As a dancer, Isadora Duncan rejected the structured positions and rigid forms of ballet. She improvised, focusing on letting her emotions dictate her movements. She allowed her gestures to flow from one to the next. Dancing was a natural response to music. Aleister Crowley wrote that she displayed an “‘unconsciousness’ — which is magical consciousness — with which she suits the action to the melody.”
We can apply the description to writing. Sometimes the words tumble and appear on the page. They evolve freely. Abstract thought becomes a general idea and finishes as flowing prose. To reach that state, the writer has to let go. Released from regulations and rules they give the unconscious mind room to run free. The author breaks constraining bonds and creates an uninhibited natural work of art.
How do you connect to your wild nature?
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer
I rarely free write any more. More to the point, I wright. I can spot precisely when this change occurred by looking at my old blog posts.
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Is it something you miss? Maybe you should give it a whirl…. for old times sake? 🙂
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This change occurred when I began taking a medication to control Tourette Syndrome. As an added bonus, it really squelched my OCD–those swirling obsessive thoughts that kept me up all night, affected my relationships, but also fueled my story telling style. The medicine hasn’t impacted my ability to write, in fact, I’m a more careful (and probably better) writer now, but I still find the 2+ year old shift in style disconcerting. But going off the medicine isn’t going to happen. Unlike Van Gogh, et al, art isn’t more important to me than quality of life.
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It sounds like the medication is a huge benefit. And you are right going off the medication would be a mistake.
However, I am wondering if there is a safe and productive way you can tap into the free form writhing you use to do? I don’t know but you sound sad about the loss.
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Here, now you’re my therapist. For a long time I really struggled with what happened to my writing. I even wrote a post suggesting that I was pretty much washed up (which ironically turned out to be about my best post ever). I ultimately wound up backing off 33% of the medication because I was feeling depressed and the OCD ramped up a little. I’m pretty happy with what I’m writing now, but it’s much more concise and constrained than some of the insane seeming pieces I used to write (which are all in my face right now because they’re being republished weekly by the Good Men Project). I used to sit down and the words all came spilling out and I’d make crazy connections that sort of made sense when I tied them all together at the end of the story. So yes, you might be right, maybe I should try to let stuff just splatter out of my head rather than try to craft it on the first go.
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Well Jeff, I am not a trained therapist nor do I play one on TV. So I guess you get what you pay for. 😎
That being said, perhaps you need to give yourself permission to just write without a purpose. No blog post, no set story idea, nothing. Write for you and see where your thoughts take you. I would go so far as to turn off auto correct (if you use your computer) or try writing by hand. I find I get very different results when I write by hand.
Let me know if you give it a try. I am curious to see what happens. 🙂👍
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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Thank you for re-blogging, Charles ✨💖✨
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