For the longest time I can remember, wherever and whenever I went to work, I've carried a mini-writer-devil in my left shoulder who had no business being there other than fly-in-the-walling.
I shoo him away when I am in the uphill phase of my work. He knows who is the boss!
In the downhill phase, I let him actively prowl around. He can often be seen (of course, only I can see him) goofing around, asking silly and profane questions, cackling often when he stumbles on an insight with an evil grin: "Now THAT's a juicy tale waiting to be told. Allow me to reflect on what you did, what happened and what blew your mind". More often, I let him take over and I often get handsome rewards in the end.
At first, I thought this was a writerly thing.
It turns out that this is a good thing if you want to be a "learn-all" and master a variety of domains. Cognitive researchers and meta-cognitive studies seem to be chorusing in unison.
If you want to learn, write first so that you think & model and then examine what you modelled for everyone to poke holes.
I shoo him away when I am in the uphill phase of my work. He knows who is the boss!
In the downhill phase, I let him actively prowl around. He can often be seen (of course, only I can see him) goofing around, asking silly and profane questions, cackling often when he stumbles on an insight with an evil grin: "Now THAT's a juicy tale waiting to be told. Allow me to reflect on what you did, what happened and what blew your mind". More often, I let him take over and I often get handsome rewards in the end.
At first, I thought this was a writerly thing.
It turns out that this is a good thing if you want to be a "learn-all" and master a variety of domains. Cognitive researchers and meta-cognitive studies seem to be chorusing in unison.
If you want to learn, write first so that you think & model and then examine what you modelled for everyone to poke holes.