Brain freeze
The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working the moment you get up in the morning, and does not stop until you get into the office.— Robert Frost
On finding this quote at Bookreporter through Refdesk.com, I knew I had to use it in my blog. It fits my writing perfectly! :-)
When I'm away from my computer, all kinds of wonderful ideas tickle my brain cells and then run off to hide. Since I have yet to perfect the practice of writing these thoughts down before they escape, I spend way too much time trying to recapture them when I finally do sit down to write.
Unfortunately, the lost thoughts outnumber the found ones. And the ones I do catch, I often deem unworkable...too trite, overused, boring or just plain crap.
And then finding any words to put on the page becomes difficult. It's like losing--or even nixing--a few ideas puts a credit hold on my brain.
Some call it writer's block, but I call it brain freeze. I'm not just blocked. I'm completely frozen.
I can't think of a single thing worthy of a keystroke, much less actual ink.
Lately I've heard several people refer to Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way and her prescribed morning pages ritual. I actually went so far as to order the book, but have yet to open it. For one thing, writing for 30 minutes in longhand would not only lead to totally illegible writing, but to a crippled hand! I'm also wondering what those pages accomplish that typing in this blog, or in any journal, won't.
Seems like the key is not letting those miscellaneous thoughts get lost in the first place. Buying several small notebooks and placing them in strategic (yet well-hidden from the 3yo's super-power eyes and ability to get at just about anything!) locations throughout the house might help me fix this problem.
I also need to go a few steps beyond just thinking of an idea before calling it crap. Most ideas may indeed be crap in the first instance. BUT, if I take the time to look at each idea from multiple angles--stretch it, tweak it, turn it this way, that way, upside down and inside out--then I might just hit upon that one unique angle that makes my crappy idea a very marketable one.
Patience and persistence. Keeping at it despite feeling frustrated. Not throwing my hands up in the air saying, "I can't DO this!" (Funny, these are the exact same things I'm trying to impress upon my easily-frustrated 3yo. Geez, I wonder where she gets it from? LOL!)
Thing is, if I want to write for publication and be paid for it, I can't keep freezing when I sit down to write. The two are mutually exclusive.
And I do want to be a published, paid writer. Guess it's time to thaw out this brain of mine.
Match, anyone?
posted by dawn @ 2:33 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I hope you find a way to keep your brain from freezing. :) Enjoyed your post.
Take the time to read The Artist's Way. I am not much of a joiner or a follower, but she has some really great things to say and offer about creativity. As for "morning pages" I don't do them, I tried and just kinda stopped (it was five years ago that I read the book) but there is something to be said for just getting the trite, overused, boring stuff out there, it tends to start ideas flowing and if you never read them again, so be it. She does recommend freehand, but I am 100% confident that the same thing could be done even in a blog. Two birds with one stone?
Also, don't be afraid to just write. I can't tell you the number of times that I wrote what I felt was utter crap and took it to my writer group and they loved it, andother times when I thought something was amazing and they hated it. Just write!
Something else I tell my kids at school and wish would sink in with me, even if you do borrow ideas, the fact that you wrote the words makes it yours. There are only so many plots, all artists appropriate from others, let your unique voice ring out!
Then you can let you the editor out of her box after you have set ideas to paper (or bits.) You can always delete the words, or add better ones, after you have them written.
I have the same problem, as I mentioned before. I have wonderful ideas in the car and when I get to the computer they are over.
I enjoyed this entry. You might enjoy this article that I found tonight: http://sheknows.com/about/look/579.htm. I think a major step happens when you allow yourself to write just crap, that's why I liked morning pages. It helped me get about the business of writing non-crap for the rest of the day. ;-)
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