I’m just gonna give a little shoutout to Jack Grapes
For years he’s been teaching a thing called “Method Writing” and one of his core techniques is the literary equivalent of streaking…
It’s basically you running naked through a field of words, while letting whatever bonkers thought nuggets tumble out of your skull meat and onto the page.
You don’t stop or edit. You don’t let your inner critic come say hello on your shoulder. You just keep writing.
And whatever comes out. Just stays. Could be about your breakfast. Could be about that weird dream you had where your teeth turned into tiny harmonicas. Could be any entire paragraph about how pigeons are secretly government surveillances drones (which they are…)
The point isn’t to write something good. The point is to write something true. Something raw and unfiltered.
All you need to do is a set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes or whatever you feel comfortable with and get to work.
If your hand starts to cramp? Tough. Keep going.
Running out of ideas? Write “I have no ideas” fifty times until new ideas burst out of your writer-ly chest cavity.
This exercise isn’t about craft or making art.
It’s a technique to get your brain to know that it’s totally cool to just spit out words of pure consciousness.
The good stuff? The real writing? That all comes later. The aim is to get your brain to produce words on demand.
If you want to go deep down this rabbit hole, jump onto Amazon and punch in Jake Grapes. Those two books are a MUST have if you have to produce loads of words or if you have days where you doubt yourself.
(…and remember: pigeons aren’t real.)
Stephen Walker