Holiday of The Mind

The Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge stated that the source of well written english was ‘Emotion recollected in Tranquility’. It’s time to take a break, I think.

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After blasting out a number of articles for the ‘December Special’, it is easy to feel a certain malaise and discomfort in writing the next months articles. We should take a break, otherwise the words we write will be nothing more than churned out rubbish. Time to take on a new writing regime perhaps?

‘Emotion recollected in Tranquility’ is a great philosophy for writing. There are a few simple steps that can help you follow this writing philosophy.

1. Take in the experience or idea.

Don’t be afraid to just get involved in the activity and enjoy it. Be it a sporting event or an interesting article. If you’re going to write about it, you need to experience it. Don’t write down anything. There is nothing worse than a pen scratching around, distracting people who are just being involved in the activity.

2. Go back home. Sit down.

Make your way home, don’t speak too much. Think about what you have done. Think about what you experienced. How did it make you feel? What were the sights, sounds and smells. Find a chair when you get back home. There are things that need some time to think through. Sit. Listen to your breathing. Think again about what happened. Breathe. Sit quietly for around 20 minutes.

3.Write down some impressions.

Once you have recollected in tranquility, you have focussed some thoughts and can now write out a few ideas. Don’t expect it to produce a perfect copy first time round, just get your ideas down on paper or word document.

4. Write the Article.

Once you’ve got your article notes, get the piece written like you would normally. Spell check it, make sure it makes sense and when you’re ready, press that all important submit button.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing