Brain Jam
Busy day at work. There were times when I thought I was really the master of Moodle and PHP, and other times when it was obvious that Moodle and PHP were taking mastery of me. Still, it was good to be productive all day long. I realized, though, that an application I’d built earlier this year to track our development hours has had a persistent bug for months; I think I finally slammed it today, but while doing so I discovered another, more subtle bug which I actually had to consult with my boss on.
Came home, hung out with Jennifer, then wrote 528 words on The Solitude of the Tentacled Space Monster while watching Father Ted and The IT Crowd. I’ve realized that a major problem I have with my writing is that I tend to feel very, very rushed, and I just want to get the story out so I can move to the next one. But when I do that, the words all get stuck together and nothing comes out at all. My brain is a lot like an old typewriter. If you try to get too much out at once, what happens is that all the keys get stuck together, and nothing intelligible comes out at all.
A brain jam, in other words.
Brain jam. Hm. That doesn’t sound at all savory.
Hmm, heck of a day it sounds…
Do you generally type or do you write long-hand, particularly when you start to get that rushed feeling? I’m guessing like me you type and get the hand cramps these days when you go long-hand. Remember that free-writing exercise we did at the conference? We wrote long-handed and aside from reminding how atrocious my handwriting is it really forced me to be thoughtful of what I wrote. in turn things seem to flow.
I’ve tried it again a few times since and I’ve noticed that while my thoughts still stream ahead like lightning, and I may not capture each one, I tend to reach and hold the ones that resonate. And at points, this sparks other avenues of thought I may not have pondered expanding my story and taking another direction. In turn, I stop rushing to get to the end and I start to enjoy the actual writing process more (remember they kept telling us that? “Enjoy the process! Love the process! It’s not all about the finish.”).
Perhaps, when you are typing next time, when you start to feel that tell-tale rush to go-go-go, grab a notebook (dedicate it to hold info just for the current story) then just write the scene or remainder of it there…see if you get less into the ending and more into the process part, even sparked by other thoughts? Maybe you can avoid the jam all together?
Just a suggestion..oh and YAY on the word count for tonight! Remember every word counts.
I almost always write at my computer, though I used to write exclusively in long hand. When I go long hand these days, my hand cramps up something awful and my handwriting degenerates within seconds to the point of near-illegibility.
But, it’s a good idea. I’ll give that a try. And you’re absolutely right that the process should be enjoyed, and not just the product.