Write With RCS: We get unstuck and we write
We get unstuck. An aid for getting unstuck is feedback. An
excellent source of feedback is a writing group. Your own writing
group, like ones I've written of in other posts on this blog, is more
helpful than most casual conversation and often less of a threat. Taking
some time to consider what is going on with you is also a help and so
is just some rest. Taking care of some personal business may free up
your writing. Often thinking about the meaning, not the words, of what
you are about to write helps.
You can also try the following to get your writing to flow:
~ Look for contrasting or conflicting elements in what you have written or are about to write. You can interact with those elements when you find them. Just finding an example of just one such element and naming it can help.
~
Try just babbling in you writing. You may find yourself being not so
nice or less agreeable than usual. You might even begin talking back to
yourself. Try not to shut yourself down too fast. Let each voice say
what it has to say in your writing. Let each argument build a bit. Don't
stop yet. Again, let each voice have it's say.
~
Of course you get frustrated; me too. Let there be some movement.
Again, let each and every voice have it's say before you shut it down.
No one is looking. Some writing may occur.
~ Try more meaning before words. Develop the meaning of the words you are using. Clarify those meanings. Fit word to meaning.
~
Keep writing even if you only write why your writing doesn't make
sense. Keep writing for 10 or 20 minutes. Then try to get yourself to
step back and look at what you have written with some perspective. You
may discover that you have verbless phases, or that nothing you have
written asserts anything. A few verbs and a couple of assertions may
improve you writing.
~ Sit back. Look at your writing and try to see what it adds up to. Going back and forth between immersing yourself in writing to gain some perspective is writing. As Mr. Elbow says, "You are cooking."
~
At times it helps to let yourself get a bit extreme. Be emotional. Let
each impulse have it's day. Sometimes it seems that one has a cycle to
go through before you can get down to better writing. Such a time may
well be the time to take to extremes for awhile. Take it to the limit
one more time. Later you can be a ruthless editor with a sharp knife.
By reading, even rereading essays on this blog you can find some help for you and your writing.
by Richard Sheehan