The Humble Sketch-Write: This Week’s Tweak

A “sketch” is a simple, preliminary and usually hasty presentation, of a concept, providing essential features without the details. Sketches take many forms; drawings, essays, even short dramatic skits (think “comedy sketch”) but whatever the form, they’re quickly done, without fuss, the idea being to capture the essence of the subject. I was introduced to the idea (Then called a practice or free write) by a writer’s group about 15 years ago and it changed my world.

On with the How-To!

Pick A Topic
Write it across the top of the page.

A random word from the dictionary will do. You might use a problem you’re struggling with (Your boss, family, health) the title of a long procrastinated blog-post, or a nudge along the lines of “I remember when…” or “Yesterday, I… ”

For this week’s tweak, I suggest: “Writing mindfully… ” or “As I read about Sketch Writes…”

Set A Timer
Ten minutes will do.

And no, you don’t get to procrastinate until you can go out and buy a timer. If you don’t have a kitchen timer, or a timer on your watch, give a software timer application a whirl (I’m using this one)

Start Writing
Not thinking.. writing!

Get your fingers moving on those keys, and keep them moving until the timer goes off. Don’t stop to think about what to write, just type out whatever pops into your mind. If you cant think of anything to write, write about how you cant think of anything to write, or how stupid the whole idea is. If the dog barks or the phone rings, cuss about the interruption on paper, then let the dog out or answer the phone. Come back to your desk, restart the timer, and jump back in.

The idea is once you’ve started, don’t stop until your ten minutes are up. If your entire sketch consists of “I can’t think of a damn thing to write” over and over again, so be it.

No Editing!
Put down that white out.

You’re writing, not editing. Editing requires thinking. Editing is a critical task, not a creative one - so no correcting typos, spelling, or punctuation. No erasers, strike throughs, backspacing, deletes, or copy/paste to to rearrange your words.

If you think of a better word choice, just type the better choice where you are. If you come up with a thought that would have been better in the last paragraph, insert it in the middle of the current paragraph. If you miss type a word and know it, just make a note of the corrected spelling, or type in “I misspelled that, and Tori wont let me fix it, Arghh!!” and go on.

More tips:

Sometimes it will seem like the longest ten minutes of your life… sometimes it will seem the shortest. If you’re on a roll when the timer goes off, feel free to keep writing. I usually reset the timer for this, always continuing another ten minutes, even if the last 8 minutes of it are just “Gawd I wish that timer would go off make it stop!”.

Remember that no one needs to ever read this - it won’t matter if you can’t make heads or tails out of your typos. Just let the thoughts flow however they flow. Keep writing up until that timer goes off.

How To Not Edit:

For some people (I’m one of them) the hardest part of the exercise is not editing. The compulsion to correct typos, spelling and word choices can be overwhelming and even paralyzing.

There are a few tricks to help: If you are using a word processor, try simply turning the monitor off. But if you’re a diehard self-editor like I was… you may need more drastic methods.

My inner editor quickly found out that it was pretty easy to stop writing, turn the monitor on, make a correction and flip the switch back to off again.

So I tried to thwart the editing urge by taping a sheet of paper over the monitor. But every few minutes, my internal critic would lift the paper, and peer under it to assess what I’d written.

I taped the paper down on all four sides - Ha!

That worked. … until I discovered a special talent: the ability to make blind typo corrections. I could sense when I’d made an error, backspace over the word and type it in correctly. I could also do a select-shift-delete, and a cut and paste, without ever seeing the screen. (Yes, I am neurotic. Your point?)

So when I do a sketch write, not only is my monitor off, not only do keep paper taped firmly over the monitor, I have these funny little jewelry boxes that fit over the backspace key, the insert-home-delete-end keys, and the direction arrows…. and even now, over 10 years later? I’m still frustrated when I hit my fingers hit those boxes.

Go on. Laugh. It’s hysterical.

But it works.

Remember:

The idea is to force an unrestricted flow of creative thought.

Sketch-writing sets aside the inner-editing process responsible for most creative blocks. It strips away away the conditioning from our environment that tells us what is right or wrong; it focuses us on the doing, rather than the thinking/analyzing.

This type of free flowing exercise is more than just a writer’s tool, it’s a learning tool, a general creativity tool. Potentially, it’s even an “enlightenment” tool; it creates a temporary shift in consciousness, forcing us to be consciously present, focused in the now, and non-judgemental (or at least less judgemental).

Once you’ve mastered the concept, apply it for personal development, to work through emotions, uncover buried insights, examine your thoughts more deeply. Apply it to problem solving at work, use it as a study tool. Try using the same concepts in drawing, doodling, mindmapping - the applications go far beyond just writing

This Week’s Tweak, In Summary!

1. Pick A Topic: “Writing mindfully… ” or “As I read about sketch-writes
2. Set The Timer: 10 minutes
3. Start Writing: Keep your fingers moving and words flowing
4. No Editing: None. Zippo. Nada. Not one word, not one letter.

And if you’re feeling brave…

Paste an un-edited section of your results in the comments, writing-warts and all…

I’d love to know I’m not alone in this adventure, and it’s helpful to others to see the results of these exercises