Oh wait, I'm writing.

This is frustrating. I have sat here for fifteen minutes, looking at this blank screen, growing ever more agitated by the fact that nothing good is making the jump from my mind to my fingertips. I can get the worst writer's block-- the kind that lasts for days until you finally get past it and the words coming tumbling out of you in one big vomitous stream. I am taking a composition studies class this semester. It's supposed to make me a better writer. Lately we have been working on strategies to combat writer's block...one of which was straight freewriting.

For those who don't know, freewriting is just that: FREE WRITING. You just write for any determined length of time on any topic that happens to pop into your head. The point is to keep your pen or pencil on the page the entire time, and eventually some kernel of higher thinking or fabulous creativity will pop up, and you write from that.

I tried it in class, and wound up with a piece of a short story that, when it is developed, I think could be pretty good. The only problem is that free writing was really hard for me. I'm an edit-as-I-go sort of person and to just sit there and right without worrying about propriety was not easy. That's a product of our education system today. Everything is always about perfection, about deadlines, about formulaic writing that fits the purpose. At least in my experience in college classrooms (and DESPITE the fact that I am an English major), no one seems to value the creative process anymore. Our rough drafts are expected to be final ones, and I find myself trying to compose the perfect copy when really, I just be focusing on getting my ideas out.

Long story short, I'm going to try out this freewriting thing. Maybe it'll push me to post more often.

Let Operation Be-More-Creative commence!