Discussion - Automatic Writing

I'm sure there's a few people here familiar with this term. I did a quick search on the forum and it got a couple of hits. (Songwriter's Forum, link below)

I'm highlighting it here primarily for use as a tool for musical inspiration for lyrics or poems but also as self therapy. I've found it's a tool that has greatly assisted me. I have been doing it on and off with breaks at points since I was about 16 (I'm now 33).

A few questions to answer if you feel like joining in:

1. What is it to you?

2. What is your method?

3. When do you normally do it?

4. Where do you normally do it?

5. Have you found the writings useful for songwriting/poetry or any other creative media creation?

6. How do you get over 'writer's block' with automatic writing?

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Well I started the thread so I'll answer my own questions. Hello Monty, how are you? Oh, I'm just fine. Alright, answer the questions.

#### Question 1

To me 'Automatic Writing' is a flow. It's a way of putting all the ions in the magnet of my brain in the same direction. I don't believe consciousness is inside the brain but rather it is an antenna and through tuning in to 'flow', we can tap into the many varied resources in the ether. (I'm aware this is hocus pocus to some people - we can start another thread on the concept of non-local consciousness, haha :) )

Automatic Writing is also a way of letting off steam and just de-cluttering the mind after stressful situations. It can also often just help me get rid of mental noise in general and get more in tune with 'the moment'. But then again can also start a mental storm if I feel strongly about the thing I'm writing, haha. ::)

As a non-expectational form of writing, it can help with flow of writing dreams or delicate matters of thought.

I feel automatic writing is a way to prepare my mind for when I want to flow on paper better when I AM ready to write a song.

It's also a way to become truly confident with words and the page, so it assists with building vocabulary and sentence structure for all forms of writing and oratory articulation (speeches, conversation).

#### Question 2

I put a pen to paper and I write. Whatever is on the top of my head. If I start to get lost on a tangent, I either choose to completely lose myself on that tangent or just allow the next passing thought to be my next script. Sometimes I will write in lines of four, so it looks like poetry on paper. Sometimes I will have an idea of a song or rhythm in my head that I just write to. Sometimes I write whole long sentences. Sometimes it rhymes, sometimes its very didactic and sometimes it's crap. I've found though, that keeping up a consistent practice prepares the mind to do it later, again and again.

#### Question 3

I normally write in the morning, first thing with a cup of coffee.

#### Question 4

Where? In the comfort of whatever home I've found myself in. I also have done it outside sometimes, or sitting at a cafe, or even while watching a performance. I would like to discipline myself to do it more in public or in different places at different times because I feel often we share the same thoughts as those around us - changing the social setting can change the writing.

#### Question 5

I have often used Automatic Writing for songs or poetry either exactly as it is written or edited and juggled around. It's just one more tool in the arsenal of ways to write a song, as there are many ways to go about writing a song.

#### Question 6

Writer's block in Automatic Writing, can it exist? I say it can because sometimes there really is no motivation to put anything on paper. Often I have persisted anyway and I've found that after this short period of 'writing boredom' my mind has entered a light trance and then things flow more freely as before. Writing down things about the immediate vicinity of where you are assists greatly for me. Eg. I am sitting on a comfy leather couch, the feel is soft yet I am aware of the hide, my beer tastes sweet today, the sky is blue, the street is noisy, my head feels like a heavy brick. etc. I feel it helps lower the mind into a trance state to focus on these immediate sensations and get them on paper.

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So what about you? Let me know your experiences with it and how it supports you in your creative work! Or maybe you'd like to start and don't know how.

This article can be found here as a discussion in the Songwriters in the Kitchen forum: https://www.songwriter-forum-kitchen.com/forum/seo/3/discussion-automatic-writing/5950/

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