Sometimes I pick up ideas at the fringes, in the early to late morning hours of a night extended well beyond sunrise; ideas I normally wouldn't consider devoting energy to. It takes a special kind of mindset to pursue what is often a red herring; a freak spike in attention with no credentials other than it's momentary appeal. Takes a certain kind of cocktail. Takes a tetra pack.
I pick one up, make a cup of coffee and run with it for a while, make it walk on it's own you know. Some blog posts are fringe creations, like the translation of that Hendrik Brors article and the announcement of the iPlant seminar and whatnot. Just impulses at the time, but by the time I wake up the next day I've made enough postings and commitments about the them and and there they are staring me in my sleepy face saying "now what?"
Watch that George Carlin video by the way, you will not regret it.
Anyway. Cory Doctorow says if you wanna be a writer you need to learn to write a lot, not just when you feel inspired; and to not go back and delete paragraphs just because they don't appeal to you on a second reading. Let them stand for a few days at least, give them a third reading at a later date, trust quantity and know that a year from now you won't be able to tell the difference between text that impressed you at the time of writing and text that didn't. Probably applies to blogging too.
Wonder if I can get £2.500 at vcashpoint for distributing iPlant merchandise for free 'in my local community' to 'raise awareness about neuroscience'? Best send off an application quick before I start thinking critically about it.
1 comment:
I recently read a fantastic book, Jane Wenham-Jones’ “Wannabe a Writer?” The book, as well as being very funny, contained fantastic information on the art of writing itself – how to start, ways to form ideas and style, right through to getting an agent and being published. I found it very useful; hope someone else out there might too.
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