Using that magic moment when the ideas are aligned properly

Where is one situated in one's mind, in relation to ideas at any given moment? I realize, that this isn't how people usually think about their relationship with their minds. But the process of being immersed in ideas, and getting them out on paper - is central to a writer's life and work.

As a writer, I have to be immersed - in the moment - in my tangent of my topic. I can't be looking back, and weighing the merits of the pursuit of this or that tangent of writing. I can't be weighing the benefits or drawbacks of this or that perspective - or approach - to the ideas I am dealng with...

It's utterly important to immerse yourself in what you're interested in - in this very moment.

And then, there's another issue which comes into the picture: How many ideas can you keep in mind at once? I find the answer to be three scopes of ideas. And for me, at this point, this only comes into play when I don't have a keyboard at hand, and I'm thinking about ideas - for instance in the bathtub.

Certainly, there were seasons when I would write "composite" papers - with a reference to each of five or ten different ideas I was thinking about. And then, I would develop each one - or some of them at least. And this is where I was daunted when my windows 98 computer with only 64mb of memory would crash on me, when I had fourteen documents up; many of them were still untitled and unsaved. You see, I can't title my pages until they have some form. It's not ethically appropriate to try to title something, until you can see what it's nature is. The title would constrain your approach - and then you're not free to immerse yourself in whatever comes to mind.( Ironically, though, I discovered that losing a paper or set of papers, was a good thing, in one sense; I could immediately write again about the same topics, and those topics would always be much more developed than they had been, just half an hour ago. It would take me a couple hours, which I didn't plan on spending that morning... but it was a very important little writing technique I stumbled upon.)

Now... do you see, the other truism... is that if you leave off with one important set of ideas which one is thinking about, to write on a very different topic... those ideas will be there for you to explore later in the day, or tomorrow as well? And invariably, you will have a much more developed scope of models and ideas if you come back to it later. So, no matter how important the topic is - it's no loss to let it go, in order to focus on something else...

However, one has to realize, indeed, that a writer must sit down to type, when the ideas are aligned in his mind in that perfect way. He wouldn't be able to wait an hour. Because he wouldn't get anything out on paper, if he did.

There was one place, over the past several years where I was working very hard on a volunteer project - over one or two March weeks. Three years in a row, I did this. This was for my town's local film festival. And, I didn't have time to write about my impressions. I felt I should either get to that first film of the morning, while it was there... or I should be in the office taking care of an important thing or two. What I discovered, much to my dismay, is that the ideas that came to mind during this very important and novel experience for me, didn't get written down... at all...; The following week, when the confetti was being cleaned up, and I had a lot more time back in my normal day-to-day life routines - my mind was not in that place where it had been, and the papers couldn't be written. My guage is, that I had about one opportunity - a day or two after the festival - where the ideas congealed in my mind, and I could summarize what I had learned or seen during the week. That was a summary, however, and not an exploration of all the various impressions and ideas which had come to mind all week. Having seen this effect in my life - the next year - my third year with the festival - I opted to really take it easy. I already had a free pass from my work on the film-screening committee, months earlier; I didn't need the hours, volunteering in the office (The deal was that people got free film passes in proportion to the number of hours they volunteered). My experience was less rich, overall - I found - because I wasn't volunteering as much. However, I was able to write... I was able to spend that oh-so-important time of the morning, before 11 or 11:30am - focusing on getting all of my impressions out onto paper. That week, I was able to get out many ideas, I realize, which had dawned on me, the previous year. And of course, the development of those ideas was for more elaborate and, in a slightly different context; I would have had a much more shallow perspective on the topic, if I had been writing about it, the year before.

There was, therefore, a three year cycle I saw. The first year, I was excited about the new experience... but I didn't feel a drive to write about the details of my daily experience. And so, I could work myself very hard, at the festival - and still do well - just summarizing my experience, whenever I found the time - and also after the week was over.

The next year, I worked hard at the festival, as well... and I was very inspired about many detailed ideas and topics. I had the drive to write, but little opportunity to sit down and spend the time, when I needed to; and when festival week was over, those ideas were inaccessible, period.

The final year, I was leisurely in my approach... and I was able to spend that oh-so-important time of day of the morning - writing, and getting these things out.

And the most interesting thing is, that I witnessed some big changes in my overall attitude and approach to my daily life after I had been able to mull over these very important ideas, that week of March on the third year. Some ideas crystallized in my mind, in respect to very important life situations.

So the synopsis of all this, would be that a writer - like a builder - has bricks and mortar, or metaphorical lumber. He cannot build his essays without the materials to work with. The materials he works with, are ideas. And the physics of his work, requires that he use those moments - when his mind is aligned most squarely with the ideas he's musing on.

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The technique of immersion in the tangents of the topic, is a very important one. And in fact - I get very offended when other participants on internet discussion boards, will use insults toward my rather ornate writing style. For instance, the other day someone at reddit.com said (paraphrased here) "You idiot, what are you rambling on about?" I've seen this kind of social phenomena from the outside, as well - towards another very prolific writer friend of mine on the internet. I've seen the inner drama he goes through as a budding writer - a first year college student; and I see how daunted he was - how it really was not good for him to have to suffer that kind of disrespect. Indeed, that kind of jab is really effective at injuring the writer's mental process. The assertion is, that a writer should be assessing the topic, at every point along the way of writing the piece; that he should constantly weigh whether or not he is approaching it properly. This nixes the thrust - the passion - on which a writer rides, as he's putting together his thoughts; and like a surfer on an ocean wave - he won't be able to stay balanced, without riding that thrust. Mechanically, the mind works by immersing itself in tangents of a topic. The person's mind is in relation to a certain set of ideas, at certain moments. And, those sets of ideas shift. First, you go in and explore the topic, in relation to context a. And context a has a certain makeup - it's an appraisal of a generic social situation - or it's an appraisal of an experience you personally had at one point. That context for the topic, has many aspects. Now, all those aspects don't follow you into the next context in which you are mulling the topic. The mind only can keep so many things in view at once. And you traverse the web of matched patterns - you go from place - to figurative place - in your explorations of the topic.

What you should not do, is falter or hesitate, as you lay out phrases and sentences. You are riding your own thrust. You should not withdraw from certain pathways you're traveling down; this is inefficient. It's like a person who stands at the crossroads of several pathways in a rural town of centuries ago - and says to himself, "I can't figure out which way to go" - instead of going out, and eagerly exploring each pathway - enjoying what each, has to offer. (I realize that this describes a person in those years, who would be considered a "dunce" - and if he was doing this in that century of long ago - he would be making a fool of himself, and maybe at someone's behest). But the point is, a writer will become a dunce, if he doesn't fluidly put his mind into context a b c d e f g... etcetera, while exploring the topic. If he sits there at the crossroads and says "I don't know what to do."