Jan 10 2010
Dump This Dangerous Method of Writing Now
In school and college, we are taught to write in a `safe’ way. Well-meaning teachers advise us to outline before getting started. Otherwise, we would not know where we are heading to and end up not delivering what the topic requires of us.
Does this safe method always work? Not always. The general experience is, despite having an outline, we have trouble getting started and end up what we call writer’s block. Worse still, some of us find the process of outlining a tougher nut to crack than the writing process itself.
If we survive this safe method after much effort, the experience is so painful that we would want to avoid it in the future. The worst thing that could happen to a writer is to avoid writing. We would all like to be writers but we want to avoid writing because we attach a past painful experience to the process of writing.
If such a safe method of writing hinders our productivity and paralyzes us, it could only be called a dangerous method. Discard this method now if it gives you more trouble than benefit. Forget outlining before you write.
Discard it and replace with what? Is there a much more productive method worth considering?
Yes there is.
Just DIVE IN and start writing away. That’s the method.
How do you do it? Just write about the topic as if you’re talking to a friend about it over coffee in a cafe. Tell your friend what you’ll be covering and how you’ll be dealing with the main points.
You can even tell your friend how you’ll be opening your first paragraph. All this has to be done in a playful manner. As playful as possible.
Even if you don’t come up with anything useful (chances are slim you would not), you’ll loosen up and look at your writing project in a new light.
Writing in this manner is also a form of outlining. You can call it a discovery draft if you like. If you take the risk with a discovery draft, you maybe rewarded with insights you
may not have considered if you’ve sat down to approach your writing in the traditional manner.
Writing away without a worry in the world is a risk every writer should take. What have you got to lose?