Writing Demystified
Find your unique voice––clear, simple tools for everyone.
Ponder This
"One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now."
––Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
"... no writing is a waste of time,--no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work."
––Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write
"A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream."
"It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous."
"The Journal is not essentially a confession, a story about oneself. It is a Memorial. What does the writer have to remember? Himself, who he is when he is not writing, when he is living his daily life, when he alive and real, and not dying and without truth."
"... it appears to me that problems, inherent in any writing, loom unduly large when one looks ahead. Though nothing is easy, little is quite impossible."
"Rage is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers."
"If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad. As to that regular, uninterrupted love of writing ... I do not understand it. I feel it as a torture, which I must get rid of, but never as a pleasure. On the contrary, I think composition a great pain."
Probably the most general of all the prewriting techniques, word association can be used by anyone. With this technique you do not need to have a topic or even an inkling of what you want to write about. You simply pick two to four words and write as many words as you can, as quickly as you can, after each word.
You can also use this technique when you do have an idea in mind, simply picking words that are connected to that idea. As with all prewriting techniques, you can modify this in whatever way works best for you. Remember, in prewriting, there are no rules!
The important thing when using word association is not to censor yourself. The words don’t have to be connected; the list doesn’t have to make sense. Your list will be different than anyone else’s, even if you use the same words. Below is an example of how it might go.
Word Association
Some people think cars are the bomb. I’m not so sure. I’ve owned a lot of different cars in my life, most of which were bought for under $2000 and have gotten me most of the places I set out in them to visit. We’re so caught up with the craziness of status we seem to seek out the most expensive (or the most popular) next new thing in order to tell ourselves we are okay. We use these items as a comfort for our lives, to tell ourselves we are having fun, to create some “fun” in our lives. We rarely seek other, more lasting forms of satisfaction.
It has been increasingly unpopular to talk about God, or even any kind of spiritual life…although, perhaps, that stigma is lifting a bit. We have a slew of distractions in the form of mind-altering chemicals (legal and illegal), sex, and material items we fill our houses with and never use. We can’t wait to get a Wii, an iPod, the coolest new phone, a computer, a brand new sports car. We don’t bother with looking inside ourselves for any answer because we’re taught from a very early age to look outside to fix our insides. Don’t fit in at school? Buy Calvin Klein Jeans. Don’t fit in at work? Dress sharper and pretend you know what you’re talking about. Don’t fit in at your social event? Lie! Tell people you’re a doctor, a vice president, an heiress. Don’t feel good? Ingest something or find someone to have sex with.
What’s weird, is even though we don’t spend much time educating ourselves in school or out of school about spiritual matters, most people I talk to believe in some sort of God concept. We believe, yet fail to practice. We find ourselves feeling miserable and buy advertising’s attempt to pacify us with stuff. Money—the greatest lie ever used to suffocate the masses.
I don’t know what the solution is, but having been on both sides of the spectrum, I know using materialism or hedonism has caused all kinds of problems for me; and using spiritual concepts has solved them. Sure, we can’t draw a picture of God, and those who are selling God seem suspicious; but that doesn’t mean we need to abandon all efforts to find our spiritual center. Why is it, do you think, we are taught to ignore all things spiritual and learn the “intellectual” bits? Is the brain mightier than the spirit? Certainly our society, especially in America, is built on this concept. We’re not even supposed to talk about God in school, for crying out loud.
My Journal Entry:
What you see here is what was on my mind as I composed this page for my website. Even though I had a list of words that don’t seem to relate overly much to this entry, you see putting all those words and images down helped me to activate the deeper parts of my consciousness to give my thoughts expression. Even if you were to use the same list (and don’t—come up with your own list) your journal entry would be completely different, because you are a different person.
Note I have not edited this journal entry. I did not go back and revise, I did not rip it up when I thought it wasn’t good enough, I didn’t even stop to go back and correct mistakes. The only thing I did (because this is so public) curb my natural inclination for all the cussing I love so much. If this were my personal journal, I’m sure it'd have quite a few of those four-letter lovelies. With that exception, I have shown it here exactly as it came out, even though as I read it through now I see things I don’t think are working very well. The point is to get the ideas out. I can always go back and add, delete, move and adjust. That’s what Step 3—Edit is all about.
I hear students say, “I don’t think about anything.” Horse apples! Of course you think about things. You are thinking from the moment you wake until the moment you sleep, and even in your dreams you are working out your thoughts. In fact, many of you have been kept awake by your overactive ruminations. Sure, you lock away the nasty bits that make you uncomfortable, and you focus on what you have to take care of in the immediate future, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have thoughts, opinions and ideas. Put them on paper. Allow yourself the freedom to write about whatever comes out of your pen. And don’t you worry about your cuss words. Write them with pride! Write in the manner you feel comfortable writing, and the ideas will begin to flow like an open tap. You’ll surprise yourself, and contribute to the world your unique perspective. You have something no one else can share: YOU!