Tip
While learning to play the guitar, some years ago, I asked my teacher how I could play faster. He said, ‘do less’. A little later, a karate enthusiast related to me how he had been told by the instructor to punch a bag, held by a fellow student, as hard as he could. Then the instructor said, ‘take all the force out of it and completely relax’. To his astonishment, the punch was more powerful. Reflecting on this, I began to see how the determination to write well can get in the way of the writing itself. We tense and slow down. We try too hard and lose the power. My antidote is to tell the hyper-anxious part of my mind to chill for now, I’m just sketching this out loosely. It is the loosely sketched out writing, surprise surprise, that usually turns up gems.
This tip is from Robin Mukherjee, who offer mentoring for scriptwriters through London Lit Lab.