Post by jimmyRRpage on Feb 7, 2007 20:20:39 GMT -5
To start, I wasn't sure where the correct place to out this topic would be, so I'm putting it here. Feel free to move it where it belongs... 
Now, what I would like to discuss here is not so much the freewriting we learn about in our English classes. You know: outlines, summaries, prewritings, etc. But the form that I guess could actualy be called Trance Writing.
I myself haven't done this in a while, but it is quite an interesting experience. What I usually did was close my eyes, place my pen to my paper (or, sometimes, my hands to the keyboard... it works just as well), and wait. Sometimes, I'd wait for a long time. Sometimes, it would happen write away.
What would happen, you ask?
Well, I would begin to write. The thing is, I wouldn't know or see what I was writing. So obviously, no corrections, no erasing, and definitely no structure.
When you finally finish (generally your hand stops moving and after waiting it won't move anymore), your first impression up seeing what you have written or typed is...
What?
It usually doesn't make sense, simply because there are many errors, it's scribbled and maybe out of order (if you wrote it, that is), and is uncohesive in this form. What I do then is make any kind of corrections I need to read what came out. And it is always quite shocking.
There are some who believe that these writings are channeled from spirits, a higher being, or God himself. Some claim they have written holy books through this.
What I have found it to be, however, is an expression of ourselves on a level we never bothered to discover before. When I first started, it was always thoughts of suicide (I was a depressed child, thanks in most part to my early school experience... it was, ironically [considering many cases of this are because of family], my family that helped in keeping me alive, along with Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, and Ozzy/Randy). As I got older, the writings changed.
One writing I want to find and share came out to be quite a story on the guitar and what it means to me. I was shocked I felt this much about an instrument.
This kind of writing, in my experiences, frees the part of us we keep even from ourselves. I do not suggest trying this if you are afraid of discovering your true self. But I do suggest it if you do not know who you are.
However, don't be coerced into thinking that it's "so easy, a caveman could do it." I have taught many people who have been unable to come up with anything. It require probably the greatest amount of patience ever needed for anything, because you never know how long you may wait before it comes out. The first time I did it, I had read about it, and I followed what it says. I'll never know how I mustered the patience (as I never got along with patience... in fact, I generally have no patience for anything... except, apparently, for this exercise), but I sat with my pen on the paper for three hours. It was worthit, but scary, because the first I ever wrote in this form is something that haunts me to this day. I'll never share it, although a very good horror story could be created around what I wrote. I had no idea I was this bad inside at that time.
The last time I did it, I waited for one hour. What came out was much, much, much happier than my first writing. It was about family and care and love and memories... I wrote down I memory I know happened because I confirmed it, but unless I am in this state I cannot recall it.
It all also has to do with mentality. It is much like being hypnotized. Granted, I may be the exception to both rules because I cannot be hypnotized (I won't allow myself to be, apparently). You have to truly want, on all levels of your being, to go into this trance. If even our deepest, smallest, most unknown level is fighting it, you may never be able to reach it. And yes, you can want it in all levels. But you have to truly know you are ready to see the part of you you never knew.
Because of patience and mentality, this can be one of the hardest mind exercises you'll ever do, and you may never even reach the state.
On that note:
So, I would like to know if you have ever done this exercise and what your thoughts are on it. I'm not asking you to share what you have written. If you want to, that's fine, but for some people, it can be extremely personal. Just... I think... it'd be a cool topic to discuss. So... let's discuss.
Now, what I would like to discuss here is not so much the freewriting we learn about in our English classes. You know: outlines, summaries, prewritings, etc. But the form that I guess could actualy be called Trance Writing.
I myself haven't done this in a while, but it is quite an interesting experience. What I usually did was close my eyes, place my pen to my paper (or, sometimes, my hands to the keyboard... it works just as well), and wait. Sometimes, I'd wait for a long time. Sometimes, it would happen write away.
What would happen, you ask?
Well, I would begin to write. The thing is, I wouldn't know or see what I was writing. So obviously, no corrections, no erasing, and definitely no structure.
When you finally finish (generally your hand stops moving and after waiting it won't move anymore), your first impression up seeing what you have written or typed is...
What?
It usually doesn't make sense, simply because there are many errors, it's scribbled and maybe out of order (if you wrote it, that is), and is uncohesive in this form. What I do then is make any kind of corrections I need to read what came out. And it is always quite shocking.
There are some who believe that these writings are channeled from spirits, a higher being, or God himself. Some claim they have written holy books through this.
What I have found it to be, however, is an expression of ourselves on a level we never bothered to discover before. When I first started, it was always thoughts of suicide (I was a depressed child, thanks in most part to my early school experience... it was, ironically [considering many cases of this are because of family], my family that helped in keeping me alive, along with Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, and Ozzy/Randy). As I got older, the writings changed.
One writing I want to find and share came out to be quite a story on the guitar and what it means to me. I was shocked I felt this much about an instrument.
This kind of writing, in my experiences, frees the part of us we keep even from ourselves. I do not suggest trying this if you are afraid of discovering your true self. But I do suggest it if you do not know who you are.
However, don't be coerced into thinking that it's "so easy, a caveman could do it." I have taught many people who have been unable to come up with anything. It require probably the greatest amount of patience ever needed for anything, because you never know how long you may wait before it comes out. The first time I did it, I had read about it, and I followed what it says. I'll never know how I mustered the patience (as I never got along with patience... in fact, I generally have no patience for anything... except, apparently, for this exercise), but I sat with my pen on the paper for three hours. It was worthit, but scary, because the first I ever wrote in this form is something that haunts me to this day. I'll never share it, although a very good horror story could be created around what I wrote. I had no idea I was this bad inside at that time.
The last time I did it, I waited for one hour. What came out was much, much, much happier than my first writing. It was about family and care and love and memories... I wrote down I memory I know happened because I confirmed it, but unless I am in this state I cannot recall it.
It all also has to do with mentality. It is much like being hypnotized. Granted, I may be the exception to both rules because I cannot be hypnotized (I won't allow myself to be, apparently). You have to truly want, on all levels of your being, to go into this trance. If even our deepest, smallest, most unknown level is fighting it, you may never be able to reach it. And yes, you can want it in all levels. But you have to truly know you are ready to see the part of you you never knew.
Because of patience and mentality, this can be one of the hardest mind exercises you'll ever do, and you may never even reach the state.
On that note:
So, I would like to know if you have ever done this exercise and what your thoughts are on it. I'm not asking you to share what you have written. If you want to, that's fine, but for some people, it can be extremely personal. Just... I think... it'd be a cool topic to discuss. So... let's discuss.
