A Surprisingly Effective Writing Trick I’ve Never Seen Explained Before
Struggling to produce? This will help.
When you’ve got something rolling around in your brain, and you’re unsure exactly what it is, do you ever come to the page to “work it out?”.
I haven’t seen another Writer explain this before, and I’m certain I’m not the one only doing it.
What it means to me to “work it out on the page”, is to arrive to the page and write my way into the topic.
When I dive into the writing, I hear my own voice in my head and I sort of follow the train. As I think, I type.
I don’t know exactly what I’m here to say yet — especially if the topic is personal and layered. For instance, I have a few essay ideas I’ll be exploring soon, and since they’re emotionally heavy, I’m having a hard time getting to the bottom of what I want to say.
Pretty normal, right?
When things hurt, it’s harder to write about them. I’m sure you get it.
I start writing, find my voice, and somewhere inside the listening, and the following, I end up at a point. Or a conclusion, or a revelation.
If you’re a new writer aspiring to produce a consistent volume of personal essays, “writing your way into the piece” will support you to get something down.
Since, I’m sure you know, holding yourself accountable to start writing and continue producing is the hardest part about writing. Ideas are endless, execution is not.
Finding your unique writing habit is half the battle. I recommend writing your way into your piece becomes part of yours.
“But, Julia, what if I write my way into the piece and none of it makes any sense. What if it’s all garbage only I’d understand?”, I can hear you asking. I figured you would, so here’s what I think:
- delete that part
- delete the “throat clearing”
- yes, I really said delete it!
Just because you type something out doesn't mean it needs to stay there.
That’s what editing is for. And be ruthless with your editing. Don’t become precious about keeping all your words.
We’ve heard it before and it bears repeating: kill your darlings. Delete the “throat clearing”. If writing your way into a piece, or working it out on the page produces your main point, the process has done its job, and you can delete what doesn’t make sense, or shape and form it into something coherent.
Or dare I say, profound.
So, good luck finding the voice inside your head, listening to it, following it where it leads, and discovering what you need to say, right here, on the page.
