Flow writing

[hopeless87]

I haven't done flow writing in a while so I figure why not? Flow writing, to me, is allowing my thoughts and fingers to move freely. I'm going to start typing and see what happens. I invite everyone to do the same on this thread. Here goes:

Anyone worth saving, saves themselves.

We are here, wondering where to go next. You look at me and I don't know but I'm afraid. I know you came with me because I wanted you to, and i do appreciate that you're here, but I don't know anymore than you. We've outgrown our shells of innocence, our lush dreams replaced with barren realities. Is this where all people go at one point or another? It's not my fault. I know no more than you.

I've had a mother, and you've had a father. Why then do we expect so much from each other? I can't carry you, I only ask that you carry yourself. Even the strongest have limits and I am at mine. Blame me. Such is the way of life. I have a few things I've yet to digest. Only women are allowed emotions. Only men ruin relationships. Only women are objectified. Only men walk away. If away is forward then I will walk. I want you with me, for I am alone without you, but I'm am dying in this spot. Where are you?

I told you I would die for you, and I so I would live for you, but I cannot die for living with you. I am morose, I'm having a moment, but it's my moment and I am here in it. Where are you? I know the earth harsh in your ears. Doesn't the blood rush to your head? Then bury it not in the sand, for I am here with you. find the strength of your spine and stand erect. You put yourself here because of the past, now pull yourself out for your future. Because I am here with you, but I can't stay here much longer.

[Arualiaa]

It seems that fate is what we're told to follow. What would happen if such a thing didn't exist? Sometimes I think of the past, in the middle of the night, and I read out loud for the stars that may be hearing. I read stories like this one, lines of pointless text that won't make any sense to me, as if they were in a foreign language. You'd think it stupid but let me say: isn't everything else stupid nowadays? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Maybe some stupid things are worth our time, don't you think? There's a thing called heart that people aren't fond of following, they instead follow fate, whilst thinking it doesn't exist.

Type. I need to keep on typing. Typing more arbitrary letter combinations that end up being words, isn't it like magic? The magic that fuels life, the life of the writer whose brain is composed by characters, like a computer's code. Is able a writer to compose the code of life? Or is life itself the one that wraps around the writer's code and adopts the form of that creation? Isn't writing like being the god of reality's imagination? Maybe if you keep on typing reality will eventually change. Arbitrary letter combinations tend to do that fairly often, don't they?

Wow, that was surprisingly fun! Even if it came out kind of weird, heh.

[Kylpault]

I recently wrote a script and found myself using flow writing a LOT. The idea was this:

I modeled the main character after myself. I gave my character a set obstacle or challenge or even reaction from another person and almost immediately put down my reaction. When I paused in dialogue think of what the character should say I indicated it with an "Um", allowing for very natural dialogue.

Perhaps the most fun I had was flow writing a brief action encounter. Each character countered the other in real time, creating a final scene that was much more different than what I would have gotten if I had gone with my scripted scene.

Now, I'm going to try a flow action encounter between two characters. The setting and characters will be pre-determined, the outcome will not.

The room is about ten yards by tens yards, with a square table about one yard by one yard in the center. On the table is a loaded shotgun. It needs to be pumped before it can be fired.

In one corner of the room is Lenny, armed with a combat knife. He is a cliche mafia muscle-type character, big at 6" 8', strong and stupid. He has had used firearms before but has never been trained.

In the other corner of the room is Jeff, also armed with a combat knife. He has basic military training but is no special operative. He is a full foot shorter than Lenny and not as strong but more agile.

Ready...GO

Lenny throws his knife, it hits with the blunt side. Jeff runs to the gun, Lenny runs to the gun. Jeff then throws his knife at closer range and hits him in the arm, causing Lenny to fall. Jeff reaches the gun, cocks it but Lenny is able to grab hold of it at this point and they wrestle for the gun. Lenny overpowers Jeff but Jeff kicks Lenny in the balls, pulls the gun away and fires.

A lot of set-up for comparatively little words. It was hard controlling two characters like that but I think I made a decent action scene using flow writing.

Try it in your own writing for dynamic dialogue, action or just to get rid of writer's block. Seriously, it helps.

[hopeless87]

At 6/24/13 02:00 PM, Arualiaa wrote:

Wow, that was surprisingly fun! Even if it came out kind of weird, heh.

I like doing stuff like this because typically as I write it feels like I take the words strewn about in my head and carefully form them into what I think they should be. Doing this, however, gives me a chance to see where those random words may have come from in the first place.

And about arbitrary letters, It has recently captivated my imagination how artists create from randomness. It's like the chaos of a rorshac ink blot made into something beautiful through the eyes of the artist.

[deathbymanga]

Some friends of mine and I did a fun experiment once a week during college. We would play very relaxing instrumental music in a room that was pitch dark and no other noises. We would close our eyes and let the music just give us ideas. afterwards, we would tell a story to the rest of the group in a row and do it again. It could get pretty stressful and exhausting for the mind once we got into listening to the 1.5 hour long track on purely instrumental music without a pause. You kind of start down a dark road by the end of it. I know I end up thinking of some pretty messed up situations.

But it is a really good writing exercise.

[deathbymanga]

Some friends of mine and I did a fun experiment once a week during college. We would play very relaxing instrumental music in a room that was pitch dark and no other noises. We would close our eyes and let the music just give us ideas. afterwards, we would tell a story to the rest of the group in a row and do it again. It could get pretty stressful and exhausting for the mind once we got into listening to the 1.5 hour long track on purely instrumental music without a pause. You kind of start down a dark road by the end of it. I know I end up thinking of some pretty messed up situations.

But it is a really good writing exercise.

[hopeless87]

i'm drunk and sad and I'm a writer. Don't judge me.

Don't you remember?
Do you remember

how it felt to wish someone loved you?
how you felt when I came into your life?
why I drove 9 hours to be with you?
the dreams we shared?

There are others

that wish they could find a guy like me
that know how it feels to lose
that are lonely in their lives
that deserve the place you hold in my heart

I want you

to know who I am
to love me anyway
to appreciate my hard work
to look at me as a man

I love you

more than words can say
until my dying day
with the depth of my heart and the beat of my soul

I am here

with you
in hell
forever
but why?