Writing Outside Your Story

I first learned about short self-assignments from Natalie Goldberg's well-known primer, Writing Down the Bones. Goldberg introduced the concept of "freewriting" to us with that book, and many writers discovered new energy to sail past writing stall-outs by giving themselves freedom to write small, short, and random.

Working on a book project often brings me a sense of being so overwhelmed, I can't think of anything to write about. I make brainstorming lists of topics, and this helps. But sometimes I have to write outside my story, just to get the momentum going again.

Short self-assignments help tremendously.

In another Natalie Goldberg book, Thunder and Lightning, I read her story of a time when she and a friend were stuck, unhappy, and unable to think of how to move forward creatively. They tried talking. They tried taking a hike. But nothing worked until they both sat down and did a timed writing session. As I remember the anecdote, they picked a topic outside their current writing projects, something that had less importance or weight, and this freed up the stuckness.

I wanted to share this idea if you’re finding yourself in need of a boost this week. For me, getting stuck is a normal process that helps me work my way out of repeating the same thing over and over. I’m forced to try something new and use my creative imagination.

One way I do this is by writing outside my story.

Writing your way back in from outside

In both painting and writing, I can become too timid—afraid of “messing up” what I’ve started but not realized fully.

Often, this leads to stuckness. I become overwhelmed with the importance of what I’ve already done and don’t want to risk! When this happens, I write outside my story by giving myself a very short self-assignment.

I use a list of random words. I set a kitchen timer for 20 minutes and let myself blah, blah on paper without worrying about quality or quantity. I come up with nothing, sometimes, so I try it again the next day. Eventually, the trick works. I come upon an idea, something completely new.

It might be a small idea, not really big enough to mess anything up, but enough to intrigue me. To mull it over, I take a walk.

This evening, when I tried it, I looked at the field behind our house, where the farmer just hayed, and the huge rolls of hay in the late sun reminded me of a Claude Monet painting. Somehow the image of that field and the thought of this artist gave me an idea for my struggling chapter.

I set the chapter aside and wrote for two hours about that field, that light, that idea.

At first, it seemed a detour. But as I wrote, I found it connected very subtly to my story, and there was a cool way to weave it in.

Felt like a miracle. Want one for yourself?

Your Weekly Writing Exercise

1. Pick one of the following words:

red
lamp
wicker
sparrow
gutter
fingernail
bottle
rusty nail

2. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Write anything that comes, using the word as a trigger. Don't think about your story. Write outside of it.

3. Put the writing aside and take a walk. Let the scenery around you bring something to your imagination.

4. When you get home, set the timer for 20 minutes again. Go back to a stuck place in your story. Bring what you've just experienced to the page.

Photo by John Murphey on Unsplash