond all beginnings

Those days when you feel you will never again find words within, with which to work, to fashion story and tale; know they will always be there for you, and with you. Reach for what is beyond

the striving.

Verse 48

One who gives freely and without attachment

gets a full life in return

One who gives with the secret hope of getting

is merely engaged in business

This business of writing — both the monetary part and the “busy” (and necessary) self-occupied part — should be lived with integrity and care. (The editor in me wishes these lines were inverted 3/4/1/2)

Verse 53

The Great Path is simple and direct

yet people love to take the side-routes

Side routes and rabbit holes happen when you are writing; it is often research, or to provide context or explore background. But know when to return to the work and the “simple and direct.” Know the scattering of the mind that can result from side-routes. And stay the path of the story and your work, and what builds it.

Verse 75

The treasure of life is missed by those who hold on

and gained by those who let go

Don’t be the goblin with your hand in the jar, grasping the contents, unable to slip your own hand back out. Let go. What does this mean for writing? Stop over-working; let it breathe. All by itself.

Verse 8

One who lives in accordance with nature

does not go against the way of things

He moves in harmony with the present moment

always knowing the truth of just what to do

So often when we write, our instinct is telling us, showing us, a direction. I’m not saying that re-writing is not important — it is! But when you find yourself mentally and emotionally butting up against the work, consider the way/grain of the piece — how is it working? How can you work with that?

Verse 30

Things that gain a place with force

will flourish for a time

but then fade away

Stop! The next time you feel that you are forcing the work, ask yourself: what is it that you are forcing? Why? How is it emerging? Is it true to you? True to the story itself? How is it serving the work?

Verse 10

As your wisdom reaches the four corners of the world

can you keep the innocence of a beginner?

No matter what is the level of competence and knowledge we have as writers, we return to each new story with an open heart, a child’s wonder. Every time. Take a moment to gather this together when you begin the work.

Verse 11

Clay is molded to form a cup

yet only the space within

allows the cup to hold water

Walls are joined to make a room

yet only by cutting out a door and a window

can one enter the room and live there

Again: let your writing breathe! Don’t explain everything. Sit with it as you work.

Then allow your reader the same, and to absorb. Allow the spaces and the silences to be. What is between the lines, and between the words and their meaning… let the reader live there. Let them do what they need to do. You need to give them that.

They can pour in and drink the water, and walk through the open doorway. They can gaze out the window you have cut into your work. For them. For the work itself.

Verse 16

Become totally empty

Quiet the restlessness of the mind

Only then will you witness everything

unfolding from emptiness

This is why, when you are blocked, you back away from the page or screen, for empty and quiet. Go for a walk. Go wash dishes in a sink filled with hot water and soap froth. Listen to some instrumental music. Sit in the quiet. Return to the work.

Verse 22

“Surrender brings perfection”

is not just empty words

Sometimes the story at hand is waiting for you to step back, let it be what it wants to be. Surrender is a good word. It is part of being an artist-writer.

Verse 28

When the opposing forces unite within

there comes a power abundant in its giving

and unerring in its effect

Don’t fear the juxtaposition of ideas; their effect is exponential. This is the power of metaphor; use it. Seek it. Write and ask: what is the “opposing” — how can I draw it in? What will it allow me to see?

Verse 29

Allow your life to unfold naturally…

Sometimes you’re ahead and other times behind

Sometimes you’re strong and other times weak

Sometimes you’re with people and other times alone

This is both the day and the lifetime of being a writer. It’s the first line — allow your life to unfold naturally — that needs to be read again daily, even as we struggle with the reality of the other lines.

Read again with the word “story” in the place of “life.” And consider the “life” of the character, and the movement and pacing of their story, their strengths and their flaws, their alone and ruminating time, and the “people” of secondary and tertiary characters. Their world, unfolding in your mind and through your fingers on the keyboard.

Verse 52

Fully embrace your life

and you will share in the glory of creation…

Seeing your own smallness is called insight

Honoring your own tenderness is called strength…

Have faith

Follow your own shining

Be aware of your own awareness

Read this, and again, on rough work days. Know there is a worthiness to seeing your reality. Your vulnerability as an artist and human, is what builds strength and verisimilitude in your work, in ways that are difficult to fully comprehend. Your shining is the light for your path. Follow.

Verse 63

Take on difficulties while they are still small…

Beware of those who promise a quick and easy way…

Follow your path to the end

Accept difficulty as an opportunity

Art and creating does not have shortcuts. But there are individual and small steps. There is a path. There is something that is follow-able.

Verse 64

People on the verge of success often lose patience

and fail in their undertakings

Be steady from the beginning to the end

Just when you feel you cannot go on, when the draft is almost done but the enormity of the rewrite looms… Or when the book is published and on shelves but seemingly not traveling into the hands it might.

Steadiness. Consistency. Faith in self and your place in the world.

Verse 81

Words born of the mind are not true

True words are not born of the mind

Listen to your gut. Listen to your heart. Listen to the soles of your feet. Listen.

Verse 81 is the closing verse of the book, and the closing line is:

All things move with the wind

Let it blow.