“Vomit and THEN clean it up.” – by Not-Sure-Who

I don’t really like the word “vomit,” but the alternatives are not much better. So when talking about getting words/stories down on paper, some writers call it “throwing up” words or “puking on paper” – POP?

I don’t mind “hurling words” or “word hurls” as there’s an element of assonance in those phrases. What do you think of “barfing up big ideas” or “upchucking info?”  Oh, and then there’s the lesser known term “ralphing” or “ralfing” – not sure of the spelling.

The point of all these sickening metaphors is the idea of purging oneself of the thoughts, ideas, details, and developments clogging inner creativity. Once all those chunks are splattered across the computer’s screen, the revisoinist’s clean-up can begin in ernest.

This is hard for me to do as I am a “clean/revise as you go” kind of writer, (not a domestic attribute, I’m afraid.) That process works for short pieces, but it can stop up the work when contemplating a novel.

So my challenge to myself is to write until I puke, hurl, or vomit – OR throw up 750 words a day, whichever comes first. (Of course I can’t pick up the gauntlet until I return from CA!)

WHO’S WITH ME?