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6. Effortlessness:
“I knocked out 5k words.”
“I pumped out 5k words.”
“I thrashed 5k words from my keyboard.”
Jeez, it seems to be a very violent world where writers are knocking, pumping, bashing, and thrashing, thousands of words everyday! So much effort is implied when we utter those words. These words are imported from corporate life, from sports and adventure…ever since the advent of the industrial revolution. But are they really meaningful in the world of writing? In our society we have glorified qualities like hard work, determination, and will power. And that is because our technology and culture and society need to evolve towards better standards of living. Otherwise, how are we different from the animals in the zoo? Industries need to produce products, day after day, on time, for the consumers shopping at places like supermarkets and electronics showrooms. Otherwise, our day-to-day life won’t run smoothly. Also, there is intense competition and the motive for gain. Hence, corporate leaders have glorified these so-called human values. They assign strict deadlines and overwork their employees. The result being a poor organization culture with the least productive employees promoted to the top of the management. This is the “Dilbert Principle” at work.
Fortunately, the “Dilbert Principle” does not apply to the world of writing. And the so-called human values like hard work don’t apply either. Sure, I need will power in order to lift a heavy weight in the gym, to fix the wheels of a car, but, do I need that much amount of will power in order to “pump out” thousands of words, to solve a complex math problem?
Is effort of any use in the world of writing?
Effort automatically comes into play in the light of deadlines. And already blinded by language one makes even more effort when the writing session has not been fruitful so far. So, one sit, sits, and sits…before the computer and keeps staring at the blank page and the time count alternatively. One then gets fidgety, starts to self-curse, and what not. This is pure masochism and nothing else.
Will you do the same if you know all the answers for a three-hour examination? What then would be the speed at which you would write?
The speed at which you would type would neither be fast nor slow when you know what to write. That creates the correct tension inside you which is being neither slack nor uptight. But to get that correct speed, to that correct inner temperature, clarity is paramount. And clarity can come only when you make no effort at all, when you grow into enormous silence and simply listen to the ways of your sub-conscious mind which feeds you the daily word quota. It means being completely relaxed, without any motive or goal, while sitting before the computer. Then, surprisingly, every 15 minutes will begin to appear like 30 minutes, and, every 30 minutes will begin to appear like 60 minutes. Word count then swells automatically and writing becomes a very normal, hype-free activity like jogging, cycling, and snorkeling.
When effortlessness comes into play, time as an influencing factor comes to a halt.
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