Pull more threads, fight more monsters
We call this exercise pulling threads.
Remember back to a time when you pulled that string out of your sweatshirt? Wasn’t the thread much longer than you might’ve thought?
That’s how I like to visualize my best ideas. I imagine them working themselves out of my head and I have to pull them out onto the page. It’s a powerful technique for letting your creative process work itself out.
And, that’s what they’re doing, right? They’re wriggling. They’re contorting. They’re warping, clawing, and sneaking.
It’s a harsh reality, but it’s one that’s worth talking about; the creative process is an untamable beast.
In the early stages, we try and tame our creative process. It’s wild. It has a will of its own. It won’t rest. At least, not when you want it to.
Here’s my creative process trying to work some literary devices into my writing. A little flair. A tiny twist. One quick jab. The boom-da-doom of the prose breaks up the rhythm of the writing, keeping you engaged. Locked in.
Right? There’s this nice beauty to writing like this. Punch. Pow! Crisp. Wham. The writing flows. It holds cadence and does somersaults whenever it wants. Or, whenever you command.
Strong verbs, terse statements, startling your senses. A mixture of emotions, blended.
It’s a bit like poetry, no?
Give it a try. Let the words work their wary ways out of our brains and onto the canvas. Visitors on a page. Previous tenants of our minds. Let em’ stay.
