Thinking is hard work.
I’m not talking about the randomized stream of consciousness that some call thought. I’m talking about considered, ordered thinking.
That’s exceptionally hard to do.
Frankly, I can only do that on paper or at the keyboard.
As a writer I am practiced at making notes, but also at the art of emptying my head of ideas. Ideas and thought are different things. I get ideas all the time, but to test them, to understand them, I have to write them down. An idea might start with “A man walks into a bar,” but thought asks, “what happens next?”
And then, “Does that make sense?”
Or “Why this bar?”
Thinking on paper is a way to make sure ideas aren’t crazy, or sometimes, making sure that they’re crazy enough. Thinking on paper or on whatever I put the words on, is my way of marking my territory as a writer.
I am a lone wolf. I watch.
And I think.
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