Why Does Writing Run Away With You?

When I started to write this post, my intention was to write something completely different from what came out! It was meant to be about a philosophical point, which will now have to wait until a later time. As I was writing it I noticed something happening which, for me at least, happens all the time. So I decided to go with it, and it became the post you see below. Not on the original philosophy subject, but it's still a philosophy post, I think...

This is (I hope) going to be only a short post! I know that sometimes I tend to ramble along in what seems like a bit of a random way, but I do actually have a plan. It's just that I don't always keep to it! I'll be writing about something, and while I'm in the act of writing, something else occurs to me and I think, yeah OK that's relevant, so I should put that in as well, and then before you know it, there's a couple of hundred words suddenly on the page that were not, repeat NOT part of the original plan!

There's also another thing that happens to me when I write. It's the tendency of words to somehow take on a life of their own and start running away with what you were wanting to say. Sometimes you actually find that it's become impossible to say some of the things you were wanting to say, because in some way, the words you've just put down somehow preclude the ones you want to say! By this I mean that to say them would involve back-tracking right to the beginning to make a kind of NEW preamble to what you want to say, and this would make the piece become too long, and maybe even a bit boring.

Writing is HARD to do!

I am actually quite pleased to find out that I'm not the only one who finds this happening to them. I've read a few other writings from people who, especially in blogs, notice a similar effect.

So then, my question is this:

To all writers, does this happen to you, or doesn't it?
Any comments will be gratefully received...

6 comments:

Maddie said...

Yes, I agree completely with your post. I tend to write things thinking that they will be relevant, then look back on it and realise I've gone off on a tangent about the most obscure point that probably wasn't even worth writing about. I think that once you start writing you kind of almost go into a trance and let it flow (so to speak)so you don't really think about what you're writing, you just are writing, if that makes sense.

Am glad it's not just me!

Harneet Singh said...

It happens sometimes. Even when i discuss something with my friends. After sometime I stop and teel my friends to look where we have reached. We reach to a totally different topic.
This happens only wiyh the people who have their own viewpoint, read a lot as a result have the knowledge. So they are able to ponder over different subjects.
However this habbit should be checked becauser sometimes people want to listen what they want to and it becomes boring.

http://harneetsingh.blog.co.in

transitenator said...

Hi!
As you say: "It's the tendency of words to somehow take on a life of their own and start running away with what you were wanting to say."
Yes, this happens more and more with me too, though I'm not an English native speaker. (I do a lot of writing in English). However the whole experience is exciting and amazing. More and more (in writing) I loose my own personal perspective and start seeing the world ..., hm, as something like a collective being that is very sensitive to the overall emotions and wantings. Someone might say that this would be a kind of spacing out, well whatever, I enjoy doing this because it's also kind of walking up to new horizons to new unexpected results.

April said...

LOL! Yes! I think it happens to everyone :-).

You have such a thought provoking blog - I've tagged it for the You Rock award on my healthy living blog - www.katzhealthyliving.blogspot.com.

-Kat

~* said...

it is hard for me, especially to write non-fiction :D

for fiction, the hardest part is to get the image and mood of the story, and to edit! :D but still,.. since I can create the world as I like, fiction is way easier than non-fiction..

Aimee said...

Thank you to everyone for your really interesting comments on this post !

x x x