When you get “stuck,” simply turn to a different notebook. Or if you’re composing on the computer, open a new file. Regard this secondary notebook or file as less “sacred” and continue where you left off when you got stuck. The second notebook don’t count diddly. So write fast. No need to censor yourself because you’re just playing. This is more like a writing exercise than Writing. What happens is that you end of actually using much of this “free” writing.
At readings, someone always want to know about writer’s block. I suppose the implication is that if it weren’t for writer’s block, this person would be writing—or writing more. The other implication is that we writers have some kind of inside track, like we’re in on some secret. Well, there are no secrets. In fact, there’s no such thing as WRITER’S BLOCK [as in all caps]. Every sentence of course includes its own particular struggles; if you want to call that writer’s block, I won’t argue. But if you spend enough time stringing together sentences, you develop strategies to minimize the struggles. Here’s one that works extraordinarily well.
When you get “stuck,” simply turn to a different notebook. Or if you’re composing on the computer, open a new file. Regard this secondary notebook or file as less “sacred” and continue where you left off when you got stuck. The second notebook don’t count diddly. So write fast. No need to censor yourself because you’re just playing. This is more like a writing exercise than Writing. What happens is that you end of actually using much of this “free” writing.
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November 2019
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