Taking the time to think about an idea is the first step towards thinking outside of the box. For the writer, we hope to carry this thinking with us as we begin to write so that our writing reflects a higher level of thinking full of creativity and originality. So how do we keep thinking outside the box while we write? Where does creativity spring from?
The Physical Act of Writing
A mentor in grad school once told me that she writes every single manuscript for science journals using the old-fashioned style, using a quill pen and ink pot. And this was set in a wet tropical rain forest where the pages of my books never dried out entirely. She believed that if a writer writes slowly, then it gives the brain time to think about each word before it is put down on paper. In the time it has taken me to write this short paragraph on my computer using a keyboard, I imagine my mentor would have written three or four words. And if someone asked each of us to recite what we’ve written word for word, idea for idea, there would be only one of us who could do it and do it knowing what word would come next and why.
Time is a limiting factor for many writer-mamas. Waking at 5a.m. to write for an hour, jumping into my writing chair at the start of nap time and writing for an hour, and writing or reading for an hour from 9 to 10p.m. is the most I ever get in a day to work as a writer. Some days I get a lot less and I miss it. To make up for the short amount of time I have, I use my computer to write. When starting a new project, I do write in a notebook using a regular ball-point pen to get my creative juices and new voice flowing into the project. But once the ball gets rolling, I transition to my computer so I can write faster.
Is this wrong? Would I be better off writing with a quill pen and ink pot? As an artist, the idea interests me, because I enjoy the feel of ink and paint flowing from the tip of a brush. As a writer, the idea makes me wonder if I could become a better writer by taking the time to think about each word I put down on paper. Perhaps it is time to go to the store and find myself a bottle of ink and a quill pen? But my daughter has just woken up and it isn’t even 6a.m. yet. Maybe she and I will go on an adventure today to the office supply store though!
So Monday's part in this series will focus on the question: Where does creativity spring from? (We're going to see Ayla's grandparents and great-grandmother in PA this weekend!)
The Physical Act of Writing
A mentor in grad school once told me that she writes every single manuscript for science journals using the old-fashioned style, using a quill pen and ink pot. And this was set in a wet tropical rain forest where the pages of my books never dried out entirely. She believed that if a writer writes slowly, then it gives the brain time to think about each word before it is put down on paper. In the time it has taken me to write this short paragraph on my computer using a keyboard, I imagine my mentor would have written three or four words. And if someone asked each of us to recite what we’ve written word for word, idea for idea, there would be only one of us who could do it and do it knowing what word would come next and why.
Time is a limiting factor for many writer-mamas. Waking at 5a.m. to write for an hour, jumping into my writing chair at the start of nap time and writing for an hour, and writing or reading for an hour from 9 to 10p.m. is the most I ever get in a day to work as a writer. Some days I get a lot less and I miss it. To make up for the short amount of time I have, I use my computer to write. When starting a new project, I do write in a notebook using a regular ball-point pen to get my creative juices and new voice flowing into the project. But once the ball gets rolling, I transition to my computer so I can write faster.
Is this wrong? Would I be better off writing with a quill pen and ink pot? As an artist, the idea interests me, because I enjoy the feel of ink and paint flowing from the tip of a brush. As a writer, the idea makes me wonder if I could become a better writer by taking the time to think about each word I put down on paper. Perhaps it is time to go to the store and find myself a bottle of ink and a quill pen? But my daughter has just woken up and it isn’t even 6a.m. yet. Maybe she and I will go on an adventure today to the office supply store though!
So Monday's part in this series will focus on the question: Where does creativity spring from? (We're going to see Ayla's grandparents and great-grandmother in PA this weekend!)
1 comment:
If you read The Artist's Way by Julie Cameron, she says just the opposite. She feels that "speed' blocks the censor. that the only way to free yourself up is to write withOUT stopping to think!
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