Just started a WILD MIND writing practice with my students. They never let me skip it! Grabbed the idea from Natalie Goldberg, and have used it ever since in my creative writing classes. Kids, teens, old and young love it.
Even if you’re not a writer, give it a try! START HERE…
Imagine an ancient faucet. The kind you had in grade school or at camp. When you turned it on, warm, stale water came out in orangey-brown spurts, but after a few minutes, it cleared up and you got something you could use. Same with writing. You need to let the rusty thoughts out so when you start or get back to whatever writing project you’re working on that day, your mind is clear.
Pick any provocative word or phrase to get you started: death, ecstasy, vision, privacy, friend, enemy, elephants…OR you can use one of Natalie’s tried and true cattle prods:
“I know…”
“I remember…”
“I hate…”
“I can’t wait until…”
Set a timer for 10 minutes, then just start writing – the only way you can fail is if your hand stops moving across the page, or your fingers fall off onto the keyboard. (There is no inherent virtue in writing in a leather journal with the Buddha’s face embossed on the cover vs using your laptop.)
Ready? GO!
You may start with “friend”, listing the names of friends, what friendship means to you….but suddenly your hyperlinking hippocampus takes you to a memory of fresh-out-of-the-oven, aromatic sugar cookies cut into generous, stars and bells with pale, ivory frosting, hung perfectly on a small tree as the most thoughtful gift anyone ever made for you, and it was from the roommate you liked the least and had just been talking about behind her back. All of the girls you thought were your friends had gone home for Christmas with no thought for how you were spending yours.
I just made that up – writers lie all the time! What you write does not have to be true. It’s WILD MIND practice…
In reality, the first part of the memory is true. One of my BFFs, Laura Romero, made those cookies. When you bit into them they were so soft and had just the right thickness of frosting on them to balance the baked cookie. Perfect! I still remember what they felt like, melting in my mouth.
The point is, it doesn’t matter what you write about – let your mind get truly wild. You never know where it will takeyou. Enjoy the Ride!
A self-admitted book addict, Valerie was the kid with the flashlight under her pillow. A life of travel with exposure to many different cultures led to a pervasive interest in people, with degrees & teaching credentials in Cultural Anthropology & English.