Some years ago, I picked up The Write-Brain Workbook. Most likely, I had forgotten to return a reply card to the Writer’s Digest Book Club, but I was happy with this purchase nonetheless.
Bonnie Neubauer’s colorful workbook offers 366 short exercises “to liberate your writing.” Bold images combine with intriguing story starters to fire up the creative juices and inspire you to write something. At the end of each exercise is a “next step” to encourage you to explore your attitudes toward writing and to advance your writing life. These exercises are intended as daily writing practice and only take 10 minutes or so to finish.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each and every exercise I’ve completed.
Unfortunately, after more than three years, I only finished exercise #31 last night. And that was a struggle.
I didn’t want to…
It was the blank page.
Some exercises have a relatively small, prescribed area for your scribblings. This one had an almost blank page, with the following starter: “In his rearview mirror, the cab driver saw… ”
I didn’t want to face the pressure of filling that page, partly because the idea of writing about a cab driver didn’t appeal to me. Yet, I didn’t want to skip the exercise because my Type A personality insists on tackling each exercise in its order.
So, for the last several days, I opened up the workbook, stared at that page, and closed it again, deciding to pursue that exercise at a later time.
But I did…
Finally, realizing that the exercise wasn’t going to change the next time I opened the book, I forged ahead. And ten minutes later, the page was full. Not with any great insight or particularly brilliant prose, but the start of a story was on the page. I even spent a few minutes answering the day’s “next step.”
The act of overcoming my resistance and pushing through that exercise boosted my spirits. It also inspired me to review previous exercises, and I came upon one that startled me. The writing had taken such a twisted turn from the original premise that I would never have recognized it as my own were it not for my distinctive penmanship.
And now…
This marvelous book has sat on my nightstand for years, largely ignored while I pursued other writing projects. Only last night, by pushing through a week’s worth of resistance, did I recognize some of the deeper benefits of these seemingly trivial writing exercises:
- Daily writing, even on this small scale, creates a feeling of achievement.
- Super-short time commitment makes them easy to fit into any schedule.
- Crazy, off-the-wall concepts push the boundaries of your creativity.
- Even less-interesting exercises wrap up quickly so you can move on.
- These snippets of writing can act springboards for future writing projects.
By avoiding those things we don’t want to do, we often deprive ourselves in many other, small and not-so-small ways. How has resistance hindered your writing? Or, how have you overcome resistance?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
To be honest it’s not writing something that causes me problems. It’s writing something that I want to post.
Generally I’ll just keep writing and deleting until I work through it.
Part of the problem comes with having multiple interests. Like business.
And that could be dealt with by having multiple sites I suppose.
Today I looked at writing prompts online. They didn’t help me choose a topic but I did write a story. So I suppose that helps in a similar way to the book you are working through..
Writing prompts remind me of creative writing assignments from school. They’re fun. Unfortunately, without my GPA on the line, prompts no longer force me to finish a story.
That being said, I’m fascinated by the number of times I’ve re-read these rough-hewn blocks of text and found myself wanting to know what happens.
Why do you delete the work that you don’t want to post? Perhaps it will have value in another forum or on another day. One of the great things about text files is the fact they don’t take up much space.
Usually the things I delete are sad.
Sometimes they are ideas that lead nowhere.
And sometimes they are about things that make me angry. Things that I just need to get over and accept.
And while I feel ok writing them I don’t want to share them. Or save them..
That sums up the way I feel about many of my journals, although those also include some interesting and/or funny entries. In fact, sometimes I avoid writing certain sad things because I don’t want to relive them at a later date, despite the fact that writing them down could have a cathartic effect.
I wish more people were reading/ commenting on your site.
The questions are very relevant and insightful.
Thanks, Glen. ‘Tis a very young site, and I’m not really promoting it yet. Any recommendations you’d care to share with a relative newbie?
I’m enjoying your blog as well. It’s making me want to be more disciplined about writing. Or at least, just make the time to write. Since I write mostly for my own enjoyment, it’s easy for me to get sidetracked Years ago, when I took a short story writing class, I devoted more of my time to writing. That’s what deadlines do to me.
One exercise that stood out to me in that class was to take a scent, let the aroma of it take over your senses, bringing you back to another time in your life, then write about what it made you think of.
Thank you, Skye. I really appreciate the generous feedback.
Years ago, I signed up for a correspondence fiction course, knowing that I wouldn’t write without an external motivation. Unfortunately, my assignments would come in later… and later, prompting heartfelt apologies to my instructor. She told me not to worry; the deadlines were only suggestions. Wrong thing to say. She didn’t hear from me again for six months.
That exercise you describe sounds wonderful. It calls to mind the madeleine scene from Proust (referenced in this blog in “Paper Madeleines”). Do you ever use that exercise now? What’s your opinion on the use of smell, taste and touch in writing? It seems to me that we overlook these equally important senses, focusing more on sight and sound.
Yeah, I’m with you. Don’t give me an “out,” because I’ll more than likely use it.
As for using more of the senses, I find that when I do, the writing turns out of a more personal nature. I don’t always intentionally use this method, but if you look through my posts, you’ll see periodic stuff written using it. Sometimes, it’s too personal, or at least, more personal than I normally would feel comfortable sharing in person.
An interesting take. I can see how writing with the senses lends itself to personal revelation simply because you’re filtering everything through your own senses.
My first experience with this type of exercise came in the seventh grade, when we were tasked with writing a story that included all five senses. My story involved a cursed, reanimated mummy in an Egyptian tomb, so it was as far removed from reality as a story can get.
BTW, if either of you would be interested, I would love to include any guest posts you’d care to submit on this blog. This isn’t supposed to be my personal soapbox, but a forum where any and all writers will hopefully share their own experiences to inspire others to keep writing.