Sharing Knowledge Of The Written Word. Forum Writing a stream

People have said that I write best when I write stream of consciousness, so I thought I'd share a few of my tricks.

Rule number one:  Be honest with yourself.  Few of us can type as fast as we think.  I can type only about 60 words per minute, and I'm sure my brain gets through that every couple of seconds.  I follow the most complete stream, the one with the most cogent thoughts.  If I'm true to what is going on in my head, it will stay clear, and I'll be able to follow it until it runs out.

Be ready to switch streams.  Streaming is a lot like surfing.  You catch the biggest wave, but if you don't catch it right, bail out, and find another.  Only stay on that wave as long as you can stay in its pipe.  Knowing when and how to bail out is the key.  I usually start with a single thought, almost a mantra, and if I am losing sight of it, I look for a way back.

If your "mantra" isn't working, move to something more interesting.  With me, sex is never far from my mind, so I often tie together more significant thoughts by alluding to sex.  It becomes my "all-purpose transition."  It won't be the same for everyone.  Maybe you are passionate about sports, as I am about running.  Running becomes another transition, and running isn't far from sex, sexy clothes, a runners high, sweat, heavy breathing. 

Don't look back.  Try to make it a logical progression, remembering where you've come from, and keep in mind where you may or may not be going.  If you look back you risk changing your current stream, perhaps wanting to improve on something you have already written.  It's OK to repeat yourself.  You are unlikely to repeat verbatim, but don't worry if you do.  That's how the brain works.  It (well mine at least) repeats things over and over, slightly altering combinations to find the best way to store the information.  That's why I intentionally repeat words a lot - a lot, meaning that I want to reinforce my use of those words, words that are important to me, to me and hopefully you the reader.  My mantra gets special treatment, and I usually try to add a focal point, incorporating it into specific devices like alliteration and onomatopoeia.

Use your best vocabulary and grammar.  But if you need to diverge for artistic reasons, do it.  A stream for me is a special kind of poetry, so it needs to be colourful with its description, with metaphor, and with a musical structure.  Sing it to yourself as you type - sing the rhythms, not a song.

Don't bore your reader.  Right now I'm supposed to be working, but I'm distracted, so I thought I'd find a means of self-expression.  Did you notice that I'm streaming right now?  Talking about my work would be certain to send you scrambling to another thread.  Talk about your secrets, be true and let it out - that's much more interesting that the 250 pages of editing sitting on my desk.

Yes, I'm streaming.  I've used my mantra, which in this case is a discussion of streaming, and I've used both my all-purpose transitions, and my fall-back topic, sex, but only for a moment.  You won't forget it, though.  I've avoided some of my other devices like dropping periods and sometimes even all punctuation to pick up the pace.  I want to keep this slow, so you continue to pay attention.  Sometimes I even try to manipulate the pace of my piece, building up to a frenetic climax, akin to sex - that's a good model for pacing - build, ease, build more and more, hold it back, wait for it, and then climax and relax.  That's usually where I put my longest sentence and my sexiest writing.  I make that a real event, and I find that if it doesn't affect me physically, it won't affect the reader.  That is the moment the reader should remember most - make the most of it.

Don't stop immediately when you finish surfing.  Give the reader a little time to assimilate what you have written before giving them something important and witty to take home with them.  That's their prize for surviving the onslaught.  I hadn't actually pre-prepared anything today, but chocolate is always a nice way to finish, so have a bar of rich, organic, fair-trade chocolate on me.  Hey, I like it on me as much as in me, but you are free to do what you will with it.