Word Nerds Unite

Sorry I flaked out on my blogging duties last week. Things have been a bit hectic lately and it is difficult to find the mental space to compose anything coherent. One of the things I would like to dedicate more time to (though it would require sacrificing much-needed sleep) is freewriting.

A bunch of years ago I read (and followed) The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Any blocked writers out there may want to check it out. I remember it was half new age hokey, but it was also half (ok, 75 percent) incredibly helpful in helping me unblock my creative energy. The critical part of the methodology is writing every single day, as soon as you get out of bed, for twenty or so minutes. Just writing anything at all — whatever comes out, whether it is a reflection on yesterday’s events, a report on the dream you just awoke from, a summary of a problem, or just a rant about how much you hate waking up a half hour early to write a bunch of crap no one will ever read.

The theory goes (if I am remembering correctly) that your mind is not fully alert enough to act as very much of a censor, and, over time, you will learn to put pen to paper without fear. It is basically a retraining of the mind-hand connection — a “just do it” for writers.

The point is, sometimes we need to be reminded of the root of our passion. Sometimes the hectic day-to-day craziness masks (or piles up on) our true purpose, but mandatory daily life doesn’t have to stop us from pursuing our personal creative goals. The more free we feel in writing, I believe, the more nimbly we are able to enter our own mental space.