'Midwifing' Once Again

 

As I listened to a podcast last week, I heard an author describe the writing of her book as "midwifing."

For someone conceiving of, writing, editing, revising, and then publishing a book, she found the term  very fitting. 

In the Oxford dictionary, midwife is defined as, "someone that helps bring something into being or assists its development." 

This describes the writing process very accurately.

From the first day of knowing you're growing a baby in your belly, your mind doesn't stop dreaming of 

what the child will look like, who they will be and what the future may hold for you and them. 

This is not unlike writing a book. From the very first wondering if I should write my stories down and 

turn them into a book, I began thinking about the possibilities and potential of what I was endeavoring to 

do. 

As I write the words that convey my stories and curate the chapters, spending days on details like

 sentence structure, correct grammar and redundancy, I 'm assisting in the development of my book. 

The hours of labor are long, but the reward will hopefully be great.  

Currently, I'm in the early stages of labor. My mind is warming up to the idea of committing a large 

amount of time and effort into doing something monumental, for me. I'm wrestling internally with a 

constant questioning of myself and of feeling like a fraud. "But, I'm really not a writer," I find myself 

saying when asked how my book is going. I feel like I need to apologize for assuming I'm a writer 

and someone for whom it became a daily commitment only recently.

I'm taking heart in knowing the birth process well and hoping it is somewhat like the writing process in 

that, after the long, arduous stages of labor, I will give birth to a well written, thoughtful and honest 

 book. 

I'm still in the stage of wondering what it will look like; how thick will it be, what cover art I will choose,

and most importantly, will I be ready to birth it into its own entity?  

For a midwife writing a book about midwifery, this metaphor seems very fitting. 

"Now, will you please bring me a cold glass of water?  I'm in the middle of a long contraction."

I'll let you know when the birth gets closer.