Thinking: Enough vs. Too Much

Writers and artists pride themselves on the fact that their pursuit is wholly intellectual. It takes a certain amount of brains to sit down and spin out a scenario that doesn't, and in many cases couldn't, exist in real life. But a lot of writers sit in front of their computers and just stare. And stare. And stare. How do I get Maude and her sister from the party to the castle? I've just locked Throckmorton in a room with a hyena - what next?

For these occasions, I find it tremendously helpful to take off my writer hat (while keeping my writer gloves on) and just watching the action, taking dictation as it unfolds. In real life, most things happen fairly quickly. It takes a split second to run a red light, hit another car, and kill your family. It takes less than a minute for piranhas to rip apart and devour a frog.

When closing off your brain and just writing words as fast as you possibly can, you do two things: you allow events to come up naturally without overthinking or second guessing, and you move your plot forward by leaps and bounds. I have to say that my own experience has been that my plot and characters came together in a more realistic, more satisfying way than they would have if I'd sat down and planned it all out. And again, isn't that more like real life? You sit down and plan your day, but the minute you walk out the door, all bets are off. Anything could happen and sometimes, it's just a matter of time before your plan falls apart.

In real life, we don't spend a lot of time thinking and planning our every move. We tend to plan things in broad swaths and allow for the inevitable chaos that follows. Let your writing be more like your real life!