Children at Play

Preparing a lecture for class, themed around the notion of "writing as play" and specifically of "creativity as a child's voice." Writers carry a number of different voices in our heads, willingly or unwillingly. I've opined on the three-part model before (Creator, Reviser, Editor) and I'm seeing their shapes in my life now. Not actually literally seeing imaginary people, but in the way that I'm tackling problems. 

The Creator makes the ideas, the Reviser lays them straight, the Editor/Critic passes judgement. If they all stick to their lanes, the process just works. I feel good about my ability to cordon them off while I'm writing, to put our the big yellow sign "Children Playing" with the small hand-written rider, "No Editors Allowed." Nothing shuts a child's improvised game down faster than an adult showing up attempting to apply Order and Rules to the structure, and then *pfft* the fun goes, too.

Letting go of the demands of quality, accuracy, even grammar is so weirdly freeing. I don't think writers are the most mentally-healthy people in the world (see above re: multiple people in our heads) but we can certainly compartmentalize the hell out of our brains to achieve some focus.

🧩🦏