Wordling

I freewrote in diaries years before reading Anais Nin or Natalie Goldberg. I called it wordling because it felt like the words doodled along the page. They flowed from my pens in turquoise or magenta. The scent of ink aroused my senses as I eavesdropped on the amazements and amusements around me. Characters representing my emotions and ideas chased each other around the pages.

If you haven't adopted a writing habit, try wordling along with me. Writing requires a daily routine. Like developing a muscle, you strengthen writing by exercising with words. Find time each day to write. Vary the location, engage your imagination and ability to link all your senses.

Doodling with words liberates your writing zest. Wordling, if practiced daily, will energize the power of your mind and push your ingenuity to new heights. You will disappear into your deepest source of creativity and return refreshed with power renewed in thoughts and words.
Keep a notebook of your wordling. A spiral bound book without a rigid spine provides flow from page to page.

Please do not write with a pencil during your wordling. Discover a pen that flows across the page. Fountain pens or rollerball pens are the best choice. Colored ink will spark imagery.

How to begin:

Find your location and take a few moments to relax with several gentle breaths.

Write the date in the upper right-hand corner on each page of your wordle book. Date each session in this manner.

Allow yourself to become unstructured, playful and free to flow in any direction. Freewheel with your creative spirit!

When you begin, write a word at the top of your page. You could begin with a command such as, Astonish! or an emotion such as Eager. Write to the end of the page without stopping. In your next session, continue for ten minutes. No crossing out! Attempt longer writing sequences changing your command or emotion at the top of each page.

If you find a vacant spot, ask yourself, I think . . .I feel . . .If you stop again consider the opposites, I am not thinking of, I don't feel.

Write Impossible. Turn it into I'm Possible. Write with colors, smells, tastes, textures, times of day, sounds, and sights. Return to the words you wrote at the top of the page to spark your flow.
Lose yourself within the momentum of words and phrases. Write what spills from your pen with awareness and thrill. Feel the freedom of movement and power as your mind moves in each moment.

Forget your internal editor who wants to change words. Keep comfortable with the process like a river flowing over all obstacles in its path. Notice how your pen progresses and trust it. This will provide a foundation for your writing habit.

Stop writing only when you are in the middle of a surge of words. Stop when you feel so full of words you cannot write fast enough. Please never end your wordling session when you are frustrated or stuck. Write just one more word.

Conditioning yourself to keep writing will reinforce your positive habit. If you stop when you want to write more you will always feel an excitement to return.

Think of writing students in Shakekspeare's time advised to, "tatter your quill." Keep that feather tickling the page.

It's time to write! Astonish yourself with wordling.