Comments on: The Mark Rothko method of writing

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 20:26:00 +0000

In reply to Natalie Smithson. A friend of mine describes this as like letting a faucet drip with a little bit of water, just to keep the pipes from freezing!

By: Natalie Smithson

Natalie Smithson — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 20:01:00 +0000

This is perfectly true for me. I like to check out a brief for a blog post as soon as it hits my inbox. After that, I’m thinking in the background of whatever else I’m doing. Sitting down to write then follows on naturally.

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 23:03:00 +0000

In reply to Charles Broming.

The thing I’ve noticed is that many writers — particularly students — don’t allow nearly enough time for thinking. And as you point out, that’s thinking about the TOPIC, not about the act of writing. Also, many people try to do this thinking while they’re seated at their desk. That, I think, is almost always a mistake…

By: Charles Broming

Charles Broming — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 22:32:00 +0000

Of course. Unless he or she is on assignment, the writer must decide what to write about and for whom he’s writing the piece. Thinking about what one is to write or is writing is the hardest part for me. Whom do I want to read it? How technical must it be for this audience for the piece to be credible? What form should it take? Should it begin with a “story”? a question? a hypothesis? Background or context? Is there a history that the reader should know? Will my audience know it, so I don’t have to fill them in?

For me, the hardest part of an essay to generate is the underlying thesis and logic. This process includes writing, reading and thinking about the topic far more than thinking about the writing; the process is a cycle that repeats until. Writing issues become prominent last in the process (if I’m going to get started and if I’m going to finish).