The more you think about it, the less well you do it.

Jonathan Carroll wrote one of my favourite books: The Land of Laughs. A fantasy set in the modern world and like no other story I've ever read. The reason for this month's entry, though, is not to recommend the book - although I do, unreservedly - but to offer this quote from Carroll about the writing process. I find a lot of truth in it.

Part of the act of creating is letting go. I remember very vividly when writing The Land of Laughs I reached the part in the story where the dog speaks for the first time. I wrote the passage and stopped. I thought— the *dog* just spoke— that’s crazy. But a moment later I said okay, let’s just see where that goes. 

In an essential way it was the turning point of all writing I have done since then. My paradigm moment came about because I simply let go, accepted the nutty for fact, and kept moving. The Germans have a nice phrase about trust in romance— ‘fall back and I’ll catch you.’ The same could be applied to writing or any art, as far as I can see: If you believe you have it in you, create whatever it is you want and stop thinking about approaches or limitations or or or… Just *write* it. Clear your mind of hesitation and everything other than the sentence you are trying to write and do it. Then write the next one. 

The more you think about it, the less well you do it. Start with a phrase or a character you like or who intrigues you. Then begin to spin a spider’s web out from that center point. But don’t *think* about it. Very often when I begin a book or story, I only have a single line or image which I put down and then think—who is this? What are they like? ‘Haden was in trouble again’ is the beginning of Glass Soup only because I liked that line. After writing it I thought— who’s this Haden? He’s a handsome asshole. Okay, what does he do? He’s a tour guide. Where does he do it? Etcetera. Don’t think about it— just be a spider and spin the web only you can design.