No thinking – that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is… to write, not to think!

Forrester, in the movie “Finding Forrester” while mentoring Jamal

A posted comment on something I wrote recently seemed to imply the commenter was a bit envious of what she referred to as my “gift for ideas and writing.” What is this gift and where does it come from?

I believe we are all “gifted” in the sense that as human beings we have abilities and potential that we under-estimate too often. That includes the ability to generate ideas and the ability to write.

The movie “Finding Forrester” is the story of a young prodigy (Jamal) who finds a colorful but reclusive mentor (Forrester). Their relationship is a bit turbulent with some interesting twists but it’s a great film, perhaps especially for writers. When writing, I often turn to the advice Forrester gives Jamal. I’ve always loved the idea that a writer should write the first draft with his heart without much thinking. “Punch the keys, for God’s sake!” he tells Jamal.

Jamal’s story makes the point that we get better by doing things. “The first key to writing is… to write, not to think!” Punching the keys is about enthusiasm and passion. Sometimes acting enthusiastically at first evokes that enthusiasm.

I remember well teaching a writing unit to some fifth graders a few years ago. We were doing what is called “free write” — when the assignment is to simply write. The topic doesn’t matter. The work is not graded–the purpose of the unit is only to make writing take place. One of my students was truly suffering writer’s block, convinced she couldn’t think of anything to write about.

“Just write,” I told her. She stared at me blankly as though I didn’t hear her explanation. “Put the pencil on the paper… just write random words as they come to mind… see where those words take you…” I offered. Some might say I was channeling Forrester but I also know this is a technique that works because, in part, you stop thinking about the fact you can’t think of anything. When I returned to check on her later, I found she’d started an excellent horror story and was quite excited. Once her hand got moving her brain and heart followed–or perhaps more accurately, took over. Let me make it clear, this is a story of her success–not mine.

How different is writing from any other possibly underdeveloped skill? Too often we get focused on what we can’t do and our head starts controlling our hearts and hands. Sometimes we just need to start doing until our head and heart follow. Sometimes we need to let our heart lead until our head and hands follow our passion. Perhaps the definition of “gifted” is merely a matter of those moments when the heart, hands, and head start working together.