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Stream of consciousness blogging
< Constant distractions will kill your focus | Unsorted Posts | Comparing Twitter and Plurk >
When I explained what's going on, a couple of suggestions got me thinking. Here's what you said:When I can't think of anything to write - I just write a stream of consciousness that eventually - through some kind of magic - turns into a coherent thought.
Well... mostly.
Cellobella @ redsultana.com
I have used the stream of consciousness post that CB mentions and that can be a refreshing change. I had one post that I wrote in 12 minutes that helped get me past writer's block.
Jeff @ buzzmyblog.com
I'm no expert on this style of writing, but I gave it a try in my last post where I looked at constant distractions. Hopefully the writing style didn't distract from your enjoyment of the post.
So what's stream of consciousness writing all about?
A river of thoughts.
The amount you put down can vary a lot. It could be a trickling stream of unconnected findings, or a rushing river of ideas that just keep on running and running.The important thing is to find a starting point, and get writing. Write and write and write until you've run out of things to say. You may end up with a complete mess of a post as it's essentially a brain dump, but you may be surprised at how coherent you can be if you have enough ideas in your head.
Too cool for rules.
My constant distractions post broke a few rules that I've previously suggested you should look out for:- It didn't have any headers.
- It didn't have the strongest opening paragraph. (I guess it wasn't bad, but it was hardly edge-of-your-seat entertainment.)
- It didn't wrap up particularly well.
- It felt like something you could relate to. It listed various things relating to my online life, rather than a dry set of "best practices" with no room for deviation.
- It didn't really address the topic to the point that readers would have nothing to add. It had substance but left plenty of room for further discussion, and did so without asking a long list of closed questions.
- It flowed! Headers can make a post easier to read, but they can also make a post seem disjointed.
Things that flow can help you grow.
Think of a post that doesn't have a beginning or an end. At worst, the reader jumps into the middle of a mess of thoughts that simply don't add up to a valuable read. But if you do it right, you can get a great feeling of continuity.Let's think about this for a moment. Every post could lead into another one. You spread your ideas around like jam, but you leave little rivers of jam dripping off the core of your post: the bread. Jam goes all over the place and someone has to come and clean it up.
I think I've lost my way on that metaphor, but now I really want a jam sandwich!
Anyway, all those extra bits of jam could be spread onto new slices of bread (remember, one slice of bread = one post). Every time you go off on a tangent, which seems to happen quite often with "stream of consciousness" posting, you're setting yourself up for a new post.
Isn't it better to leave bits of ideas in your post that you can pick up later, rather than sticking to one post, piling on the jam and overdoing it?
What do you think?
Does stream of consciousness blogging open up new opportunities for you? Will you try it? Or is there simply too much talk of jam for you to think of anything else?No related content found.
Comments on Stream of consciousness blogging
I really enjoyed your post about Constant Distractions. A typical blog post is easy to read when you have headings, bullets, and numbers. But every once in a while, I think you need to write like your stream of consciousness post to let your readers get to know you better.
In case anyone cares...here is a link to the SoC post that I did a few weeks about that you mentioned. http://www.buzzmyblog.com/post/2008/03/My-Thoughts-at-1239.aspx
Thanks for the explanation and sharing the tip. I have been super blocked lately. I try to play some tetris to clear my mind and I just get sucked into an hour of tetris and still no writing.
Kind of reminds me of an exercise in art class in High School where you look at the object your drawing and not at the paper and try to draw the item. I was surprised by how good the end result was.
Beamer
Welcome, Haute in LA. :)
ettarose, I think maybe you are already doing it without knowing... but I may be wrong.
I'm interested to know if anyone else has tried this style of blogging, apart from me and Jeff? If not, why not give it a try and reply with the results?
Edited: June 26, 2008 20:49
There are days like these, when you just let that stream of consciousness flow into you, into your hands that type those words that form your blog posts.
I haven't had these kind of days lately. Not enough time. Too many distractions.
Actually the blog B and B is written very much like that. I give myself just the briefest of ideas and then try to work two totally different viewpoints to it and then put them down as a post. I have been rather quite lucky in that it has only left me high and dry twice in about 40 posts. Actually it wasn't the process, I couldn't come up with the initial idea.
Beamer
I will try that next time. =)
I might be biased :) but I thought the SoC post came out well.
You tidy it up of course but generally that's conversation isn't it? We don't agonise about what we're going to say when we're chatting and a blog is like that...
:)
Can I be ignorant (and lazy) and ask what stream of consciousness is all about? Right now it sounds like something I need to be on drugs for... though I'm positive that's just what I'm hoping for!
fragileheart, it involves writing out your thoughts and ideas as they come to mind. It's best to have a starting point, then just start writing.
Thanks for the comments. :)
Ben, stream of consciousness, I don't know about. I usually open a blank page in notepad and just start typing. I don't think very deep into it, I just type. The things I feel coming out can be cleaned up and then a post just appears. It does not always work but for the most part, it does for me. I like your thoughts about jam. Sometimes I get several posts out of one.