How to Get Into the Flow of Writing; The random word method

I don’t know if this is a new writer thing, but I hardly ever feel like writing most of the time. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love to write because I do.

I even find it hard to stop when I’m writing.

But the most challenging part is starting. (And posting all my drafts, but one problem at a time)

It’s not writer’s block, nor is it a bug.

Many of us, especially new writers, throw around the phrase “writer’s block”. Like it’s one prestigious community of serious writers who can’t write because they have the flu.

We all love being part of a community.

Fortunately, that community is not for you, and neither is it for me. I stopped using that phrase ever since I realised that there is no writing flu or bug.

The only block to my writing is me not doing enough to start.

So I kept trying different hacks to help me get into the writing flow and I found one.

Pick a random word

The random word method simply means writing any word that comes to your mind.

You can begin with A, add a noun and continue like that.

Just like I did in the image below.

This is my latest draft of 600 words.

I started with the word A, followed by “girl”. I continued to type random words; after the first four words, which were spontaneous, my mind kept supplying the rest until I got to the line where it all started to make sense.

Sometimes it takes ten lines of random, meaningless thoughts before I get what I need, but it works alriGHG.

Write to understand

Like my favourite blogger, Cristian Mihai, says, “Don’t write to tell; write to understand”

Most of the time, we don’t know what to write because our minds are unsettled.

Our thoughts are flitting about without direction or form.

The subconscious wants to sort through these thoughts, but it doesn’t know how.

Writing helps us to understand, it gives those thoughts a form and a direction.

The random word method is like a safe passage, your thoughts feels safe enough to come out without criticism or your worrisome monitoring.

Write to start

The hardest part is starting. Once you get that out of the way, you’ll find the rest of the journey much more manageable.”

— Simon Sinek

Today I was able to write five drafts, and it began with the word A.

There are times when you don’t need to search for prompts or worry about not having ideas. The best ideas are those that mean something to you; the ones you’ve been mulling over in your mind.

All you need is one word; all you need to do is start.

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