the sea voyage of writing
6/30/2010"The open-ended writing process is ideal for the situation where you sense you have something to write but you don't quite know what. Just start writing about anything at all. If you have special trouble with that first moment of writing--that confrontation with a blank page--ask yourself what you don't want to write about and start writing about it before you have a chance to resist.
As you engage in this sea voyage, invite yourself to lose sight of what you had in mind at the beginning, invite digressions, new ideas, seeds falling from unexpected sources, changes of mind. You are trying to nurse your thoughts, perceptions and feelings through a process of continual transformation. The sea voyage is most obviously finished when you sight new land--when you get a trustworthy vision of your final piece of writing."
--From Writing With Power
2 comments
Hiii,
ReplyDeleteI don't know about this one. Why should one begin prose or a poem by writing what one doesn't want to.
What about starting with what you're afraid to write.
hmmm...that is also a good option. in fact, i often begin with what i'm afraid to write and take it from there. but maybe writing about what one doesn't want to write is like starting with a hunk of clay and chipping off the extraneous parts, so when u step back, you're left with a magnificent sculpture. all food for thought; thanks for the suggestion!
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