Writing

Make writing work for you

You might not think it, but you write differently, dependent on what tools you use.

Our brains engage on different levels when typing compared with when we use pen and paper.

But what other factors change the way your brain tackles the creative process?

1. Location

Be it in your room, in the library, on the steps of a large building, at a mate’s house…wherever you are, your emotions are altered based on your surrounding.

In turn, your writing takes on a different life.

The next time you can’t get the words out, your creativity will burst through when you just change where you are. Just pick up your stuff and take it somewhere else.

Better still, take it somewhere new. See how the unknown surroundings open your thoughts up to places you didn’t know existed.

2. Format of the paper/screen

Paper comes in various types, suited to all sorts of situations. Plain paper, lined paper, squared paper, notation paper, and so on.

Standard lined paper may restrict the way in which you work. Why not buy a plain moleskin notebook and let the perfectly empty canvas take you to the heart of your creativity?

3. Shape and size of medium

Are you an A4 fiend, or an A1 wonder? Do you open the word processor window in fullscreen, or do you keep half the screen real estate available to other applications?

The physical appearance of what you use to write with can also lead to different actions within the creative process.

An enormous sheet of blank paper may be screaming out to some people as a challenge to be covered, while others will see an ever bigger piece of paper as an ever shrinking confined space.

4. Time of day/Weather

Most of us know that we react better at certain points in the day. However, we also take cues from the state of the atmosphere.

When the sun is out and there’s peace all around, you may fare far better with a sunny disposition.

Alternatively, the sun may be a distraction for having fun, so your prime writing time may be on a dull day when nobody wants to leave their room.

It all depends on personal preference.

Of course, we can’t control the weather, but it’s worth getting an understanding of what influences you.

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The act of writing is more than a simple set of processes that you either have or don’t have. You have the power to form a state in which the writing comes easily.

Before you work on inspiration, you have to find the right surroundings and tools to be inspired…

How not to go over your word limit

Recently, I wrote about beating writer’s block and taking control of your Internal Editor.

But some of us don’t have that problem. At times, writing takes place effortlessly. Before you know it, you’re hundreds – if not thousands – of words over your word limit.

Word limits are there for a reason. If 1,500 words are required for an essay, it will be marked down if you submit double that.

Inability to edit an essay is just as dangerous as a writer’s block. It’s when your Internal Editor has gone on holiday, or when you’ve told him to sod off completely. Bad move. Get the Editor back, sharpish. If the essay has gone way over the word limit and you don’t think you can cut anything out of the essay, you’re wrong. Plain and simple.

Here are a few ways you can claw things back:

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11 ways to take control of your Internal Editor

Our thoughts are fluid and continuous, but essay style is perceived as a particular state that should generally be adhered to. In writing, you have to ignore the rules to get the best results. Once you’ve coaxed the words out of your head and experienced all sorts of crazy comments, only then should you craft what you’ve got into the strict essay style.

We all have an Internal Editor inside our head. The Editor doesn’t like what we write. And we don’t like it when our work is criticised.

That’s why writing can be so difficult. All the jarring moments where a word won’t fit; time spent searching for a word that’s on the tip of your tongue and just won’t come out; worrying that you haven’t explained yourself properly.

The Internal Editor has the cheek to pick you up on these findings straight away. How would you feel if someone was stood behind you, tutting or laughing each time they disapproved of your work? The Internal Editor does that. It’s your job to ignore the tuts and laughs until the Editor stops bothering you.

You have many ways of doing this. The most direct way is ‘JUST WRITE’. But the Editor likes to play on your confidence too, so you need to find other ways of working before this can work at the click of your fingers.

So before fitting all the words in your essay together, it’s essential to work in varying ways to find how you handle your work best. Try these suggestions:

List important points and keywords that you want to focus on. Already, it’ll give you some platforms to begin from.
Write in a stream of consciousness. Let it take you all over the place. Don’t stop and think about it, just let your mind create all sorts of weird and wonderful associations about the essay.
Have a conversation. Imagine you’re talking to someone else and write the conversation up. You could be speaking to your lecturer, to one of the main people your essay is about, to a critic whose work you agree with. What do they think? What opinions do you think they would have about the question(s) you’re trying to answer?
Begin with concluding remarks. If you already have an opinion, get that written down first. Then you can work backwards and look to support your belief/hypothesis/plan.
Attempt an Abstract. How would you sum up your work in a couple of paragraphs if it was already finished?
Don’t just type into a word processor. Use a pen and paper, write on an e-mail screen, write it in Facebook, go from A4 pad to post-it notes. Everything concentrates your mind in a different way.
Create a mind map. Visualise the topics, the line of questioning, the key arguments, the facts, the things other academics have thought about it. Branch off until you have all sorts of avenues you can explore further.
Find quotes that interest you on the subject and work around them. Get your inspiration from others!
Make a short plan of themes in your essay (e.g. introduction, study of words, criticism of structure, analysis of other theories, back stories, further arguments toward your ideas/opinions, conclusion). A structure is a clear indication of what you want to write, even if it isn’t the essay itself. Structures are far less intimidating than staring at a blank page.
Initially treat the essay as notes. If you’re better at noting down information, treat your first drafts as an exercise in note-taking. Your internal editor probably doesn’t disturb you so much when you’re writing notes from a book or a lecture…
Don’t think about word count, don’t think about quality, don’t think about punctuation, don’t think about ANYTHING! As I said above, the most direct Writing Block is to just write and see where it takes you. The editing comes after the writing, not before and not during.

In time, the Internal Editor will discover you’re not going to listen to their complaints until the moment you ask to hear them. That’s when you’re in control and your Internal Editor is working for you; not the other way around.

Good luck shutting the voice up!

Brilliant Beginnings, Marvellous Middles, Excellent Endings

When a piece of work presents itself to you, what are your reactions throughout the creative process? Unless you’re a consistent master, at least one of these problems will have cropped up along the way:

You just can’t start on it. You just dwell on it and ignore it for days;
You begin enthusiastically, you reach your conclusions convincingly, yet the bulk in between those two posts feels like a drag;
You get the majority out of the work out the way, but never fully close the door on it. The end never comes.

Let’s take each point individually and go through five ways you can improve each section:

Finding a brilliant beginning

1. Stop worrying about it – The more you build up starting, the worse it’ll feel. In no time, you scare yourself into never wanting to look at another piece of work again. Your fears just get in the way of progress. The more you deal with getting the work started, the easier it will be to crack on with the rest of the project.

2. Just start! – No matter how little you’ve planned, and regardless of how little you think you know, just start writing. At this stage, you don’t need to be convincing and you don’t need to treat the work like a final draft. Even if you discard 90% of what you write later, that 10% you keep could be where all the drive and magic comes from.