Janet Love Morrison - Author

Recently I was asked about the process of getting one’s creative thoughts from mind to paper. It’s a great question. Perhaps it’s a process of not thinking too much, to keep it simple and make it a subtractive process. Don’t worry about grammar, spelling or punctuation. Don’t think, get logical or self-edit. Just write.

First thoughts have energy. They’re fresh and inspiring. For me, once I’m conscious of my intent, the clarity comes and the words follow. I don’t try to control the process (and it will be different for everyone) I do my best to stay present with whatever comes up.

Then there’s trust: I feel  we need to trust our own voice. If you want to write, then write. I believe the best writing is natural and honest. Don’t allow doubt to influence your creation. Don’t pay attention to any negativity. I love this quote, “Don’t listen to negative people, they kill your possibility.” – Dhyan Vimal, Founder, Friends to Mankind. Perhaps we need to take that quote and apply it to ourselves when we allow our minds to entertain doubt.

Back to trust … in holding that trust, I believe the mind casts doubt to the side, dissolves it and from that state sees beyond and I learn to rely on me. It’s an osmosis. Then, somewhere in the revision process, another learning surfaces when the end product is generally different from my first expectations. Perhaps that’s the point of surrender, when I’m done. It’s polished and throughout the process I’ve learnt a little bit about the writer (me) that will help serve the next time I sit down to work on a new creation.