DREAM, DREAM, DREAM IT THROUGH.
WRITE MORE WITH YOUR BODY
AND LESS WITH YOUR HEAD.
DON'T THINK A STORY THROUGH,
DON'T THINK IT OUT.
THE DANGER OF THINKING IT THROUGH IS THAT MOST OF US ARE NOT SMART ENOUGH TO DO IT THAT WAY.
WE HAVE TO GO ONE MOMENT AT A TIME.
(Andre Dubus III)
In "real" life, I tend to be organized, a planner, but whenever I attempt to apply this same strategy to my writing life, I end up stuck, blocked, frustrated. So, this time for NaNo, I am taking the above quote to heart....
I'm letting the story come to me, gently, slowly, one moment at a time...or all in a rush. I'm giving the story breadth - room to unfold, to stretch out its languid limbs inside my imagination...or to zoom and zip and bounce off my mind's walls. I'm giving it breath - air to breathe, to giggle, to whisper sweet secrets...or to bellow, to whimper, to beg for mercy. I'm giving myself over to the story in all its messy glory.
Let's give ourselves the gift of letting go, even just a little bit, this week. Let the story tell itself. Instead of planning life to death, why not let it play out around us and see what happens?
What a great quote! I've tried to "think it through" too many times, and each time I do, I ended up blocked as well. I'm going to try to let go a bit this week. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteEven letting go just a little bit helps, at least it does for me. :) Good luck!
DeleteGreat advice. I try to steer a middle way between the two approaches. Too much planning strangles books at birth I find...
ReplyDeleteI have strangled many an idea by over planning, but I agree about the middle ground. I just seem to have trouble staying there. I tend to weave all over that road…. :)
DeleteI think this is definitely the way to go...letting the story come to you as opposed to you pursuing it.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I have this picture in my head of me holding out a handful of feed and letting the story fawn or baby idea goat come to me…. :)
DeleteI'm trying to do NaNo during a very crazy month work-wise. So I'm just letting it out and shredding it on my keyboard. I'll let it go in December! Lol.
ReplyDeleteGo for it, Jay!
DeleteI never plan my books to death. I do a very general outline and fly free from there.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of an outline but then I get caught up in putting down every detail, which is extremely hard to do when you don't know every detail! :)
DeleteAwesome. I'm right there with you. If I have a rigid outline of where the story is supposed to go, my characters stop in their tracks and glare at me--until I remember it's their story, not mine. They don't mind a loose outline though. ;)
ReplyDelete"It's their story, not mine." Absolutely! :)
DeleteI've never read this quote before and it's one of my new favorites. I am struggling with my WIP and part of my problem is I keep trying to force myself to outline instead of just writing and seeing where it goes. I'm definitely going to take this quote to heart and hope it will help me get unstuck.
ReplyDeleteI really hope it helps you, Julie. I'm also letting myself write whatever scene comes to mind instead of going along sequentially like I usually do. It makes the organized part of me very uncomfortable but I think it's working my creative muscle. :)
DeleteThose are fantastic sentiments! I'm excited to hear how it all goes for you :-).
ReplyDeleteDon't get too excited.... :)
DeleteI'm one of those thinkers and plotters. If that doesn't work with my next project, I might have to just let go and write.
ReplyDeleteIt might be a fun experiment for you, Alex. Let go and see what happens in the draft! If you don't like the result, you can always go back to your usual way. :)
DeleteA very poetic post, summing up all the great things about writing :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Glad you enjoyed it. :)
DeleteBeautiful thoughts . . .and I needed that encouragement to let the story breathe a bit. I've been hammering my head against a particular story wall, and I need to take a step back and look for a ladder. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
A ladder, a window, maybe some wings - you'll get over it or through it, no worries! I'm glad this post helped a bit. :)
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