Flash Writing

We’ve all experienced them. Moments where we stumble and draw a blank. Moments where we forget someone’s name… someone very familiar to us but for some reason it is just gone and the panicked whirring of your mind cannot bring it back to you. The more you strain, the worse you seize up. Or that word… that perfect word that is just on the tip of your tongue, but can’t seem to let go and spring forth.

This is prevalent in my writing as well. My pen streaks across the page, the words flowing easy, and then a thought that involves a word that is similar to synchronicity, but not quite so philosophical in nature. The word suggests how two random things slammed together create an insight leading to something better, not because the universe wills it, just because you happened to think of it while thinking about something completely different. (The actual word I’m talking about is serendipity here, but that really isn’t the point of this post…).

Courtesy of miss rogue via Flickr

The search for that perfect word smashes that free flow of words into the Hoover Dam. I am stopped until my brain releases the flood gate of knowledge about what that word is. When I can’t think of it, I might pick up Synonym Finder or go to an online thesaurus, but then again how do you find a word that is that specific if you don’t know what the word is in the first place. It breaks your momentum. It cracks open a door for your Inner Critic to whisper warnings to you and suggest that maybe you should do something other than write for a while.

I hate this. I found that the elusive, perfect word would occur to me as I continued writing, either a couple of paragraphs or pages later, so the time that I spent sprinting in place was a waste of time and energy. So now when I get stuck trying to remember a word, character name or stubborn concept, I just draw a line where the word might be, making a blank space to fill in when I do remember it later. If I don’t think the blank space is enough of a clue to remind me of my train of thought, I write a description containing several words that were “not good enough” in parentheses next to the blank to jog my memory later.

This transformed the writing process for me and helped me focus on production, not perfection. Soon, I expanded this concept to word processing documents by using brackets as flags for these breaks in my train of thought as well as writing notes to myself within the work so I could go back to them later after I’d finished the thought or had some time to follow-up on these notes. I use the bracket keys for two reasons:

1. 1. You don’t need the hold down a [SHIFT] key to type them
2. 2. It provides a rarely used character to easily find the thought later during a search of the document.

I use these brackets to direct me like a playwright provides direction in a screenplay. And I use them to encapsule anything that slows, stops or directs me somewhere other than writing. The comments suggest content additions that are needed but can’t be captured right now [need to find relevant quote about forgetfulness here]; identify need for additional content [list examples of books with a strong 1st person point-view here]; need additional research [find support for assertion about the growth of neural pathways in the brain]; suggest immediate edits [cliche, try again]; suggest edits for future drafts [this is awkward, reword this ASAP; these examples SUCK, get better ones]. I note missing/temporarily forgotten words with brackets surrounding ellipses [...].

This approach allows me to spend writing time getting words down on paper and not flipping through pages of reference material, or going online to search for a toilet paper product engineering expert to be a possible source for quotes in your latest article for Flush Bowl Monthly [look up an actual market to insert here]. (See how that works? Leaving blank spaces and taking notes can create the production without sacrificing creativity or quality.)

After I finish a draft, I then go back and use the find feature to search for all of the open brackets [ in the work, and then I highlight the content within them and change the color to RED. Some writers use different colors or highlight these passages. I use a highlighter on my handwritten pages and notes to make these stand out. From there I can fill in the blanks during my next research session, batching the research tasks and doing them together instead of throughout the writing of the first draft.

Do you do anything like this? If you do, share your process with me in the comments below. If not, try it and let me know how it works for you.

Related Reading:

Getting Organized: Improving Focus, Organization and Productivity

Getting Things Done: A Time Saving Summary of David Allen's Book on Productivity

Breaking Point (Article 5)

Photo courtesy of Stephan Kamper via Flickr

Earlier this month, I wrote about Why Tracking Word Count is the Only Way to Track Productivity, but I thought you might like some tips on generating that word count:

1. Write fast — Many of you know that I believe in blowing out a draft quickly by writing the words that pop into your head immediately so your Inner Critic doesn’t have time to insert itself into the process. So write or type as fast as you can without stopping. Don’t focus on the quality of the work, focus on the quantity of words you produce.
2. Use Prompts — I have a list of writing topics on hand for every project I’m working on. I also have a random list of writing prompts available in case I’m having a rough time getting moving on one of my “official” writing projects. Prompts help focus a writing session and provide direction to work towards.
3. Use a timer — Another favorite trick of mine is to create an artificial deadline by setting a timer for 10 minutes. This is particularly helpful if I am struggling mightily against resistance that day. I tell myself that I only have to write for 10 minutes and then I will allow myself off the hook for the rest of the day as far as writing goes. Typically what happens after a 10 minute writing session is that I shake off this resistance and want to keep going. But if this doesn’t work, at least I have some of the word count under my belt for the day, and trust that I’ll have a better day sometime later in the week where I can make up the lost word count.
4. Don’t Struggle — Don’t allow yourself to get bogged down in the hunt for the perfect word or trying to remember that waiter’s name who insulted you at Applebees last week who you want to excoriate in a vitriolic short story about the arrogance of chain restaurant waiters. Let it go. Make a blank space for the missing thought to be completed later. For more details about the benefits of blank spaces, check out this article: The Benefit of the Bracket and the Blank Space.
5. Work on Multiple Projects — Sometimes you just need a change of scenery. If I get stuck on my main project, I find it helpful to switch to a shorter project, such as a blog post or brainstorming on a future project. Some days this is just what you need to keep the creative juices bubbling until you can get refocus on the main project later. This post is an excellent example of output created by a lull in the first draft of my Creative Thinking for Creative Writers manuscript.
6. Pluck a Low-Hanging Fruit — A low hanging fruit is corporate-speak for a task that can be completed easily (thus easy to pluck from the low branches of a tree). If a project or assignment is particularly difficult, I jump to another section of the project that appeals to me or where I know what needs to be written next. This might be the next crucial scene, the next sub-topic in the article, or some background writing on an important chapter or section. This shift allows you to keep writing while your brain’s subconscious works on the stuck project and may reveal insights the next time you sit down to write.
7. Power Through — Sometimes you just feel stuck. Like your writing is awful and anyone that reads it will laugh at your aspirations of professional authorship. Write anyway. It will get better as you work through it. If not, there is always another day.
8. Talk to Yourself — In my drafts, I often think on the paper, writing down information that I need to research further, noting a passage to return to later, or sometimes just writing about what is on my mind. Sometimes the reason that I get stuck is not associated with the project itself, but is about a worry I have with one of my kids, a challenging project at work, or some mental treadmill that I can’t seem to yank my mind off of. Sometimes the best way to deal with these things is to express those feelings on the page and move on.

So there are 8 of my tricks for generating word count as well as keeping my Inner Critic gagged and stuffed in a steamer trunk while I maintain my writing momentum. What do you do to keep writing when you get stuck? Comment below!

Related Reading:

Texts and Lessons for Content-Area Reading: With More Than 75 Articles from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, Car and Driver, Chicago Tribune, and Many Others

The Innovator's Dilemma with Award-Winning Harvard Business Review Article "How Will You Measure Your Life?"

John Wayne: The Genuine Article