N-15 Bee by Bee

“To find a honey tree, first catch a bee. Catch a bee when its legs are heavy with pollen; then it is ready for home. It is simple enough to catch a bee on a flower: hold a cup or glass above the bee, and when it flies up, cap the cup with a piece of cardboard. Carry the bee to a nearby open spot—best an elevated one—release it, and watch where it goes. Keep your eyes on it as long as you can see it, and hie you to that last known place. Wait there until you see another bee; catch it, release it, and watch. Bee after bee will lead toward the honey tree, until you see the final bee enter the tree. Thoreau describes this process in his journals. So a book leads it writer.”
The Writing Life
Annie Dillard

And this is how it works: bee by bee, we find our story and it unfolds. Each place that you capture a bee is another point in the story, and the journey to the next point is what we write down. Sometimes it feels like it’s a dead-end. Sometimes it feels we’re going in circles. And really, that’s okay. Just write it all down. No one but you is going to see your first draft, so write down all the bees, all the spaces you find them in, all the places you let them go in, and where you finally find its honey tree.

Today there are 15 days before National Playwriting month begins. Today, you should start to look for you bee, and follow it.  Trust me, the journey to the honey tree with be as sweet as honey.