I’ve been free writing lately, and am trying hard to do it each day. In the past, I would sit down and write, or type, until my hand hurt. Moderation is the key. I’m not trying to get out angsty teenage feelings at this point in my life. Nowadays, I get out my handy-dandy iPhone, use the timer function, setting it for five minutes, and off I go. I don’t type anymore when I do the free writing exercise because I get too bogged down seeing misspelled words and such. A paper and pen and my illegible chicken scratch works fine for my purpose. I’m finding that setting a time limit works wonders for de-cluttering my busy thoughts. Especially if I’m following up the exercise with actual fiction writing. 🙂 For five minutes, I do not care about penmanship, spelling, punctuation, or anything else but the immediate thought I’m having. When the timer beeps, I stop. No finishing the train of thought, just a dead stop. And then I tear out the page, crumple it up, and toss it in the trash. I think that extra step is crucial for me.
I used to meditate quite often, but have fallen out of practice. I know a technique some use to start with is to imagine taking their problems and tossing them down a well, or something similar. I could never successfully do that step. I had to wade through my distracting thoughts until my brain got quiet. By throwing away a physical representation of my present grumbles, I get it all out of me, and keep it out.
More importantly, I don’t have any distractions going into my fiction writing, and I’ve reorganized my crazy mind.
The Menagerie 