I am writing a fiction book this year. Been talking about it for so long and the time is right. The time has always been right but the excuses have always won out. But more about that another day.
So I sit in front of my computer and start typing. So far so good, my character development is great and I have a good start to the story. And then, mind blank. What’s next? What happens to her? Will she be fine? Wordcount is telling me I am at 234 and that sounds depressing.
The screen looks so blank, so I increase the font and while I am at it, play around with different fonts. I once read that Helvetica is one of the most professional looking fonts available. Maybe I should use it. Stop! Get back to the story. What happens next? Does he find her? Is this story even a thriller? Oh dear, how do I break this spell?
Maybe I should wait for inspiration. But no, that has never worked so I just have to persevere. I reach out for pen and paper. Typing, while efficient, is not that inspiring to me. I wonder whether pen and paper inspire me? Possibly. At least with pen and paper, it is easy to doodle. So I doodle and then I write and then doodle again and write again. And staring at a blank piece of paper feels different to staring at a computer screen. Because paper is filled with possibilites and the pen is the tool to explore these possibilities.
Everything goes. You freestyle, freeform, freethink. Your creativity explodes. Because this whole process has now moved away from trying to write a book and it has become an interaction between pen, paper and me.
Being creative is not so much the desire to do something as the listening to that which wants to be done. The dictation of the materials.
Anni Albers as read in http://www.austinkleon.com
Listen to what wants to be done. Interact with the materials. And do it. So much more pure, so much more inspired, so much better. A whole lot better.
- She’s safe.
Pretty Good Ash 
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