Thread: How does one stop thinking and go with their gut instincts?

Even more to the point, is it possible for anyone at all to write from a gut level?

Everyone tells me I think too much. It's true. I can no more scribble off a first draft of a novel non-stop than fly to the moon; I need to think every sentence through first. It’s a bad habit, and I need to break it. The big question is How. How does one stop thinking and go with their gut instincts, when writing?

I think that's what you just did.

Now go do it some more.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

Even more to the point, is it possible for anyone at all to write from a gut level?

Everyone tells me I think too much. It's true. I can no more scribble off a first draft of a novel non-stop than fly to the moon; I need to think every sentence through first. It’s a bad habit, and I need to break it. The big question is How. How does one stop thinking and go with their gut instincts, when writing?

I've seen no evidence that you think before you write. I think you're worrying about nothing.

Originally Posted by Baron

I've seen no evidence that you think before you write.

Don't give up your day job.

Get drunk.

It sounds a lot like whole 'born to do something' argument; when people say "you were born with that talent" (although for writing that's a little ridiculous).

Why would you want to break down all thought in writing? Sure, it'd make it easier, but no one has their own style, it's usually just drawn from other writers they've admired, so thought is quite important to be able to cherry pick pieces of language from other works, and mix it with your own flare.

Sounds like you're still worrying too much over what other people do or say you should do. You can write, Ox, it doesn't matter if it comes from your gut, heart, or brain as long as the result is good. Yours is, so keep doing what you're doing.

What Foxee said.

I have the same problem Ox. It's extremely time consuming isn't it? I rarely have the time to sit down and write anyways, and when I do it's like I have OCD. Banging out a rough draft is difficult for me to do because I can't help but edit as I go. Maybe the problem runs deeper than we realize. Why is it difficult for us to put our raw, random and unedited thoughts into words? I once forced myself to do this because we were instructed to start out this way for a college assignment. My wife ended up plugging in my flash drive and reading it. To say I felt violated is an understatement. Even if my wife gets close to the monitor when I'm writing something, I will minimize the window because I don't want her reading anything of mine that is unfinished. She thinks it's funny that I act this way. Why does this bother me so much?

I think in order to write from a "gut level", you have to write to yourself and not your readers. See the words you are writing through your own eyes instead of the eyes of your audience. This is "gut level."

Editing is when you are molding it for the eyes of your readers. When you do this from the onset, I think you rob your writing of its true potential.

That being said, I need to practice what I preach. You've been writing for much longer than I, Ox; I just started my second piece of fiction, so take this all with a grain of salt. I can relate to your dilemma and I hope I provided a little insight though.

Write when you're tired or pissed off or apathetic, just as an experiment. It'll probably help get you closer to 'gut level'.

Originally Posted by The Backward OX

I need to think every sentence through first. It’s a bad habit, and I need to break it.

"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?" - George Orwell

That guy did pretty okay as an author, so perhaps his opinion holds some merit.

Sometimes it comes easy, sometimes it's like blasting out chunks of rock with dynamite...

I've been having this same problem ever since I decided I wanted to be a writer. I've spent a ridiculous amount of time writing outlines and notes and coming up with all of these new ideas for my book, but I've only spent a very tiny percentage of all of that time actually writing the book itself. Then, one day, my dad gave me some very good advice: "Just get the whole thing down on paper, and then revise it once you're finished."
Since then, I've been writing almost non stop, and I've made more progress in three months than I ever did in almost eight years. So my advice is the same thing; just write it down. If you don't like the way it's going, just keep writing, because you can revise it later. It does help to have an outline of your story, because then you know what direction you're going. But even so, just write it, and then you can go back once you've finished and revise, revise, revise! Orson Scott Card said that there's nothing sacred about a first draft, and I've really taken those words to heart as I've written my book.
Also, one technique that helps me: Whenever I write a sentence or a paragraph that I'm not satisfied with, but I'm not sure how to fix it, I highlight it in red and put *** next to it, and then just keep writing. That way, I can search *** and cycle through all of the parts that I want to revise.
Also, it helps to take a break every now and then. There are times when I'll feel like I've had a burst of creativity, and I'll write like there's no tomorrow, but sooner or later I start to feel drained, and suddenly I don't feel so creative any more. This is the point where you should just stop and take a break (be it a couple of hours, a couple of days, or even a couple of weeks, if you need to). If I keep trying to write once I've reached that "exhausted" point, then nothing I write feels significant. I feel like I'm just throwing words out in a desperate and vain attempt to get my story going again. But if I just stop and rest from it for a while (focusing my attention on something else) then sooner or later that creative boost returns, and I can get back to writing. So don't try to push yourself too hard. Give yourself a little bit of slack in your writing, because when you try to force it, the end result is usually less than satisfactory.
Hope this helps!

I believe that your first draft of a novel should always be written expressly for you. Not your editors or peers. If your first draft is for your eyes only then you don't have to worry about what you've just written being trite or contradictory or even totally random. If it feels right at the time, just write it anyway. There's no limit to the amount of times that you can go back and revise it before anyone has to see it.

You might try challenging yourself not to erase or delete anything you write. Just mark it, keep moving forward, and come back to it later.

I have the same problem, which I'm only slowly overcoming. Some good suggestions have been put forward here. What works for me is to force myself to write a minimum amount for the actual story, every day. I don't know how some people crank out a rough draft in a month because for me, revising as I go is necessary for the details of the plot to become clearer--or change--in my mind. The same for the characters.

I think it's just different for everybody. My main concern is producing good material (in a reasonably timely manner so I'm trying to stop worrying so much and do whatever lead to this.

However, I have to hold myself to a minimum, otherwise, I might never get anything done.