More About Writing

One of the ideas I want to take advantage of in my writing is "generative" writing or "free" writing. The idea is that I just sit down and write something out without pausing too much to think about what's coming out or how its coming out. Its sort of what I do here. It's a remarkable painless way to write and get lots of stuff on paper. And, actually, it turns out pretty good stuff. Stuff that with a few edits and a few changes and be decend. But, its not very directed and it doesn't feel like it moves in the right direction all the time. For it to be successful in the long run it needs to be directed by an outline or something towards a larger goal. So the trick is, I think, to move back and forth between writing something generative, then using it to create a thesis or outline, then generatively write a the supporting sections, then outline those, then on and on. Of course, it won't be that simple, since I'll be working up from the materials rather than down from the idea, but maybe sumarizing work, and putting my thoughts together - that is, I suppose, what note taking is all about - will meet these kinds of generative writing in the middle. And ideally, I'll be at a different stage on lots of different writing projects all the time. Maybe I can keep them organized on my desk.

It occurs to me that my writing about writing the last couple of days has been exactly what I need to do with my work. I should go back at the end of the week, look over this stuff, write up the good stuff, and organize it into a plan. But for now, writing, I need to believe this somehow is the plan, because that somehow makes this cooler. Or something.