The Many Possibilities of Beginning

Exercise #379 Rediscovering Creative Freedom Through Novice Eyes

Strategy:

Your mind is a vast, unexplored landscape, brimming with untapped potential. Now, picture the well-worn paths of expertise crisscrossing this terrain. While these paths represent valuable knowledge, they can sometimes limit our creative wanderings. This exercise challenges you to step off those familiar trails and embrace the beginner's mind—a state of openness, curiosity, and endless possibility. By consciously shedding the constraints of expertise, even temporarily, we can access a wellspring of raw creativity. It's like wiping the slate clean and allowing ourselves to see our craft with fresh, unjaded eyes. Are you ready to rediscover the exhilarating freedom of being a novice?

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the differences between expert and beginner approaches to writing

• Recognize and challenge personal writing conventions and assumptions

• Develop techniques for accessing a more open, exploratory mindset

• Synthesize the strengths of both expert and beginner perspectives in revision

Instructions:

1. Reflect on Expertise: Take a moment to consider the quote by Shunryo Suzuki.

   "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." Jot down your thoughts on why an expert might have fewer possibilities than a beginner. How does this apply to writing?

2. Journey Back in Time: Close your eyes and recall your early days as a writer. What excited you? What freedoms did you feel? What rules were you blissfully unaware of? Make notes about your memories and emotions from that time.

3. Choose Your Canvas: Select a topic or scene to write about. This could be anything from a childhood memory to a fantastical scenario—the key is to pick something that intrigues you.

4. The Expert's Draft: Write a short passage on your chosen topic, consciously employing all the writing techniques, rules, and skills you've honed over time. This is your "expert" draft.

5. The Beginner's Mind: Now, imagine you're writing for the very first time. Ignore everything you know about "good" writing. Break rules. Experiment wildly. Write another short passage on the same topic, but this time, approach it with the unbridled creativity and lack of constraints that a true beginner might have.

6. Synthesis and Revision: Read both drafts side by side. Identify elements you like from each version—perhaps the polished prose from your expert draft and the raw energy from your beginner's attempt. Combine these strengths into a final revised version that captures the best of both worlds.

Tags: beginner's mind, creativity, perspective, experimentation, revision, zen, writing techniques

Example:

1. Reflect on Expertise: As an expert, I might limit myself to established fantasy tropes, magic systems, and world-building techniques. A beginner might imagine wildly impossible scenarios without worrying about logic or consistency.

2. Journey Back in Time: I remember the joy of creating entire worlds without worrying about plot holes or character arcs. Every idea felt fresh and exciting, and I wrote with abandon, breaking rules I didn't even know existed. I also remember finding words in the dictionary I wanted to sprinkle into the mix.

3. Choose Your Canvas: I'll write about a magical forest where the trees can communicate with visitors.

4. The Expert's Draft:

   The ancient oaks of Whispering Grove stood sentinel, their gnarled branches reaching skyward like grasping fingers. Amara stepped carefully over gnarled roots, her enchanted amulet glowing faintly. As she approached the heart of the grove, a soft susurration filled the air – the trees were awakening. Their leaves rustled with an otherworldly rhythm, forming words only those attuned to nature's magic could comprehend.

5. The Beginner's Mind:

   TREES TALK!!!! Big tree says "hello little human" with its leaves. Girl scared but excited. Magic everywhere, sparkly and loud. Trees have faces in bark, some smile some frown. Girl touches tree, feels buzzy. Jujubes sway. Wants to stay forever in crazy forest but also run away fast. Everything is green and blue and purple.

6. Synthesis and Revision:

   The ancient oaks of Whispering Grove TALK!!!! Their gnarled branches reach skyward, leaves rustling with otherworldly rhythm. Amara steps carefully over roots, her amulet buzzing with magic. As she approaches the heart of the grove, a big tree says "hello little human" through a face formed in its bark. Scared but excited, Amara touches the tree. Little red jujubes sway on the laden branches. Everything is green and blue and purple, sparkly and loud. She wants to stay forever in this crazy, magical forest, but also run away fast.