Composing Isn't Done At a Work area

"I never had to change a word of what I got up in the middle of the night to write." - Saul Bellow

On a new webcast, the host inquired, "What's your greatest example found out about composition?"

I didn't hold back. I told him, "Composing isn't done at a work area."

He inquired, "Your meaning could be a little clearer."

I held up my telephone. "Assuming you have this, you can compose whenever, anyplace. You can compose on a stroll, on a plane, while driving to work. In any case, that is the point at which your voice is most flawless."

"Most flawless?"

"Indeed, for some individuals, composing is difficult work. They fear it since they view it as something they need to do. That strain, stress or pressure transforms composing into a drudgery. Espresso should be a toil, not composition.

On the off chance that we could do without to compose, that will go over to perusers and they won't care for understanding what we've composed. As Robert Ice said, 'No delight in the essayist, no satisfaction in the peruser.'"

"Anyway, what else is there to do?"

"Have you at any point had the sublime insight of being in the shower, paying attention to a web recording, perusing a book, or watching a film and you get a good thought unexpectedly?"

"Sure. I think we as a whole have."

"That didn't actually happen to you suddenly. Specks just associated to you. That is writing in its baby structure. The key is to catch those propelled contemplations when they're hot.

Ralph Waldo Emerson called this 'watching the sparkles of light which move quickly over the psyche from the inside.'

It's sufficiently not to watch those sparkles of light, we must record them the second they happen (with a note pad, Evernote, or the Otter.ai application) if we have any desire to benefit from them.

Billy Joel is an incredible illustration of this."

"In what way?"

"A CBS Sunday Morning columnist asked him, 'Where do you get your thoughts?'

Joel told him, "Lyrics come to me when I'm doing my hobby, which is building wood boats from scratch. Working with my hands frees up my head and musical phrases just pop into my mind. One time, the line 'In the middle of the night, I was walking through my sleep' came to me, but I initially dismissed it. I thought, 'Nah, too simple,' and kept sanding.

I took a shower later to clean up and couldn't get that line out of my head. I started humming a tune to it and finally wrote it down, even though I wasn't sure it'd amount to much."

You probably know the rest of that story. That line evolved into one of Billy Joel's chart-topping songs, River of Dreams. Imagine if he hadn't written that down, just in case?

Yet many of us do that every day when we ignore ideas that come to us and talk ourselves out of capturing them. After awhile, the muse gets ticked and stops coming around. She thinks, "I'm giving you gold and you can't be bothered to write it down? Color me gone."

From now on, understand this is how you write.

As Nietzsche said, "All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking."

Writing is thinking on the move. If you want to get in the flow of thinks (not a typo), get out from behind your desk, get outside, and get moving.

When you are out and about, your mind is stimulated by what you're seeing, doing, and experiencing. You are no longer isolated and in your head. You are noticing and riffing off what is happening around you. You are partnering with the muse instead of going it alone.

As Mary Oliver said in her instructions for leading a life. 'Pay attention. Be astounded. Tell about it." When your synapses fire, and all of a sudden puzzle pieces fall into place and you have a Eureka, express what you're thinking/feeling to your recorder or in your notebook.

You may not know how or where you'll use that insight (or piece of dialogue or business revelation), just trust that you will and it will be waiting for you when you're ready for it.

Curious about the rest of my top ten do's and don'ts for writers? You can watch them here.

Want a rare opportunity to participate in my Learning Strategies Write Well, Write Fast, Write Now course ... for free? Check it out here.

And remember what the brilliant Ray Bradbury said, "My muse does all the work."

Bestselling author Harlan Coben puts it differently, "The muse is not an angelic voice that sits on your shoulder and sings sweetly. The muse is the most annoying whine. The muse isn't hard to find, just hard to like. She follows you everywhere, tapping you on the shoulder, demanding that you stop doing whatever else you might be doing and pay attention to her."

Want your muse to do all (or some) of your work for you?

Start paying attention to her. Write down what she says.

And remember, she doesn't like to hang out around desks. (Smile).

Thanks For Reading my Article.