BLOG.CHERYLRENEEHERBSMAN.COM: Friday Five: Writing and Intuition

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Friday Five: Writing and Intuition

My son has been getting out of school at noon all week for parent-teacher conferences. Yesterday, he and I went to a matinée of The Legend of The Guardians (AKA the owl movie). It was pretty good. I liked the reminder to trust your gut and not your head. For me, when I write, that always works. The more I step out of the way, the better I write. The more I try to control it, think it through, figure it all out, the weaker the writing. But often, trusting one's gut can feel too scary, because we have no proof, no evidence that it will work. We forget that the same goes for following what our head is telling us. But for some reason, it feels easier, safer to trust our intelligence than our intuition. Yet when I let intuition lead, I always find my way.

1. Sometimes when I sit down to write, a sentence will pop into my head fully formed. It will be clear and strong. My first reaction is usually to push it away. ("No, that doesn't sound right." "What will people think of that?" "That's stupid.") But even if I spend the next half hour trying to come up with a better or different opening line, that sentence just stays there, prominent, not shying away from my stubbornness. And eventually, I give in and give it a try. It always guides me well.

2. A plot twist will come to me and I'll think, that's too crazy or weird or nonsensical. But that's only because I'm not seeing the whole picture. It's as if somewhere inside me, the whole book actually exists. I only get to see part of it at a time and have to trust that the rest of it will bring all the pieces together. This is a scary thing to do. But when I let go and let it happen, it feels miraculous.

3. Similarly, I have to step away from trying to control the characters. I, the mastermind, have no real idea what any of them would do in any given situation. But if I step into their skin and let them lead, then I know all. Which means it's really them in charge, not me. Getting out of the way is the key for me. When I'm stuck, it's often because I'm trying to control it instead of letting them lead.

4. When I sit down to revise, I sometimes feel overwhelmed. There's too much! How will I manage it all! It feels unwieldy. But when I breathe and calm myself, and proceed one little step at a time, it's actually not so hard. Each little tweak leads me to the next little tweak and next thing I know, I've finished tweaking the whole thing!

5. I know this is true in life too. And I do try to pay attention to intuition as I go through my day. But honestly, life is busy, the world a whirlwind. It's noisy, which makes it hard to hear what my intuition is telling me. In the quiet of my writing cave, I need only remind myself to listen. But in the chaos of the world it's so much harder. But if there is this part of us somewhere inside that really does know what's best in every moment, imagine how much more amazing our lives would be if we could step aside and let that self guide the way.