There is certain benefit to recording a story long after it unfolded. There is a distance from the emotional impact and advantage of long range perspective. Living in the moment with a story gives sometimes choppy feelings chance to buffet us, while trying to recite events. It seems difficult to transcribe emotions in the moment. According to science a separate part of the brain is used for writing than processing feelings. That gives rise to other art forms to express emotional impact--poetry, visual arts, dance and movement, and song. But once seperated from impact writing can be useful. In fact it can give different meaning to emotions by adding intellectual content.
Other times while transcribing, emotions get triggered. When this happens the writing process seems to get disabled in order to process the emotional entanglement left over. On these occasions, I use a couple techniques to go forward with my writing. Sometimes I go sideways and bring up other tales. This way I divorce myself from the emotional impact, but keep a story going. Often I find, where I leaped has a hidden connection to the part I was having difficulty transcribing. This aids both processing emotional content and weaving necessary components into the story. Another technique is to describe the process. This leads to a discussion of the writing process in the moment of its breakdown. Here a bridge is constructed from the part of the brain that conducts writing to the part that holds emotions. Making this connection seems to aid in dealing with disabling emotions and connecting them with the story.
An example of this process unfolded the last few days. I was writing about a time that was emotionally exhausting for me. As I wrote feelings from that period arose and making it difficult to deal with grammar and language. After a brief struggle, I moved sideways and related a tale from another place and time. After exposing that tale, I came back to the previous one with some new information. That brought another prospective and elements to bear. By using today’s writing to reflect upon this gives me insight into how to weave these other elements into the story. The moment seems to carry healing in that other ways of experiencing emotional impact spring forward. Tomorrow’s writing will likely bring yesterday’s story down a new path.
Other times while transcribing, emotions get triggered. When this happens the writing process seems to get disabled in order to process the emotional entanglement left over. On these occasions, I use a couple techniques to go forward with my writing. Sometimes I go sideways and bring up other tales. This way I divorce myself from the emotional impact, but keep a story going. Often I find, where I leaped has a hidden connection to the part I was having difficulty transcribing. This aids both processing emotional content and weaving necessary components into the story. Another technique is to describe the process. This leads to a discussion of the writing process in the moment of its breakdown. Here a bridge is constructed from the part of the brain that conducts writing to the part that holds emotions. Making this connection seems to aid in dealing with disabling emotions and connecting them with the story.
An example of this process unfolded the last few days. I was writing about a time that was emotionally exhausting for me. As I wrote feelings from that period arose and making it difficult to deal with grammar and language. After a brief struggle, I moved sideways and related a tale from another place and time. After exposing that tale, I came back to the previous one with some new information. That brought another prospective and elements to bear. By using today’s writing to reflect upon this gives me insight into how to weave these other elements into the story. The moment seems to carry healing in that other ways of experiencing emotional impact spring forward. Tomorrow’s writing will likely bring yesterday’s story down a new path.
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