mindfields :: a journal about ideas and alternative education

How to Write and Why Bother
There is a novel in everyone – not to mention the short stories, poems, limericks, essays, haikus and a host of other genres that can emerge from anyone’s life and observations. But unfortunately, there is also a terribly critical and rigid ‘editor’ inside most of us.

Zen and the Art of Actually Getting Some Writing Done

text: Gouri Dange

Never throw away anything you have written
Or anything that you have edited out of your writing. Put it away in some suitably named folder. You’ll be surprised at how it will turn out to be useful one day. Much like the fabric scraps that a good seamstress never throws out, and one day turns into a brilliant patchwork quilt.

Keep a pen and paper handy at all times
If a dictaphone, palm top, etc works for you, then those too – at your bedside, in your car, in your pocket. When you have a germ of an idea, scribble down at least a couple of keywords, so that you can jog your memory later. We’ve all experienced how truly brilliant themes/thoughts simply evaporate by the time we actually sit down to flesh them out.

Feed and fuel your imagination
Listen to music, go watch a film, sketch, doodle, skim read, play a game, worry a sudoku puzzle, cook, meet friends, take the dog for a run. Being secluded while you’re writing is not always a good idea. You will find sustenance and inspiration from the oddest, most unexpected sources. Serendipity, they call it.

Give yourself permission to write
The right to write. Too many of us place far too many embargoes, bans, fatwas on ourselves, refusing ourselves entry into some imaginary club to which we will never let ourselves qualify for membership. Start with giving yourself complete consent to write.

Choose your first critics with discrimination
The ones who will critique your material. If you do show your writing to someone, don’t breathe down their necks for feedback. And when it does come, listen, really truly listen. Avoid the temptation of paying attention only to the good feedback. n

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