I sat down to start writing today and drew a blank. I wouldn’t exactly call it writer’s block because, as a friend let me know recently, I’m not a real enough writer to get writer’s bock. We all need friends to boost our confidence like that. But still, nothing was working and I was feeling stuck. So I decided to resort to stream of consciousness. According to Wikipedia, stream of consciousness “refers to the flow of thoughts of the conscious mind.” It’s a device that’s used in literature in the visual arts, creating as you go, without planning the finished product. I’m going to just let the words flow. Sometimes, I am full of ideas and my fingers can hardly move quickly enough over my keyboard while my brain floods with ideas and information. Other times, like now, I want to be shooting out fascinating pearls of wisdom or witty commentary on a timely topic, but instead, I’m thinking about what to eat for lunch, what to eat for dinner, what to wear to a party this weekend: Maybe the red dress? No, not the red dress. Is it time for a haircut? When’s a good time to go grocery shopping? Maybe I should walk down the hall to the ladies’ room… Maybe I need some coffee…
It might sound like I am procrastinating, but it’s not that I don’t want to be writing. I really do, but I am stuck. I thought stream of consciousness would help me here, as it has been a good method for me in the past. Remember those punishment assignments in elementary school. Not the really stupid ones like writing “I will not… in class” one hundred times. I’m talking about the semi-stupid ones like writing a 500 word essay about what you did and why you regret it. Not that I was given those assignments too often… But once in a while, when it happened, I used the punishment as an opportunity for developing my creative writing skills. I remember starting off writing about whatever terrible offense I had committed and then having fun going off in all directions, and ending my paper somewhere completely different. That was fun!
Some of my best work has been done when I gave it the least thought; some of my best and smartest decisions have been made when I didn’t “overthink”, and hopefully, that has been the result today, as well. I’m even a little hesitant to edit this post because I will inevitably make corrections and that will take away from the spontaneous nature I was going for. Stream of consciousness writing is as though I am speaking whatever is on my mind without editing and polishing. Of course, spelling and grammar errors would be embarrassing, so let’s hope for the best. I hope it’s been interesting to get a glimpse of the inner workings of the mind of Wanda.
