Writing fiction by Bill Eaton

Limbering up

Second in a series of articles by Bill Eaton.

The moments before you start to write can be the most painful. You have finally managed to find some time and space to sit down and write. You have avoided all the usual excuses for not writing - the household chores, work deadlines, childcare issues, the magnet of the television - and now you are faced with the writer's horror - the blank page.

You may already have the idea. You may know exactly what you want to write about. You just can't get started. You are convinced that all you are going to produce is a lot of nonsense that no-one will want to read.

Well, the bad news is that you're probably right.

The good news is that it is perfectly alright to feel like this. It's part of the job.

Writing is like physical exercise, think of it as a muscle that needs to be warmed up before it can produce the best results.

One way to get your writing muscle warmed up and defeat the spectre of the blank page is to start your writing time with the following five minute freewriting exercise.

Exercise one

Take your pad of paper, pen at the ready, and write. You are not allowed to stop, you are not allowed to go back and correct what you have written, just write continuously.

It does not matter what you write about; just write.

It does not matter if what you write makes absolutely no sense whatsoever; just write. It does not matter if you repeat yourself; just write.

All that matters is you write continuously, without taking a pause. Your hand must keep moving across the page for the full five minutes.

When you have finished you will have covered your paper in words. It is quite possibly gibberish. You might have been lucky and come up with a couple of ideas you can use when you start the 'proper' writing, but this is simply a bonus.

Whatever else you may or may not have achieved, you have warmed up the writing muscle and connected the hand that holds the pen to the mind that comes up with the ideas.

There is a theory that the human brain can be seen as having two halves, each with different functions. The left-side is where the rational, logical self lives. Some call it the 'internal censor'. This is the side of the brain that will edit your work, tell you if something is not right. At certain times in the writing process this side of the brain can be very helpful, but not when you begin writing a story. At this early stage it is this 'sensible' part of your personality that will tend to discourage you by telling you that what you are writing is not good enough.

The right side of the brain is where the creative side of our personality lives, the imagination, where anything can happen. Through this freewriting exercise, we have created a link with this side of our mind; where we have permission to write nonsense, or at least write something we know will not be the finished piece, but which will have the ideas we are looking to develop.

As you become more accustomed to the practice of freewriting, try extending the time spent on it. Ten or fifteen minutes of freewriting a day will produce surprising results. You may find your subconscious will use this time to work through a problem you have come across in your writing to spring up with a solution.

If you are having problems starting off your freewriting, try some of the following prompts and see where they lead you:

• An unforgettable place
• I write because
• I wish I had said
• I need proof
• I went outside and
• For the first time ever
• It surprised me when
• It was no use pretending
• I turned the corner and there, coming towards me was
• That smell reminds me of
• One summer’s day

Remember, you can write anything you want. Do not censor yourself while writing. After all, no-one else has to read it if you don't want them to!

There are other forms of daily writing exercises and rituals that can help kindle creativity. Keeping a diary is the most traditional. Many great writers are keen diarists.

By keeping a diary you are achieving many of the goals the freewriting exercises pursue. You are writing purely for yourself, so the writing does not have to be perfect. You are often reflecting on events, helping you achieve a deeper sense of understanding of the people, places and events around you. You are getting into the writing habit.

The habit of writing is possibly the most important thing of all. If you can find a way to write a little bit every day, you will achieve much more than if you write in occasional spasms punctuated by long periods of inactivity.

References

Freewriting has grown rapidly as a writer's aide. There are many books on creativity and writing that promote and develop this exercise as a way to tap into your creative side.

The two titles that I have found most useful are:

• Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
• Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way: A Course In Discovering And Recovering Your Creative Self

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