I’m currently working on a podcast for Philip Holyman’s epic literature project True Voyage Is Return. As part of the project, he asked members of the public to contribute to an anthology of new writing.
All contributors responded to a broad inspirational theme, a four-word quote from Ursula K. Le Guin’s iconic novel The Dispossessed: True voyage is return. The works produced were as unique and individual as the writers themselves.
One contribution to the anthology was a poem submitted at 4.59pm before the 5pm deadline back in November 2024 by a writer who wished to be credited simply as Emma.
As Philip said: “While at first glance it quite naturally looks like it’s about producing a piece of writing, these thirty-six words are the ray of sunshine which illuminates an infinite horizon of possibility and meaning. Try it. Apply it to pretty much anything you like, and I can pretty much guarantee it will hold true.”
Here’s the poem in full:
Just start.
Start now.
Be shit.
Start again.
The dreams you had are still there.
Find them.
Try them.
Find your place of learning.
Of wonder.
Of joy.
Start again.
Be shit.
Start now.
Just start.
The poem is a brilliant call to action. It reminds us that waiting for inspiration to strike before we start making stuff is a foolish strategy that can’t be relied upon. It’s best to just crack on. The rest, according to impressionist painter Henri Matisse, will follow: “Don’t wait for inspiration. It comes while working”.
In episode 3 of the True Voyage Is Return Podcast, visual storyteller Charlotte Bailey has this to add:
“The reality is, the full story, the characters, none of it is going to just pop up from nowhere. For me the actual doing of it is where it emerges. It doesn’t emerge and then you do it. You’re not gonna finish that novel in your head or have a completed comic. You have to sit down and it’ll come as you’re doing it. So whatever it is, whatever you’ve got, just let it emerge and do the do. Do the doing.”
Oh, and after you’ve started making something, you should probably finish it too!
