A question maybe for older members or for bright younger ones, about loosening up.

[The Backward OX]

Background first:

My unconscious mind is driven by reserve. I keep a lid on things, metaphorically, that is. I don’t express my feelings.

But this reserve is getting in the way of a goal, a dream I have.

End of background.

I want to write fiction.

To do this, I need to be able to create ideas - ideas of the type needed to construct novels – exaggeration, embellishment, flights of fancy, etc.

To create ideas, and get them written down, I need to be able to let my mind run free and not edit every word that enters my head.

I don’t want to use illegal mind-altering substances, i.e., ‘drugs’, to achieve this altered state.

So, any suggestions on how I might loosen up?

I might add I presently live in an isolated and small community, and do not mix socially.

Thank you.

[andyf1702]

If I was in your situation I would do the following.

I would focus on spending the next 15 mins (or longer) writing down all my ideas without thinking about them. Set an alarm so you know when the time is up

Then after 15 mins, do the same again.

By focusing on small segments of time and not the whole future, you hopefully will be to achieve want you want.

Andy

[Apollia]

Keeping a journal has helped me. Not a handwritten journal, that slows me down too much. A journal on my computer, in which I just write down whatever pops into my head. If nothing else I usually write down whatever I can remember about my dreams that seems interesting enough to write down.

Dreams are a good source of fiction. Actually, I've often said that I've scarcely written any fiction at all for many years. But I just now realized that if I count my dream journals, I've actually been writing fiction of a variety of different genres almost daily since 2002.

Since I have no intention of actually releasing the writing in my journal, I have absolutely no incentive to edit it and make it presentable to anyone else. For that reason, the results are generally pretty horrible - pretty much truly unedited, stream-of-consciousness stuff, which I don't even bother to correctly capitalize or spell, and if it's not understandable to anyone other than myself, too bad. Or perhaps, all the better...

I used to be embarrassed by how "bad" my writing is in my journal, but, now it doesn't bother me anymore since I'm well-aware I can do much better, I just _choose_ not to in my journal. Oddly enough, it's actually confidence-boosting - when I compare my awful journal writing and my more serious writing side by side, it makes my more serious writing seem amazingly better in comparison. No matter how bad something I write is, I can always compare it to my journal and say, "well, at least it isn't _that_ bad!"

I also find it's easier not to edit as much when I've stayed awake too long, especially if I feel like I'm about to doze off and am having a hard time focusing as well on things.

So, for a quick summary of the above tips:

Keep a journal that that isn't intended for anyone else to ever read, and write about whatever you want in it, such as perhaps dreams, without worrying at all about the quality. And/or write when you feel so sleepy it loosens you up.

Eventually the ability to relax and loosen up that you'll be cultivating whilst writing unedited journal entries, or whilst writing anything when you're especially sleepy, will likely rub off on your more serious writing, so you'll be able to strike a better balance between free-flowing creativity and polishing/editing/perfecting what you create.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[Lauxa]

One of my favorite bloggers wrote about writing a little while ago. You might enjoy her article.

[Parthon]

Becoming aware of your inner monologue will help you distinguish your thoughts from your mind.

Try meditation as well, if you practice meditation you gain greater glarity and focus which helps with creating.

And practice. Mental discipline is a skill rarely taught. When you can divide your thoughts, seperate the idea from the opinion of the idea, then toy with the idea in your mind to make it better without negativity or criticism, that's when you're starting to get good. You can also develop the ability to think about a particular subject intently, or even avoid thinking about something completely. This is very handy for generating ideas.

I'm not familiar with any material on mental discipline, it's a skill I taught myself really. All it really takes is a direction, willingness and some persistance.

[sbdiane]

There is a book out there called the Artist's Way that is supposed to be very good. There are classes in my area centered around it. One of the main techniques is to start each day with morning pages. Free-writing. I have not used any of the techniques so this info is all third-hand from hearing how much help others have gotten from the methods in the book.

[Elrond]

Why do you seem to be mostly interested in the older members input? Surely, if you wanted to access states of mind that are more free-flowing and free of overt rationalization, you would try to get inspired by children. It is they who have imagenery friends and generally vivid imaginations. It is interesting how you seem to go about the subject kindof backwards

What, do you think that I'm just teasing you and have no basis to claim that adopting a more child-like state of mind can be directly benefitial to you? Guess again...

Adults spend most of their wakeful lives in the dominant brainwave of beta. These are brainwaves between 12 and 38 hertz. This is mostly linked with reasoning, logical thinking, critical thinking, alertness, stress... i.e. these brainwaves create a very wakeful state of mind.

Children spend much more of their time than adults in the alpha and theta range, which are slower brainwaves. This is partly what makes them able to soak up information like sponges and learn things without anyone needing to shove a curriculum down their throats. The alpha range is also associated with greater creativity. It has been found that people in creative proffesions produce more of these brainwaves than the average adult. There is a lot more that is benefitial to the alpha and theta range, and you can do a google search on that if you want to.

If you want to enter these states, or create more of these brainwaves, there are these two options that I know of:

- meditation
- brain entrainment

There might be some other way to buff up those lower frequencies, too. I dunno.

Disclaimer: I don't have any specific source or whatever for this, since most is from memory. If you were curious about that.

[The Backward OX]

Hey guys

Andyf
Thanks for the suggestion. I’d heard of this, and it may work for me.

Apollia
You’ve got to be female? If I did all that, I’d have no time to write. But thanks anyway.

Lauxa
That blog was really good. I especially enjoyed the pottery analogy. Just what the doctor ordered.

Parthon
You might have some good ideas hidden in there somewhere but I couldn’t find them. Maybe I could be your speech-writer?

sbdiane
I won’t bother with the book but the free-writing does seem flavour of the month. Thanks.

Elrond
That is all good stuff and most inspiring. I’ve heard most of it before, and it seems I just need to apply some of it. Brain entrainment? I’ll have to look into that. My trouble might be my age. I’ve already gone past three score years and ten, and the rut is fairly deep. Something that annoys me is that I know this one old guy – he’s sixty-four – who never grew up, and can write unbelievably funny stuff with both hands tied behind his back. And at the same time he’s a successful international businessman. Thanks anyway.

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Hey guys
Elrond
That is all good stuff and most inspiring. I’ve heard most of it before, and it seems I just need to apply some of it. Brain entrainment? I’ll have to look into that. My trouble might be my age. I’ve already gone past three score years and ten, and the rut is fairly deep. Something that annoys me is that I know this one old guy – he’s sixty-four – who never grew up, and can write unbelievably funny stuff with both hands tied behind his back. And at the same time he’s a successful international businessman. Thanks anyway.

I dunno what 3 score years and ten years means, maby your age? Or maybe you think you have exhausted your creative reserves. I don't think so. There are many creative spirits of our history that cranked out more work than most people do in several lifetimes. So maybe you also have that ability.

And the 64 year old guy... alternatively, you could try to look at him as an inspiration.

[Apollia]

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Apollia
You’ve got to be female?

Correct.

If I did all that, I’d have no time to write.

I wasn't suggesting that you journal for 10 hours non-stop every day for 5 years or anything like that, I just meant some reasonable amount of time - like for 5 or 10 minutes after you wake up and before going to sleep. (And maybe other times as well if you feel like it).

It usually only takes something like 5 or 10 minutes per day for me to note down my dreams, but it has contributed quite well to me developing more of a habit of being able to relax, loosen up, and avoid being totally paralyzed by the urge to edit too much. Of course, everyone's mileage may vary.

But thanks anyway.

You're welcome.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[Patty]

A wonderful book about writing (by a writer) which is full of excellent suggestions is, Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott. You'll laugh when you read it.
Good luck!

[The Backward OX]

Originally Posted by Elrond

I dunno what 3 score years and ten years means, maby your age?

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This:
score skɔr, skoʊr[skawr, skohr] Pronunciation Key; noun,

11. a group or set of 20: about a score of years ago.

So, simple arithmetic tells us that three score years and ten – a very common literary expression – is seventy.

And the 64 year old guy... alternatively, you could try to look at him as an inspiration.

I do

[liverpool footballer]

One problem i faced earlier on was that when i wrote, i sometimes felt compelled to be descriptive and have a very wide and varied vocabulary. I unconsciously tried to follow the style of other writers, having a very descriptive setting. Sometimes when i felt like putting flashback or the thoughts of a character, i'd think that no one does that or that it wouldn't make sense in the book form.

All of these problems limited me until i decided to eff it. I didn't like being descriptive, so i stopped trying to be. I wrote however i felt would be the most impactful without caring how most books were or how it would look like in book form. Simply put, i stopped trying to be like other writers and just wrote it my way. Once i threw off all these unconscious restrictions, writing became far easier and enjoyable.

As for ideas and flights of fancy, i always get inspired when i read fantasy books or martial arts novels. They provoke my imagination and give me an urge to create my own characters and journeys and all that. I suppose reading other books also provokes your own creativity.

[Parthon]

Wow, I didn't think I was unclear at all, and even when I reread what I said, even though it's compact, it still makes sense to me. What parts don't make sense?

The essence of the post though was three skills that could help:

Identifying and becoming aware of your internal monologue.
Meditation.
Mental Discipline.

And like I said, I don't know of any resources because I was self taught.

[The Backward OX]

Originally Posted by Parthon

Wow, I didn't think I was unclear at all, and even when I reread what I said, even though it's compact, it still makes sense to me. What parts don't make sense?

I was kidding. But on the “avoid thinking about something completely” angle, try for just the next ten-fifteen seconds –starting NOW - not thinking at all about computer keyboards. I want you to put all your mental energy into this – don’t think at all about computer keyboards. Come on, I want to see real effort here – you’re not trying hard enough – don’t think about computer keyboards! Harder! Don’t think about computer keyboards!

See what I mean? The mind cannot grasp the opposite of an idea.

[chopsaw]

Backward Ox,

It's my opinion that writers need to be more perceptive than imaginative. Since every story has been told and retold (theoretically) it's character that makes each piece unique.

Over three score and ten you have had to meet some real-life "characters." Start putting them together in places and see how they react. Seeing how these characters react is an act of perception on the author's part. How well do you know your characters or the people they are based on? Can you predict how someone will act in a certain circumstance?

Example: Put an ex-wife and soon to be daughter in law in a kitchen before a holiday meal. The soon to be daughter in law talks about her boyfriend. To the ex wife, it sounds like this girl is talking about her no good ex husband. How would this scenario play out?

Don't forget to tell us what they are making, what they are wearing, etc. Put it all in, you can always take it out later when you edit.

And if writing it bogs down, then think how you would tell this story to a group of your friends over drinks. Once it's on paper (so to speak) start to tinker.

Another thing, don't discuss your writing. If you talk about it, it's like uncorking the genie, and once it's told you won't write it down. Keep it inside and only let it come out when you write.

[Parthon]

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I was kidding. But on the “avoid thinking about something completely” angle, try for just the next ten-fifteen seconds –starting NOW - not thinking at all about computer keyboards. I want you to put all your mental energy into this – don’t think at all about computer keyboards. Come on, I want to see real effort here – you’re not trying hard enough – don’t think about computer keyboards! Harder! Don’t think about computer keyboards!

See what I mean? The mind cannot grasp the opposite of an idea.

It's possible, just very few people can actually do it. I did it just then, but it took a lot of "effort" as you were saying computer keyboard so much, and I had one in front of me. I say "effort" because you are completely right, the mind can't grasp the opposite of an idea. The only thing you can do is bring no-thought to it.

By the way, thanks also. I didn't realise until now it's possible to be aware of something, and still not think about it. Wow that's a head rush. I can look at something and be fully aware of it, but not be thinking about it at all. That just blew me away.