“Word, words, words!
I’m so sick of words.
I hear words all day through,
First from him, now from you.
Is that all you blighters can do?”
Verse from the song “Show Me” in the musical “My Fair Lady” written by Lerner and Loewe
It has been a long week and these words have been looping in my head all day. Some weeks are like that. I write so much that words seem to be filling my brain to capacity and beyond. Too many words. I wonder if they will ever stop. Whenever that happens, this song invades my brain. It’s a sign.
My clients are happy. I am happy, but saturated.
So what is my remedy? I usually curl up in a chair with a book, reading yet more words. It makes me wonder why when I need to silence the words in my head, I seek more. I suppose it is because words are my life. I am never sick of them. Reading is my comfort, and so I am doomed. Doomed to be surrounded by words.
It is a curious thing, though. I find when I start hearing “Show Me” in my head, my brain churns out even more words in an endless stream. They flow out of me easily.
I think it’s physics. Writing begets writing in the same way that energy begets energy.
Hearing this particular song means I have done well that week. I have written enough to satisfy my inner writer, editor, muse. Call her what you want. I must appease her and this song is her way of saying thanks.
Your muse will likely pick another tune. Or not. Maybe you muse isn’t musical. But you will feel a certain smug satisfaction in your work. So if you are stuck, start writing. It doesn’t matter what. Just put the pen to paper or tap on the keys until the words start to flow. The more you tap, the faster they come. Let your words beget more words. Let the count climb higher. Open the flood gates and drown your muse until she sings. Or dances. Or does whatever she does.
This is a great month to try it. Jump in on NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. It’s only the sixth of the month. You can catch up. The goal is to write 50,000 words in one month, or roughly the equivalent of a small novel/novella (the size of “The Great Gadsby”).
NaNoWriMo is fun. The point is to write without stopping. No editor. No restraint. By the end of the month, no matter what you have written, your brain will be properly stretched for even more writing.
I’m not doing NaNo this year because I am knee deep in editing a manuscript, but I have participated and won in the past and recommend it. I recommend anything that gets the words flowing.
As for me, I am going to keep tapping out words and enjoying the words of Eliza Doolittle in my head.
Now stop reading and go write. You can start by telling me what is your sign that you have done well. Are there any other music lovers out there?