Writing about Writing, Vol 9



     Today’s theme: Don’t Overthink it.
As simple a concept as this may seem to be, it is DIFFICULT in a creative process that is constant to actually do.  The work done toward constant improvement is more in constant practice and willing acceptance of what comes back.  But that is a concept we have already dabbled in, so no need to repeat ourselves.

     This is more about trusting yourself and your instincts.  You sat down to write, let that bitch fly!  What I mean by this is that your first gut feeling is usually the best.  Back over the summer, while I was in and out of vacation and away from both my home AND work computers, I was in a pinch to get things up and I kind of felt my work suffered some for it.  I would never let anyone know this shit as it is happening, but as I sit and type this, I see EXACTLY why that was.
I was too obsessed with things like word count and a multitude of other shit that really didn’t matter that I neglected my time-honored approach of “fingers to keys and just let shit be what it is.”

     Seriously…  By the time you sit down and start typing, you should already have a pretty good idea of what it is you would like to come out.  The matter at hand from there is trusting your first instinct and not muddying it by overthinking what it should look like.  Don’t make too much of a production of it, your vision of where it should go should be in your head before you even start typing.  Stick to that.

     This conversation comes from my 8/31/17 story.  I'm at the end of the summer, I had expended all of my queued posts and sat down at the end of my lunch break on 8/30 and HAD to come up with something before I left work that day.
While I ate, I thought of things applicable on that day and came up with a general framework.  After eating, I sat down and started typing.  I didn’t question myself, I didn’t diddle over minor (or major) details other than the searching and linking I needed to do in the story as I am wont to do.  64 minutes and 1300 words later, I realized what I had NOT been doing for the couple of months prior.
I apologized to myself.


     No need to keep y’all any longer than this really.  The point is to trust yourself and don’t overcook the stew looking for a flavor that is not there to be had.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

True Story©... Get Out Of Jail Free!

Ghetto-ass names; they're my birth control