Write About Non Writing Problems

Today I was distressed over a problem (not a writing problem) and I knew it was interfering with my writing.  So, I decided to write about the problem and see what would happen.  Two and a half hours later I stopped writing.  And, I had a fairly good handle on the problem and the solution.  I felt energized to do my writing, in particular this blog.

However, part of writing is reading and I also felt a need to do some reading.  I picked up Peter Elbow's Writing with Power and opened to a page that resonated with today's blog.  Specifically, he says "There are certain times in the natural cycle of any enterprise – a job, a trip, a relationship, a course of study, a writing task – when it is useful to stop and write out some of your thoughts and feelings." (p. 97)  He gives a number of examples and one of them is when you feel stuck.  I felt incredibly stuck.  Writing allowed not only the full expression of the emotions I was feeling but as well allowed those feelings to both build and then dissipate as I got clarity on the problem and therefore was able to work out a solution.

There may be times when a single session of the kind of problem oriented free writing will not be enough to allow you to get going on your writing project.  Yet, in my experience the more a writer and wannabe writer gets into the habit of writing when they're stuck about something that has nothing to do with the writing, the more they get used to expressing their feelings and discharging them, the more they gain needed clarity and move on to what they really want to do — write!