Writing as Thinking

A good friend of mine, Derek, emailed me this post and it’s reminded me of how useful it can be to write in order to work out how you think/feel about something. The article, by Frank Chimero, discusses how shorter means of writing, things like Twitter, are not the best means of addressing more involved subject matter. And I have to say, I agree wholeheartedly.

The article got me thinking about the ways in which I think about things, and I discovered that I actually need to write things out in order to come to grips with them. Take, for instance, my recent posts here about my characters and their motivations. Writing a novel and creating a believable setting, set-up and the corresponding characters is a long, awkward and rewarding process. But these things need extended consideration if they’re ever to amount to anything worthwhile. And so, in writing these blog posts I am actually thinking about the novel. Which is really nice because before I blogged about it, much of my thinking involved lying down in my bed with my eyes closed – and that’s still a valid and productive way of imagining a novel, but seeing words appear on a screen offers a different perspective. Writing down my thoughts also forces me to sustain my thoughts for more than a moment or two.

In the spirit of thinking by writing, I am now going to go and consider what Heather loves about being watched. I’ll let you know how I get on.