Whim

Is it better to create out of whim (a sudden or capricious idea, a passing fancy) or conviction (a strong opinion, or belief)? I think I lean to whim. I think that the best of my work comes off the top of my head, in the moment, without a lot of forethought. I'm still in the mode of 'accumulating' notes for my next play, not sure what it will become. I guess, it's a kind of game I play, I jot down thoughts, ideas, scenes, names, situations, monologues, idle musings, strange rants, odd facts, anything that grabs my attention. Later, I will sit down, and start pulling together the threads. I trust that if can find connections, if I see patterns in the madness, others will too.

I think this is a method trying to be no method. I recently read an article in the NY Times about the singer/songwriter Beck ("two turntables and a microphone") trying to be alive in the moment, and I thought he and I are kindred souls.

Beck: I could write something ahead of time, and once you get on the mike and hear it back, you think, that's terrible, try again.

"It's as if all the countless styles, songs, words and ideas swirling around in his head fall into place without his deliberately arranging them. That's what he's after, to let his preconceptions drop away so he can respond directly to what is happening at that instant in the room."

Beck: That's usually the time when you're not trying to say something anymore, you're just saying it.