Writing can be a messy process; as a matter of fact, good writing is always at first messy. In other words, in order to find out all you might want to say (or not want to say) you have to lay it all out there, not minding how much sense you are making, if you are accurate, if you are “correct”, or even who your readers are going to be. The first thing is to just get down as much material as possible. This will give you the gold mine to draw from later on in the drafting process.
Once you have a good idea of what you want to write about but you don’t know exactly what you want to say. This is the time to choose one or more of these techniques and just get going. Don’t wait for lightning to strike. Just jump in and see what you discover. Our best writing often comes to us in this way: as pure gift. Try it and see. If you start to block, or not know what to say next, just begin some more free-writing and not minding what we say but keeping the pen moving.
Points to Keep in Mind
- Give yourself time, at least a couple of hours.
- Work in a place you won’t be disturbed.
- Stay loose. Let yourself wander down intriguing avenues.
- Let yourself change direction;entertain ideas you hadn’t before considered.
In Other Words
Don’t feel you have to follow a straight path from beginning to end. For instance, if you get stuck on the introduction (as most writers do from time to time) skip it and come back to it later. Keep your eyes on what’s ahead, not on the pebbles underfoot. This means not to worry about smaller things such as punctuation, spelling, or even word choice. Just write quickly and get the ideas down. You can and will come back to these details later. It’s okay to make mistakes. You can fix these later.
To Type or Write Longhand
The rule of thumb here is to do whatever lets you feel most at home. If you think better writing on paper with a pen or pencil, by all means do that. If you’re a speedy typist and think better this way, sit at the computer to get your thoughts down. Beware though: a neatly typed piece of writing can give us a false sense of accomplishment. The page looks so darned good, after all. It looks nearly finished! But even a neatly typed page will reveal a deep need for more rewriting. Writing is always going to mean re-writing!
Learn and Repeat Often
No one gets there with one draft alone. So type or write longhand: it won’t matter to anyone except you. Do what feels easiest. Keep yourself loose and free. Don’t bind up over non-essentials. You want to lure your best words, thoughts, ideas and memories out of their caves. Keep open; stay free. Here’s the fun in writing, after all.
For another article on writing read How to Write a Strong Beginning.
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