Writing Without a Net

It sounds like a silly phrase, but this is something I say often.

There are many different ways to go about writing a story. You can outline in a million different way from a basic idea to a scene by scene guide. I’ve done it all. One thing I come back to often, especially in my shorter work, is what I like to call writing without a net.

I’m doing it right now with a story called Gateway. It was a story sparked by a misread phrase. It was an idea that worked for an anthology I wanted to submit to and I had a few spare minutes. So, I sat down and I started writing. Until I wrote it, I didn’t know the character’s name or where it took place or what was going to happen. I’m almost 14K words into this short story and I still have no clue what I am writing until I write it.

This is a style of writing that is as mesmerizing to me as it is frustrating. I don’t know how long the story will be. I don’t know what my character is going to say or do until I write it. I am constantly being surprised by unseen plot twists.

I’m blind. I’m flying high. Things are happening. And if I fall, there is no net to catch me. This story could very well crash and burn. All this effort might possibly be for naught.

And I love it.

It’s a very intuitive style of writing that allows me to step out of my head. To stop thinking about what might happen next and just let the story flow out of me.

It’s a hard thing to do, to get out of my own head. It’s hard to not think about how all the elements might fit together or how this scene will make the story progress. I try not to think about anything at all while I am writing other than putting one word after the other.

I hope this story works for the anthology I have in mind, but if it doesn’t, I hope it still works as a story. As something I can submit to a publisher or publish myself or, maybe even, put up for free on my website. 

Who knows?

I certainly don’t. And I’m okay with that.