Writing about the writing exercise! This feels like Inception The Movie. 🤪 Some call it the Stream of Consciousness writing exercise but I am not that comfortable with this term yet. Yes, I do let it flow at times but it does not always flow and, more often than not, I still have to force things out of me.

Like, right now, I am forcing this and trying to see what I can squeeze out of me.

CONs

Let’s talk about the CONs first.

1. It takes time. Often times I start off with nothing. I sit for a minute or two with a blank mind. What a weird feeling, especially since my mind won’t stop working just before sleep and, now, blank. I try to remember the events yesterday and wait if that triggers something. If nothing, I try to pick a random word, and see if it starts a flow. It takes patience, and a lot of self love, otherwise frustration sets in quickly.
2. It can drain you. Forcing yourself to write, to let your thoughts and emotions out can be draining. Especially if you are not used to it. You are tapping inside you, something we may not be used to. A lot of us are better at suppressing our thoughts and feelings, rather than letting them out.

PROs

Let’s talk about the PROs now.

1. It is therapeutic. As draining as the actual writing and letting it out may be, the feeling afterwards is awesome. You feel lighter (figuratively, folks, figurativey). Also, it feels good to finally get things out in the open but still within the privacy of your text editor. Like I said, we are so used to keeping things bottled up that letting it out feels awesome.
2. It is a good mental exercise. Since I started this exercise, I’ve felt more creative. Yes, I still need to force thoughts and ideas out of me, but, at the same time, I feel more relaxed about it. I don’t always have to know everything, or to have all the answers. Forcing myself to write is OK.
3. You get to know yourself better. Since starting this exercise, I’ve gotten to know myself even better and that’s saying a lot because I am used to self-examination and even having conversations with myself, just ask my wife. 😅 The difference and beauty of this exercise is that I get to document these thoughts and feelings, and I get to acknowledge it more. Also, I keep most of them in the privacy of my text editor so I don’t have to share them to the world if I am not yet ready.

Get Started with Stream of Consiousness Writing!

Go ahead and check out this article on some ways to get started with Stream of Consciousness writing. This is what got me started in the first place.

Try it out and let me know how it goes for you. Also, if you have some random topics (or even words) you want to suggest, please leave it as a comment or feel free to DM me.