Menu Close

Week 35 – Don’t Think, Keep on Writing

Many writers have asked me, “What should I do if I have to write something, or feel like writing something, but don’t know what to say?”

My answer to them is, “An idea will eventually come to you if you keep on writing.”

Julia Cameron, a woman who makes you want to write if you read her many books on writing, says, “It is the act of writing that calls ideas forward, not ideas that call forward writing.”

If you have a deadline to meet or an inclination to write but don’t know what to say, should you think before you write or write before you think?

I say, “Don’t think, but keep on writing until an idea comes to mind.”

Let me give you an example. Many times, since I began this project, I’ve said to myself (and I’ll probably say it again), “What am I going to write about today?” What I do is sit down to write and invariably, if I keep on writing without thinking, an idea will float to the surface. If I try to think about what I want to write, most of the time nothing materializes.

So, if you don’t have an idea to write about, keep on writing without thinking. I swear you’ll come up with an idea.