I’d compare holding off an idea to the
moment just before the needle pierces the skin in a hospital ward. The
recipient is tensed up for the critical impact while the hypo, clasped between
the trained fingers of a nurse cuts the air as it makes its way for the
disinfected spot. A unique tingle comes over that part of the body as it waits for
cold steel, hungry for blood to break skin and introduce its fluid into the
bloodstream.
There comes a time when you know you are
going to create something: a poem, a song, a story or even a project as tasking
as a novel. I’m talking about those times when the idea presents itself to the
mind as an impossible-to-make-out image, a piece of incomplete thought and you can’t
readily settle on how it’s going to turn out. Here’s what you can to do to
prevent yourself from ruining a great idea and end up burnt out.
Keep
a Notebook or Sheet of Paper
Scribble bits and pieces of thoughts and
phrases which you think have a connection with the idea at hand. You never know
which of these nuggets will spark a flame and maybe become the first line of your
story/poem. Jot down entire lines and sentences, from your readings if they so
much as inspire creative thinking. Sometimes, a snippet from a billboard ad could
be the seedbed for your idea.
Keep
an Open Mind
Vague as this tip sounds; it is a really
important step in cleaning up your mind and ridding it of leftovers from past
write-ups. You can actually choke on a good idea while trying to force the pattern
of a previous creation on it. Allow the idea free rein for as long as is
required for it to ripen.
Play
With the Idea
Don’t start the actual writing, yet. But do
write it in your mind. Try a free association of the most persistent phrases—those
expressions that keep recurring in flashes and seem to be the handle of the overall
idea. By doing this you keep from trying to force it and also, get a better grip
of the frame of the entire composition, at the same time. Richard Wilbur waited
fourteen years while jotting down phrases before he committed his pen to paper
to write his poem, The Mind-Reader.
Talk
to Yourself
Do it aloud or silently. Talk around the
idea; talk about its vagueness, how it squirrels away just before you can wrap
your fingers around its essence. Ponder what style of writing it could turn out to be; if it is something fresh
and unique or if it’s your regular thing. Brood over the theme (if you’ve
figured it out), go deep and feel the weight of the inspiration which presented
the idea and try to make yourself at home within it.
Take
Long Walks
Here’s one surefire weapon you can use to
tackle the edginess that accompanies the waiting period. Shorten the wait with walks and talks, is a saying you ought to
give a try. Go on long strolls, if you can find the time and place. Take that
time to tinker with the idea, turning it this way and that while you search for
the key that unlocks the door and sends you reeling into the heart of your next
creation.
Let
the Initial Emotion Cool Off
Above all, try not to write in the heat
of emotion. You stand a chance of muddling up the waters and scaring away dinner.
Your emotions can totally blind you and make everything you write look awesome. A few weeks or months after
your so-called spectacular write-up then you reread the work you have so
wonderfully created and Ouch! *Palm over face.*
A
good fisherman knows how to tease the fish; when to cast his net; when to reel
in his catch; and especially, when to hold off from upsetting the net. Now go
and do likewise.
This article is actually a product of waiting. The idea popped into my mind
around the month of April while I was doing NaPoWriMo
but I kept putting the moment of actual writing off; kept waiting for the idea to blossom and produce fruit. I can’t tell you
the thrill wasn’t worth the wait. And that’s the reason I believe that waiting
is a game to the trained mind. Waiting is
a writer’s game.
Keep your pens bleeding!
Akpan
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