Write In Bursts

Most people look at writing as a long, daunting task that is impossible to finish. Most people say they love to write but actually don’t do anything about it.

So they never start. Or start to write a line then never follow through. Two lines and excuses start coming out. “I don’t have time to do this” or “I’m too busy” or “I’m not cut out for this.” Lies. Lies, lies and more lies. These are lies that we tell ourselves to avoid writing. Lies we tell ourselves so we don’t have to feel the difficulty of coming up with something to write.

Those are the exact same thing I told myself until I discovered how EASY it was to actually string sentences together to form a coherent thought. I also discovered that the more I wrote, the better I became.

The first thing I did to be more confident and start writing better, is to write down my ideas as soon as they come to mind. Some people would call these “blocks” but to me, it sounded like big, bulky, cumbersome things that are heavy and hard to move around which isn’t what I was going for. So instead, I called them my little “bursts” as in “bursts of inspiration.” “Burst” is after all defined as sudden, intense displays of activity, energy or effort.

And that’s exactly how I would like my writing to be — bursts of inspiration – sudden and intense. An explosion of words on a page waiting to happen. That’s what I’m talking about.

To me a “burst” is a 10-20 minutes of intense writing or it can even be shorter depending on you. I started at 5 minutes and worked my way up. You’ll notice that time flies when you start writing and once you get used to these “bursts” you’ll find yourself writing longer, more and more. It also gets rid of distractions because you unconsciously go into a world of your own.

Your only company would be yourself and your mind or as experienced writers put it, “getting in the zone.”

Getting In The Zone

You would often hear athletes, artists, musicians and yes, writers — speak of being “in the zone.” When people say they’re “in the zone,” it means they do something instinctively, without having to think of it, they do it and do it good. They get so wrapped up in what they’re doing they don’t have an idea how good they are doing it until it’s over.

To “write without thinking” you have to “get in the zone”… these are two different things but can also be the same thing in some ways. When you’re in the zone, you don’t think about writing but just do it. You write a steady stream of words that pour out on the page like a water fountain without you being aware of the time or anything or anyone around you but what you are writing. It’s a frenzied sort of feeling, like you just have to write down everything you’re feeling and thinking about at that moment.

Getting in the zone is a practiced art. Once you are already practiced in the art of writing, getting in the zone comes naturally. OK, so it’s going to take time but hey, nothing worth knowing is easy to learn right? Did you think Tiger Woods got in the zone when he first swung a golf club? Did you think Michael Jordan was in the zone when he shot his first basket?

They practiced, they honed and perfected their skills. It didn’t magically come to them.

Getting in the zone starts from somewhere. It doesn’t just happen.

Your writing has to start from somewhere. Once you start writing you’ll soon get in the zone without realizing it until it’s over or until someone or something distracts you and takes you out of it.

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to continue a stream of consciousness writing that gets interrupted by distractions. You just can’t find that zone no matter how hard you try. So it’s really important to be rid of any distractions before you start writing.

Common Distractions

And what pray tell could these distractions be? Well for one, those people who are near and dear to you, who you refer to as your family and friends. You live with them, they come to your room and bother the heck out of you, wanting to know what you’re doing, how can they help, etc. Closing and locking your bedroom usually does the trick, as well as turning off your cell phone.

It’s already hard enough to come up with something to write without constantly having to see who sent you a text message or answer it when it rings. Just turn it off.

Another distraction could be surfing the net. While surfing the net is helpful to you as a writer, it can quickly become a distraction if you get carried away surfing. What you may call “doing research” is actually nothing more than mindless browsing from site to site.

You might as well turn off your computer for all the good this can do you when you’re trying to write.

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