Six ways to make your writing fresh and original
Natalie Goldberg writes that the goal of the writer is to allow the written word to connect with your original mind, to write down the first thought you flash on, before the second and third thoughts come in because that’s where the energy is. That’s where the alive, fresh vision is, before society, which we’ve internalized, takes over and teaches us to be polite and censor ourselves. Another way of putting it is that you need to trust what intuitively comes through you, rather than what you think you should be writing. What comes through you arises from a much larger place than that of the editor, the critic, or society. She says:
1 Use 'first thoughts'
Natalie Goldberg writes that the goal of the writer is to allow the written word to connect with your original mind, to write down the first thought you flash on, before the second and third thoughts come in because that’s where the energy is. That’s where the alive, fresh vision is, before society, which we’ve internalized, takes over and teaches us to be polite and censor ourselves. Another way of putting it is that you need to trust what intuitively comes through you, rather than what you think you should be writing. What comes through you arises from a much larger place than that of the editor, the critic, or society. She says:
"I call that place “wild mind.” Wild mind isn’t just your mind; it’s the whole world moving through you. With it, you give voice to a very large life, even though you might only be talking about your grandmother’s closet with its particular wallpaper and floor. It’s an awareness of everything through one thing.
When we think of the muse visiting, we think of something coming down from on high and helping us. Wild mind is available to everyone; you don’t have to seduce it to get it to come to you. When I think of wild mind, I think, Big sky. Usually we put a black dot in the sky and pay attention to just that dot: I don’t like myself, or I’m unhappy. With wild mind, you live with the whole sky. It’s very different from the idea of a muse, which is something outside yourself that appears and magically helps you"
Kurt Vonnegut said:
“The primary benefit of practicing any art, whether well or badly, is that it enables one's soul to grow.”
3 Write from the heart
Keep your writing grounded to what you care and know about. Write about what you care passionately about.
4 Be mindful
Begin writing in the moment. Be attentive to what do you see, hear, feel, smell… , a dog barking… a smell, a taste... picking up on where are you now… meeting yourself as you are now…be aware of texture, colours, size, smell, shape, material…. Be alert to details and thoughts as you write, let your mind go uncensored.
5 Timed writing
Writing practice to a writer is as jogging is to a runner. It is vital to keep up stamina.
Write non-stop for twenty minutes. Don’t question and quiz, just write and think later.
Setting your timer for two minutes and writing without stopping can help you get the thoughts down without censoring them. You won’t have time to judge or doubt and the weird ideas will just escape and be untouched.
Begin with phrases like : ‘I feel…. I remember… I know… I love it when… I feel grateful when….
Five sense writing
Begin with I see, and start writing. Then I smell. Then I hear, then I touch, then I taste…
This brings a sensual dimension to your writing.
6 Memory writing
Write from the memories stored in your imagination. Tear up small pieces of paper. On each write the name of places from the past that you remember. ie garage, front garden, beach hut
Set your timer and write non stop about all the thoughts that come in your head on the subject of these memories
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Related posts:
4 methods of structuring your writing
5 things art can prove
9 ways of working on your writing craft
Writers' quotes
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