Thread by @ed_solomon

The same way you don’t stress when you write a simple tweet like the one you sent me. In other words, when you’re not thinking of it as “Writing” (capital W) it’s easier to convey what you’re thinking.

https://twitter.com/lizmulheron/status/1164615421544169472

Here’s a tip: text your thoughts/ideas to yourself. In a few - or many - texts. No stress. Just as if it’s casual notes you don’t wanna forget. Next: do it as an email. A little longer. But with the same notion: super casual; just recording some brain droppings. Nothing big.

You can even do it as a letter to yourself. Then expand on that further. Write out a document - on Pages or on Word or anything. On a yellow pad. But always the same directive to yourself: Just jotting down thoughts as they happen for possible reference later.

Then put it aside. Then start to wonder to yourself: what is starting to form? And start musing on that. And jot some of those thoughts down. A possible outline? Whatever. Just thoughts. Nothing big. Put em ALL down, “good” and “bad.”

Then go look at some of those original pages and jot some thoughts about what would happen if you flesh it out? Cut some stuff? What’d be cool to add here? Subtract? And try some of it. As an experiment. Just thoughts. Possibly this way.. possibly that way. No judgment.

And then, at one point, make the decision to look critically at whatever you’ve assembled. And for a moment (or however long it takes) scrutinize what you’ve done. Ask questions. What is it telling you? What does it need more of? Less of? NOW is the time for judgement.

Then wait a moment or two - or a day or two - or more.. and just see what comes up. Just mull. No judgment again. Just mulling. And then... resume the process. Jotting down your thoughts. Fleshing it out. More experimenting. More questions. More curiosity. Always curiosity.

And keep going this way. Never putting weight on it that it can’t sustain. Just makin’ stuff up & jotting it down. Asking questions - & answering them. Scrutinizing.Then playing again. Always separate. Mostly playing. But when you’re scrutinizing, be honest about what you see.

It’s never heavier than that. You can always go back & rewrite. You can always make it better. Later. It’s a delicate thing, an idea, a story, a novel, a script. It lives & breathes in a weightless world. You have to let yourself float along w it. Much easier to capture that way

Oh - one other thing. If the stage of putting it into a “document” feels too hard? Just do it all as an email to yourself. Or a hand written letter. Form is irrelevant. I have outlined entire movies in the form of an email to myself. Takes the onus off everything.