Set a timer for ten minutes. Close down your Internet tabs-- all of them. No Twitter, no Facebook, no Pandora, no nothing. NO CHEATING. Open a new document. Do not open any saved documents. Stare at the blank screen until the timer goes off. Do not force yourself to think about anything specifically. Just sit.
Now write about wherever your mind had wandered in those ten minutes of pure freedom.
If it was not directly related to one of your works in progress (for example, all you could think about was your dirty dishes piling up), then find a way to make it related to one of your works in progress.
Like... wouldn't it be great if those dishes could wash themselves?
Voila! "Dirty dishes" meets Arthurian fantasy.
Happy writing,
~Lydia
I have a post-in-waiting on the same subject of 'magic' I'd perform if I could. Who cares if I could saw someone in half? I'd make those dishes wash themselves. Same for the floors and the toilets!
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea! I'll have to give this a try! Is there something specifically helpful about staring at a blank screen, or would sitting quietly on one's sofa with a cup of tea do the trick?
ReplyDeleteI think that would work, too, as long as you're not looking/watching anything in particular, like the television. Or a book. ;-)
DeleteLydia, sometimes I think we should put the oven timer on for ten minutes when we GET ON the internet. That way we have all of our time to let our minds "imagine" whatever,not to mention tons more writing time :)
ReplyDeleteAhhh, very interesting. I don't have as much trouble with the internet as some other writers because I never turn my wireless on when I'm writing. But getting my butt in the chair TO write? Not so easy...
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great exercise. I can't imagine starring at a white screen for a WHOLE ten minutes. :)
ReplyDeleteLove it - got to try it. Wonder how hard it will be to close down all tabs.
ReplyDeleteHaha that's a cute way to get some writing done! :D
ReplyDeleteInteresting way to get the Muse flowing.
ReplyDelete