Zen in the Art of Writing

The title of this post comes from the greatest book on writing that exists: Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing.  It's a fantastic book that does not purport to teach people how to write since such a task is impossible.  It does inspire readers, however, and offers tips to help jumpstart the muse on days when getting the first word on that blank piece of paper seems excruciatingly hard.

Bradbury tells the writer sit down at the keyboard and start typing without necessarily worrying about what comes out.  Let the fingers and the keyboard make a direct connection and before long, you find yourself "in the zone."  This is basically a writing exercise (even used by English teachers), but Bradbury's thesis is that even while hitting random keys, the brain will suddenly and unexpectedly engage and wonderful things will start to happen.  Words and sentences and stories begin to take shape.  I've tried it, and it works.

Bradbury also advocates finding something you feel passionate about--a character or a situation--and then "shoot it out of a cannon."  Sit down and start pounding out the story without worrying overly much as to the outcome.  Don't worry--the characters will tell you where to go.

All of this sounds very mystical, but it happens to be the truth.  Show me a writer who heavily outlines his or her own work, and I'll show you someone who turns out mediocre work.  Writing is inherently a mystical process, and practitioners need to be able to be vehicles for what needs to be said.  In this sense, writing becomes a spiritual act in which the writer, if imbued with enough humility, can step aside and let a larger truth be communicated.

~ William Hammett 

Index of Articles

Believe in Your Work
Children's Nonfiction: It's Now More Popular
The Craft of Writing
Daily Transit Public Ridership
The eBook Revolution
Fifty Shades of Boring
George Clayton Johnson: Fictioneer by Vivien Kooper
Ghostwriting: The Decline of Professionalism
How Long Does It Take to Write a Novel?
Is Journal Writing Worth the Effort?
Literary Agents
Kindle Direct Publishing (Select)
The Novella is Back and Thriving
Print-on-Demand
Promoting Your Book
The Quest for Literary Representation
The Rewards of Being a Writer
Short Fiction
Smashwords
What Is Developmental Editing
Why Do People Write?
Writing Celebrity Memoirs
Writing a Novel
Writing as a Full-time Job
Writing as a Mystical Process
You Own the Copyright to Your Literary Property
Zen in the Art of Writing