Speaking of crazy actually, the other day I was chatting with one of my fellow writing nerds that I meet with once a week, and we got on the topic of one's so-called "writing process". That's right, the mysterious super-top-secret techniques that all those annoyingly productive writers seem to have figured out, while all us sad sops off to the side wonder, "Why do they have it figured out and I don't?? What am I doing wrong??"
From what I've seen, the answer to that question is this: you need to unleash your inner weirdo - in other words, the eccentric but lovable crazy person that lives in all the fine folks that have that creative edge to their brain.
This is certainly no easy task, since everyone's inner crazy person has a different way of operating. An example? Well, you know Victor Hugo, the guy that wrote Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame? He wrote naked. The man had his valet hide all his clothes until the completion of both of the aforementioned novels, so that he would have no choice but to write since he couldn't leave the house.
A little nuts? Yep, and we can only hope he invested in curtains for all his windows, for the sake of his neighbors. But effective? Heh, I'd say so, wouldn't you?
So today's writing tip in a nutshell: you must (while allowing still for personal and public safety, of course) unleash the inner eccentric! Try stuff out, see what works for you. It could end up being any of all sorts of combinations that could do the trick. Maybe hop on a subway or a city bus and ride it around town all day while you work on your laptop/tablet thingy; maybe spend the day in the park writing in between scaring pigeons and sitting upside down on a bench. For me, I usually end up with a giant bowl-sized mug of coffee or tea and pulling an all-nighter in front of my computer in my PJs, box of pizza open on my left, research and rough notes on my right, and a 10 hour recording of a rain storm playing over Youtube. I'm still working on perfecting the weirdo in me to get annoyingly productive like the rest of 'em, of course.
As everyone says, there's a fine line between genius and insanity. Well, go skate on it a bit - creativity awaits!
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| Image courtesy of StuartMiles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Novel Word-Count for Today: 20,075
I see by the street signs that you live on the corner of Sanity and Insanity. I live on the corner of Dumbfounded and Confused. I appreciate your Writing Tips post. Maybe one night soon I'll take off my PJ's and see if that helps. Writer's block is a disease that I come down with fairly regularly. I probably need a muse but I can't find one in my neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteHeh, that I do - I pretty well just pitch a tent right on that corner, and settle in to see what happens. Oooh, you've got that corner, huh? Yep, I've made the occasional stop by there - rough spot to be in, and it does tend to make people contract the dreaded writer's-block-bug. But hey, for sure, if writing in the buff got Victor Hugo his masterpieces, you never know what it might do for you :) go for it, man, be brave!...Just don't forget to close your curtains. -- Thanks for stopping by to read this thing by the way - glad someone's getting at least a little something from it!
DeleteIt's always good to step outside the box and write daringly. Unleash the beast and make those dramatic words flow. Nice post and comment from James Rogers too.
ReplyDeleteFor sure! It seems the only times I get anywhere are when I let loose and just see how it plays out. :) Very glad you liked the post, thanks for stopping by!
DeleteIt sure is! I'm at my most relaxed while toiling away all night on my work, in my own weird little writing ritual :P -- And nice dream you've got there, Toronto does have its fair share of beauty and inspiration (as long as you're okay with possibly having to duke it out with a few other artists to get your hands on that loft - the nice ones go quick!). Thanks for stopping by and commenting :) glad you enjoyed the post!
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