When Everything Has Already Been Said
The certainty that everything has already been written annuls us, or renders us phantasmal ~ Borges
When everything has already been said: shift perspective
Look out not in
Look in not out
Look up not down
Look down not up
Write short not long
Write long not short
Try a different form
Make more of the tools you’ve already got
Write poetry not prose
Write prose not poems
Write light not dark
Write dark not light
Explore a different voice
Drop deeper into your own
Get to the heart
Focus on the details
Read, don’t write
Write, don’t read
Consume don’t create
Create don’t consume
Take a different stance.
~~~
When everything has already been said:
Shift perspective
~~~
What do you do when the inner critic whispers that everything has already been said?
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It’s mostly true that everything’s been said. However, it doesn’t mean it’s been said in the way I can say it, and it doesn’t mean my audience has heard it before.
I get into a rut with this sometimes too, but adding another angle, another anecdote or story usually helps to freshen things up.
This is great advice. I find that I feel “stale” when my main character winds up being too much like me… Sometimes shifting your perspective means writing what you *don’t* know.
Joanna, when everything has already been said, I come here for inspiration, encouragement, a shift.
I also try to remind myself that of course it’s all been said but each voice says it differently.
@John Soares: John, absolutely. Both points are great counters to that insidious whisper. I was thinking about the audience point earlier… I was envisaging one huge (global) circle, and thousands of inter-connected circles within it, with each of us sharing and influencing and sending ripples out into those smaller segments… And if we let our voices fall silent… no ripples.
@Daree: Hi Daree, good to see you. It’s just a question of stepping outside of the narrative somehow I guess, and like you say, finding that other angle.
@Ben: Ben, I like that… writing what you *don’t* know… hmm, food for a blog post I think
@Karen Swim: Oh you are too lovely
Yes, each voice, and behind that, each place, each life experience, each rich tapestry, which is unique to that person. Your voice shines through everything you write Karen.
This is cute but also immensely wise writing. Thanks for this, I am going to bookmark it for those dismal days.
@Damien Riley: Cute and wise… that so made me smile
Sorry for the delay in posting and replying, akismet took a hissy fit, sorry.
Normally I ignore the inner critic, but a change will do you good in the long run.
@e.lee: indeed… sometimes it’s a wise word from the inner editor to shake things up rather than that mean voice of the critic…