Ninja Writing

I think it's time for me to clear up something that's being hinted at in the comments of my blog.  I do write blindfolded.  Yes, I do call it Ninja Writing.  I only do this for works of fiction, sometimes blog posts, and other longer works.  Yes, I am blindfolded right now.

I write blindfolded because it allows me to concentrate on my own thoughts.  I don't see the indicator telling me I need to pay attention to a new email.  I'm not tempted to look on Tribe.net or over on the Amazon.com discussion board to see if anyone's responded to my last post.  I'm not fighting a thousand other distractions while I write . . . it's just me and my thoughts.

I write blindfolded for other reasons.  I can follow my characters as they move through my story and I don't self-edit while I write it. I can't very well backspace, so without the ability to move backward and change a word or phrase, correct a misspelling, or read that last sentence what comes out is more raw, but more organized.  I get to complete a thought.  I get to move ahead and when it comes time to do some actual corrections and editing, I have a better idea of where that story is going.

I write blindfolded and my son makes fun of me.  My brother is sitting over on the chair in this room reading a book and I know that when he looks over at me, his older brother moving his head back and forth while tearing through the keys on the keyboard like a no-talent imitation of Stevie Wonder, he smirks.  I know it looks stupid, but it works.

It works for me and it might work for others.  You have to be a touch typist and you have to be fast enough on the keyboard to keep up with your thoughts.  At least in my case that's a challenge because my story is changing even as I type it.

Happy storytelling, now I'll remove the blindfold and look to see how many errors I made in the process of typing this simple blog post.

- rick the ninja.

Comments

[Success Warrior]

Mine would probrably be quite the collection of red and green squigglies.

[Mark]

as long as you stay away from Ninja DRIVING!

[Success Warrior]

Louise probably wants you to stay away from ninja peeing as well.

[Sugar]

If he wants to wear it in his elimination rituals, it's really non of my business. So long as he cleans up afterward.

I insist that he wears a blindfold, often, actually. It is so much easier to surprise him. Plus, I like it when he is all hands.

[Gluby]

Ha! That's great!

"If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid."

Yeah, I may read when I drive, but I probably wouldn't try blindfolded Zen Driving...

[Holly]

Wow. I am a very good touch-typist but I am also very old school. I actually prefer to compose on a typewriter--I like seeing the typed words appear on an actual piece of paper. I like the sound of the keys striking the page. I like the way it looks like progress, to see all these pages accrue.

But I might try this blindfolded thing just the same, because why the hell not?

Thanks for the suggestion.

[CV Rick]

You're welcome, Holly. Thanks for dropping by. There's a lot of good stuff over on your blog as well . . . I think I'll be spending some time there.

[Hellmut]

CV Rick, you are a creep. Or may be I am just to uncoordinated for blind typing.

[Pants]

That's some hardcore fiction writing.

[Ricky Cisco]

Hey Ninja Rick,

I recently discovered writing blindfolded. The idea occurred to me when I was in bed writing down some thoughts in the dark. I have pretty good keyboard skills so I thought it might be productive. Today I was able to write quite a bit in a short amount of time for the reasons you point out. I cant give in to the temptation to self edit, Im not distracted by anything visual - and I am completely immersed and lost in my own thoughts and the visualization of what im writing. It was a great experience and something I will continue to keep doing. I've never heard of it being done before so I googled it and your blog is really the only thing that mentions it. Awesome find! Take Care Rick!

-Ricky