Sometime in the 1980s I remember reading an interview with Paul McCartney, legendary musician and songwriter, about his songwriting process. In preparation for this essay I’ve done a deep dive on the internet to find that article. Unfortunately, it has remained hidden in that labyrinth of connections, including one called the Paul McCartney Project. I’ll include the link to that treasure at the end of this blog. In the meantime, I’ll do my best to reiterate the impression that McCartney’s words left on me.
That article became my first encounter with stream of consciousness writing. Although many people know of this technique today, some have not tried it because, well, it seems a little farfetched to start writing in what seems like an unrestrained manner and then organize it later. A couple of decades later, I read Julia Cameron’s masterpiece The Artist’s Way, in which she too recommends stream of consciousness writing in the form of what she labels as Morning Pages. A link to her website is also included.
What is stream of consciousness writing? (Let’s call it SCW here and there) It is a form of journaling in which the writer should follow free flowing thoughts without structure. Even if it begins or becomes writing one unrelated word, or letter, at a time. Grammar, punctuation, and style should be abandoned. Writing without spaces between words is acceptable. Write what comes to mind, flowing like a stream of consciousness. Does the electric bill pop into your head? Write it down. Just keep writing.
Okay, you might be thinking, that’s great for poetry, but what does SCW do for formalized writing? It herds the cats in your brain, or at least in mine. Maybe you have something else to herd; elephants, maybe? My best observational experience came from teaching an English composition class for a junior college. One of the older students in the class was having an issue with description to punch up a creative nonfiction piece she was writing. When I told her to use SCW, her face looked broken for a few moments. I realized this would be a good lesson for the class.
First, I recommended that everyone write three sentences without punctuation. I know, I know; sacrilege, yes? Especially for those English nerds who like lording over others about proper ways to use commas and apostrophes. I could see when those particular students had to pause every time they felt like a sentence should end.
The older student complained. “I can’t do that.” I looked over her shoulder, perfect punctuation everywhere. I almost hated to mess with the beauty of it.
“Try again.” I encouraged her. “Three sentences, no punctuation, not even a period.”
A younger student moaned. Collective sighs reverberated throughout the classroom. Were they frustrated about the older student’s inability holding up their progress? No, not all, some were genuinely confused about the SCW process. So, I kept at it. I found that since his fame is intra-generational, dropping Paul McCartney’s name helped everyone’s motivation.
I’ve had to use a form of stream of consciousness to write this article, because writing a blog personally intimidates me. Why? Because how do you know what people want to read when you’ve spent the last year and a half selling kitchenware, asking customers to pull up their masks, or rambling around the house in near solitary confinement? Right now this project is a mess. A stream of consciousness piece that needs a bit more stream of consciousness to get it together.
In the next installment of this subject I’ll delve into more specifics about how, why, and when to use stream of consciousness writing.
Thank you for reading. djb
https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/
https://juliacameronlive.com/
