Wonderful, isn’t it, when something resurfaces in your life that’s really helpful to in your writing? That happened to me recently, when I came across a guide called Free Yourself to Write by Joan Minninger. It’s actually available on Amazon for a few bucks and it’s well worth the price.
Joan invites us to look at the writing process holistically — as an activity that can encompass every facet of our personality. As she puts it: “Parts of you that judge, think, and feel need to be orchestrated in a way that fosters your writing.” To be both more creative and effective, she advises dividing the writing process into two distinct phases.
Each phases uses different parts of the personality. In creating her model, Joan draws on the work of Dr. Eric Berne. His theory of personality focuses on three aspects. He labeled the part of us that judges as the Parent (P); the part that thinks as the Adult (A) and the part that feels as the Child (C). Joan maps her two phases using these aspects in an intriguing way:
Phase 1: Exploratory
The Nurturing Parent, to keep us safe while writing
The Adult, to focus our energy on our writing
The Child, “to intuit, create, charm, delve, investigate, astonish” and bring together disparate elements”
Phase 2: Crafting
The Critical Parent, to limit, evaluate, and choose the best form of expression
The Adult, to focus on both structure and content
The Adapted Child, “to be willing to forego more immediate pleasure and stay put until the work is completed
Joan warns that we shouldn’t let the “characters” in the Crafting phase to intrude into the Exploratory phase. Any thoughts on using this model?