Joe’s Writing Tip #1
When you’re tired of writing, burnt out, just type.
That’s right. Type don’t write. Don’t worry about what you’re saying. Don’t worry about spelling. In fact, don’t even look at the screen. Just stare out the window and type or write longhand.
Sometimes the simple act of writing gets you in the mood to actually say something. Even if it doesn’t, if you spout enough crap you might be able to delete 90% of it and have 10% that’s halfway decent.
Describe what you’re seeing.
Describe the homeless woman outside, her stained, canary shirt and floral dress. Tell a story about the homeless men who flirt with her, despite her weight and odor. Talk about the child she gave birth to on the streets and had to give up because schizophrenic women rarely make good mothers. Who knows, maybe that kid became a doctor.
Just write. Write whatever comes to your mind. Write about the fact that nothing’s coming to your mind. Write the same word over and over and over and over and over and over.
It’s about the rhythm.
The words flowing from your fingers, nothing else matters. Think about the flow. Think about the sound of the keys. The crackle they make like popcorn in a microwave.
Get your thoughts on the page like a big oozing brain beating away. Worry about dissecting it later. Just get it out!
Maybe you’ll wind up saying something profound. Maybe you’ll get an idea for a novel. Maybe you’ll waste 15 minutes, but at least you’ll be writing.
It helps. Trust me.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Joe Bunting the Teacher. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
on July 30, 2008 at 11:29 pm Li wrote:
yay for freewrites! good advice, joe.