{"id":2509,"date":"2024-01-25T13:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T13:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2024\/01\/25\/writing-in-bursts-of-freedom\/"},"modified":"2024-10-18T16:40:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T16:40:38","slug":"writing-in-bursts-of-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/2024\/01\/25\/writing-in-bursts-of-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing in bursts of freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Last autumn I traveled with two friends, Monique and Jacob, to a cabin in the western mountains of Maine. We called it a writing retreat. Monique brought books on craft; I carried around more pens than fingers. And we did write \u2014 outdoors at a lake\u2019s edge, and indoors under a mounted moose head.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>But for me, the lessons in creativity that weekend lay outside my notebook.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Jacob\u2019s presence encouraged us to try activities beyond our typical word-based exercises, like free writing or playing variations on Mad Libs. Unlike Monique and me, Jacob isn\u2019t a professional writer; he\u2019s pursuing music. He brought his electric keyboard to the cabin, and he taught me to play&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RvLLLN056eg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cMiss Simone.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>\u201cMiss Simone,\u201d a song by Sara Bareilles, is about two people in love dancing on a rooftop, with a simple accompaniment that cycles through the same handful of chords. Jacob typed the progression into the Notes App on his phone and perched it on the keyboard for me. As I played, Jacob sang softly next to me, catching his voice between his throat and the keyboard to prevent too much echo in the cabin. I played the chords, often getting them out of order. But Jacob kept singing: Verse, pre-chorus, chorus and verse again. So I kept playing.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>There is no revision in live performance. If you play a wrong note, you have no way to go back and correct it. I charged ahead to the next chord after messing up the last. Jacob tried a vocal riff at one point that sounded like a kettle boiling. But once the sound comes and goes, there\u2019s no use dwelling on it. We move on to the next verse.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From chords to colors<\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Later, we collaborated on a watercolor painting. None of the three of us has a particular talent for visual art, but we each took turns dabbing Jacob\u2019s watercolors onto a piece of white cardstock. Monique painted curved shapes, while Jacob pressed down a thick brush to create deep blue blobs. I swirled the watercolors in swaths to create a background of bleeding colors. We rinsed our brushes in a shared red Solo cup between each turn. All the while, we chatted about Monique\u2019s grandma, who owned a nightclub in Connecticut during the 60\u2019s and had encounters with a local group known as the Junior Mafia.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>We stopped painting when we felt done. The painting had no obvious orientation, as we had each added strokes sitting at different vantage points of the cardstock. From one view, it looked like a pink landscape with a green sky; from another, like a portrait of a sea alien floating in an emerald ocean. By the end, we\u2019d created something entirely unplanned, yet still complete. It looked like a Dr. Seuss fever dream, but the painting felt profoundly honest in its lack of premeditation. Each of us had no idea what the next person would paint, which meant we had to let go of any sort of vision and just focus on the paper in each moment.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>My approach toward the music and the painting felt markedly different than my usual approach to writing. I tend to think of writing like building a house, where I have the completed blueprint \u2014 an outline \u2014 before any construction starts. I like to write the beginning and the end first, then complete the story like finishing a printed maze \u2014 by extending a line from both beginning and end until they connect.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>This approach works when the stories are simple. In my work as a science journalist, I often find myself writing the same straightforward narratives: A team of scientists discovers something new about nature; an engineer invents a clever device to help society; a person overcomes a challenging childhood to become a successful researcher. But the full picture is often more complicated and more interesting, and I seek to weave more of that complication in my stories: Perhaps the discovery leads to weapons development; the engineer\u2019s invention is unaffordable and commercially fails; the successful researcher is accused of harassing students. It\u2019s not obvious where to begin or end those stories.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>That\u2019s when I try to tap into the mindset I discovered when playing \u201cMiss Simone\u201d and painting the shared watercolor. If I don\u2019t know what the story is, I strive to put words down on the page like I\u2019m learning the chords to a song, where mistakes are part of the process. As in creating the watercolor, I try to let go of my desire to know the end before I begin. I let myself write whatever flows.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-heading   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Putting the practice to work<\/h2>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-image mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/watercolor_portrait-1-scaled-e1706141843217-1.jpg\" alt=\"Science writer Sophia Chen with another view of her free-paint\" class=\"wp-image-81\" style=\"width:300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/watercolor_portrait-1-scaled-e1706141843217-1.jpg 400w, https:\/\/niemanstoryboard.org\/app\/uploads\/2024\/02\/watercolor_portrait-1-scaled-e1706141843217-1-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sophia Chen with another view of her free-paint <small>Courtesy of Sophia Chen<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>I attempted to follow this process to write this very article. I made myself start writing without knowing what I wanted to say, just that I wanted to write about learning the song and painting the watercolor. I definitely didn\u2019t know how to structure the piece. But I set aside these uncertainties and wrote most of this article in a burst, without letting myself edit along the way. Some details surprised me: I had forgotten about the shared Solo Cup and Monique\u2019s grandma.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Having blurted the words out on the page, I let myself start editing. I reread my writing to look for the main idea. After identifying the main point of the article, it became clear to me which paragraphs or sentences I needed to rearrange. The structure of the article emerged from the words, rather than from a planned outline. &nbsp;Then, I sent the draft to my editor, who suggested additions I could make, mostly for clarity and to draw a stronger connection between the singing\/painting and my writing. I wrote those additions in another burst, then edited that.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>Sometimes a writer doesn\u2019t know what to write, nor how to write it. But sometimes we should just start writing. Sometimes an authentic story will emerge, and we can find the cohesion later.<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p>* * *<\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-classic mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n    <div class=\"  core-block\">\n        <div class=\"block block--core block--core-paragraph mb-5   max-w-screen-full mx-auto\">\n            \n<p><em><strong>Sophia Chen<\/strong>&nbsp;is a freelance science journalist based in Columbus, Ohio, who writes about physics, space, AI, and anything involving numbers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A science journalist who typically writes to a structure experimented with free-form bursts she learned from playing with paint and music<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"topics":[],"authors":[14],"issue":[],"class_list":["post-2509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays-on-craft","authors-sophia-chen"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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