Title - How to write spontaneously Tags - structural tension
In his creating workshops, Robert Fritz asked students to make a list of random words.
Yes Hello Daylight Winter Action Lips You Window Keyboard
He then asked them to write a contrasting word next to each original word.
Yes No Hello Goodbye Daylight Darkness Winter Summer Action Procrastination Lips Mouth You Me Window Door Keyboard Monitor
Next, he told the students to write some sentences with at least one pair of contrasts.
Then two pairs.
Then three pairs.
For example:
“I took my cocker spaniel, Bella, to the park for a walk, and saw my friend David jogging on the road with his labrador, Buddy.”
Contrasts:
Cocker spaniel / Labrador Bella / Buddy I / David Walk / jog Park / road
By following this exercise, even the students who had never written before found that they were able to write interesting sentences using contrasts.
This is because most natural systems get their energy from the interaction of opposites - the most obvious example being the production of offspring from the interaction of males and females.
There is also energy between contrasting words.
When opposites interact, there’s tension.
and nature then strives for equilibrium (resolution).
Plus, they were created out of thin air - with no planning, no background, from a blank page.
All they did was pick a random word and write something that included a contrast to the original word.
The energy created by the contrast - that flows from tension to resolution - is what drives you writing process.
This gives you the power to write even when you don’t feel like it, don’t have a plan, and don’t know what to talk about.
Write whatever is in your head.
“I don’t feel like writing today.”
Then create a contrast.
“But my mentors says it’s important to put pen to paper and create every day.”
You see the contrasts?
Feel / Head
I / mentors
Pen / Paper
Today / Every day
Alright, you might be thinking - “they’re not contrasts!”
When I was first taught this, I confused contrast with opposite.
Contrast is the state of being different from something else.
That’s what you’re looking for.