Week 1: Diarrhea Of The Pen

This called Diarrhea Of The Pen, an exercise my high school creative writing teacher taught me. The idea here is to go from a blank page to lots of words on a page, and possibly even some unconscious musings that could turn into songs. It's important to use a pen and paper instead of a computer, with spelling check and auto-correct. We want to get into a completely editor-free flow.

Instructions

Set a timer for 10 minutes. Two rules:

1. You may not pick the pen up.
2. You may not stop the pen from moving. If you can't think of anything to write, simply write "I can't think of anything to write" until something comes, it can be a word, an association.
3. Read back through your writing out loud and highlight or underline any words or phrases that stick out. Copy them onto a separate page. We will use these later in the course.

Rigel's Example: Download PDF

What to post

Do this exercise each day this week and you will become a master of tapping into your unconscious. Share the list of words and/or phrases, or the whole thing! If you are a member post your work in the main feed, or inside the Crush Writer's Block group.