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It happened. For one three-minute stretch, the stars aligned. I had the cognitive function, emotional focus, and the creative capacity to develop a real idea. And I wrote it down! And then it was gone. Words are weird. We use them to express thoughts, emotions, desires, and needs; they give us fear, inspiration, comfort, hope, motivation, and clarity. So many different words have the same meaning, the same expression, and they connect us, despite themselves, across the barrier of language. Sometimes, we’re speaking the same language, but if we’re not actively accepting as much input as we expel, the barrier of language interferes again. I feel like writing and I are speaking two different languages. I’m trying so hard to communicate what I want to see on paper but the fiction words get jumbled in the pathways of my brain. I know the ideas are in there and every so often, I catch a glimpse of the creative spark but almost immediately, it’s overwhelmed by the other demands for my time, energy, and attention. By early Wednesday, I’d already logged thirty hours for WW and I was so creatively frustrated that I decided to try free writing. I say “try” but Wednesday wasn’t my first time. Free writing is different every time and the results are usually pretty unexpected. It helps a lot of writers break free of their box, start something new, remember something old… you get the picture. Despite my past mixed results with stream-of-consciousness creation, I was desperate to create. I closed out of my work, picked up a pen and fresh sheet of paper, closed my eyes, and I started drawing circles.
I wrote a To Do list.
Fiction projects: 1 Fiction words this week: 26
About the author: Theresa Green is the co-founder of The Writer's Workout and a crime fiction writer.