Table of Contents
I have set myself a challenge to write for 1-2 hr from a single word prompt every day for 30 days. AI is only allowed to improve my interpretation, not for writing. This is Day 4. Today’s word is; ‘manuscript’.
Manuscript seems an old fashioned word to use in today's world. It literally means "to write by hand". In a world of keyboards and Word, it can seem obtuse to use a word with origins in Ancient times.
But its all in the psychological message imbued through the use of the word 'manuscript', that helped me see it in a new light this morning.
Start calling your writing a 'manuscript'
If you're struggling to connect with writing or impact, here's an idea: work on a 'manuscript' not another 'draft'.
You're not working on your second draft, you're working on your manuscript.
You need peace and solitude, because you're working on your manuscript.
Yes, your manuscript is almost finished.
Your manuscript has been accepted.
Does your work feel more important now? At the moment I'm more inclined to use 'paper' as a work in progress piece of research. It's perhaps still equally ironic given not much actual paper is involved.
But I could try out manuscript. It sounds much more ... scholarly.
Connect psychologically to great thinkers
Sometimes just a change in thinking can help spur us on to better writing, more words, a new story...
I always think back to when I was researching an article on note-taking and Leonardo da Vinci. I remember looking at some of da Vinci's notebooks that have been digitised through the British Museum*. Whilst we would typically call these 'notes', they have a manuscriptic quality about them:
- the colour of the paper
- the faded writing
- his drawings
- scribbles
Da Vinci's notebooks inspired me to 'do different things on the same page'. His beautiful drawings inspired me to use more of my own drawings in combination with written notes. The colour of the ink and the paper brought them alive.
In my mind they became ancient manuscripts, not notes and scribbles.
Re-create the ancient environment if you need to
Connect yourself to the Greeks and the Romans, and other Ancient scholars. Work by candlelight and papyrus if you need to. Why not even create some tea or coffee stained paper to write on if you are really struggling to get words on a page?
This sounds incredibly tempting! Perhaps an evening of candlelight, fountain pens and gold paint is in order.
"Shhh. I'm working on my manuscript."
Manuscript is your psychological connection to wisdom, skill and craft.
*Unfortunately the images of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks don't seem to be available any longer on the British Museum's website, otherwise I would have linked to them. They may have been lost when the digital archives were hacked last year.
Comments