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The Beautiful Opportunity
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John Caruso
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Apr 19, 2004 08:07 PDT
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The Beautiful Opportunity
Since the last post, I received several e-mail messages with a similar
theme: “I want to write but I don’t know what to write/where to
start/how to fill an empty page.” It is an age-old issue (I just had a
vision of some poor fellow, pot of pigment in hand, staring at the empty
walls of Lascaux Cave 30,000 years ago, wondering how to start. “Should
I go with the horse or the bull?”).
What to write? I can only offer the cop-out sounding, “anything.” Once
you think about it, however, I’m not really copping out at all (trust
me). We look at the blank page. It stares back at us. Hard. It's cold,
empty, unforgiving. It’s also a beautiful opportunity. Remember, you are
the creator. Also remember that “creating” isn’t directly dependant upon
“perfection.” As a matter of fact, most of creation is so far removed
from perfection that sometimes it feels like cheating to even call it
“creation.” This is where we tend to get snagged.
Ultimately, the only way to foil that blank page is to start filling it.
Simplistic? Yes. But too often we try to make solutions difficult.
Forget difficult and write. Employ that valuable tool, free writing.
Take your paper and pen (or your computer screen and keyboard) and just
start writing for a designated amount of time. Make it 15 minutes, 10
minutes, half an hour, the time it takes you to fill three complete
pages (without stopping—more on this in a minute), whatever you would
like to select. Then shake your hands out and start writing. Write
whatever comes to mind, even if it’s “I don’t know what to write. I
don’t know what to write.” If the lyrics of a song pop into your head,
write them down. If you start thinking of the errands you have to run,
put them down. If you suddenly think about the surly man behind the
counter at the cleaners, describe him. Write about the feeling in your
gut after you read that newspaper story. The point is to get your hands
moving, get the words flowing. Forget about writing the Great American
Novel and just put words on paper. Don't worry about grammar,
punctuation, spelling, or logic. Don’t cross things out. Don’t edit.
None of these matter when you're free writing. As you write, let your
mind wander, let it play. The key is to keep going until you reach your
goal, be it time or pages. The more free writing you do, the more you
will be surprised at just how much you have to write.
Free writing accomplishes a few different goals. First, it helps to
unclutter your mind, giving an outlet to all that detritus that builds
up in our heads. By purging it through free writing, your mind can focus
when you work on specific projects. Free writing also gives us an
opportunity to create without having to battle our nemesis, the inner
critic. If you know you don’t have to worry about grammar, spelling,
punctuation, or content, you’re free to just write. Without that inner
critic staring over your shoulder, you can be more relaxed, and when
you’re relaxed you can tap into your creativity. Finally, free writing
helps to get you in the habit of writing. As I've said so often in post
after post, the most important thing for a writer to do is write. Once
you're writing, you're fulfilling your potential.
Try free writing for a week. Explore the beautiful opportunity an empty
page presents. Set a daily goal. It doesn't have to be huge: 15 minutes
a day, three notebook pages—whatever makes you comfortable—then do it.
Each day. No excuses. Don't go back and read what you've written,
either. Just write, reach your goal, and move on. The next day, write,
reach your goal, move on. At the end of the week, allow yourself a
moment to read over what you've written. There will be a bunch of
dreck—that’s ok, that’s the point. But I believe you will find a few
nuggets in there—a nifty turn of a phrase, the capturing of an emotion,
the glimmer of a story. Extract those nuggets into a different notebook
or computer file and begin to build a fresh piece out of them. Then get
back to your free writing.
John Caruso
joh-@coffeehouseforwriters.com
Copyright 2004, John Caruso
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