Don’t Think
”Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t ‘try’ to do things. You simply ‘must’ do things.” ~ Ray Bradbury
I played basketball in high school. I loved the sport, and I still play when I get the chance, though my opportunities and successes have grown less frequent as I’ve gotten older.
I used to practice every day, taking hundreds of shots so that I could be ready when game time came. During those hours I would do exercises to keep the different moving parts of my shooting form in line—striving after the mythical “perfect practice” that made perfect.
When I missed shots, I found that concentrating on the particular fault that caused my muscles to tighten and my eyes to wander. I developed a bad habit of watching the flight of the ball to see if the backspin was right, rather than keeping my focus on the target—a habit that I still find myself falling into at times.
So I developed a simple strategy. When I’m shooting, just shoot.
The defensive driving people tell you the same thing about driving a car, and I’m going to tell you the same thing about writing, especially first drafts. Revisions can be a bit different, but when you are creating, it should be like a basketball shot—smooth and relaxed, focused on the story alone.
There’s nothing wrong with evaluating what you’ve written for weaknesses. I recommend it. But don’t carry those things with you to your keyboard or paper. You need to trust that your subconscious mind will make the necessary adjustments. Don’t think about showing vs. telling or how you use too many synonyms for “said” or what your critique partner told you last night. All those thoughts will only clutter your mind and distract you from the most important thing—the story.
Take your shot. After the ball stops moving, give yourself a quick evaluation, noting things that still need to change. Then stop thinking about those things, and take the next shot.
Ben Whiting is a full-time English student at the University of Texas at Arlington and co-general editor of the award-winning collegiate publication Marine Creek Reflections. He recently completed the rough draft of his suspense novel, Penumbra.
Ben’s post is an excellent piece which can be applied to life in general. So many times I hear people saying that they want to do things but it never eventuates. Execution is the key and Ben has nailed it by saying, “take the shot”. I agree with him that we should always take the shot in life but never forget to make correction and adjustmens where and when needed as that is the key to aiming for excellence and success will follow