7 step

Conception of a Need.The first step may be a feeling of tension or excitement resulting from the realization that a writing job is to be done or a literary problem is to be solved.The need may arise merely because one has been asked to write a paper,to give a report to an employer,or to turn in a story for the next issue of a mag- azine.It may,on the other hand,arise because one feels that he has something personal to say on a subject which has not been properly developed by others,that public opinion must be changed, or that he has promising material to be worked up into a poem or even a novel.
Before proceeding much further,the thinker should attempt to state in clearest form just what is his problem.If he has no goal or purpose in mind,his"thinking"will be idle daydreaming.His problem,once stated,may be obviously unanswerable,or at least unanswerable in its first form.Further work usually shows the need of restatement of the question in more specific terms.Why strive to fulfill a need or answer a question which the thinker does not have clearly in mind?The worker should ask himself:"Do I understand what is needed?What is the main idea?What materials do I have for advancing toward the answer?What areas are still unknown?"If he can explain clearly where he wishes to go,he is already part way to the second step.
Often,however,discouragement immediately follows the con ception of a writing need.An attack of"writer'sstage-fright" comesalong:the workerfearsthat he will fail to do his best;that everyonewill harshlycondemnhis efforts;that this sort of idea has alreadybeen treated,and treated better,by other writers; that not now,if ever,is he readyto dojustice to his themel Wor- riesof this idlevarietyarenatural;they may alsobeusefulif they areharnessedto somepurpose,to drive the writerspeedilyahead to the next stage of the process.Creationmust go aheadof criti- cism.
Preparation.This step consistsin focusingall of the writer's experienceandknowledgeon the problem.Hereconscious,meth- odical effort is required.For a brief piece of writing,perhaps someexercisesin recollectingpreviouslyknownfacts and feelings will suffice.(Education,in one sense,is a means of storing the mind with the materialsfor thought.)For a longerpiece,this step may requireinterviewingmanypeople,hoursof deskworkor librarywork,and the taking of notes.Scholarsengaged on a largeworkmay spendyearson this step,whichis then called"re- search."The answersto many questionswill arriveas a result of this often pedestrianlabor,which is on the whole usually en- joyable -sometimesso enjoyablethat a writerwill lingerin this stage for days or months after the time when it should be clear that researchis yieldingfewnewresultsandthat he shouldplunge into the businessof puttingallresultsintowrittenuse.
Now,many times this periodof preparationwill give all the answersnecessaryto fulfill the writer'sneed.Often,however, problemswill have arisen which seem insoluble.The writer is "stuck."He hasconsciouslytriedto go ahead;he hasreachedan impasse.He shouldnot give up;thereis still a methodthat he may practice,if he knows about it.Although this methodhas seldombeendescribed,it may be definedas the effortto give in- spirationa chance to strike through the act of submitting the problemto the subconsciousmind.
Incubation.This schemeof storingawayproblemsin the hope that they will hatchsomesoundsolutionshas beenpracticedoften but seldom explained.Here we are on shaky ground,for the workingsof the subconsciousmind,or the subliminalself,or in- sight,or intuition -whatever it may be called-have not often been experimentallystudied for practicalpurposes.All that we reallyknowis that this schemeoften works,and that practicecan make it workmoreoften.Gettingresultsthroughincubationof ideas is sound,if the remarksof various thinkers and writers can be trusted.1 No professionalwriter can produce valuable ideas day after day without having stumbledupon this"secret" which Mark Twain,who consideredthe writer'smind as a tank which is periodicallyfilled and drawnupon,has well described: "It was then that I made the greatdiscoverythat whenthe tank runs dry you've only to leave it alone and it will fill up againin time,while you are asleep-also while you are at work at other things and arequite unawarethat this unconsciousand profitable cerebrationis goingon."2
What is this seemingly magic method?When you have worked as hard as you can on your problem,simply state the difficulty as clearly as possible,submit it to your subconscious mind,and - forget about it for a while.
III
Nothing may result.Nothing will result if the preparatory,ex- ploratory work has not been done faithfully;for the mind can work only with the material already stored in it,and the"inspira- tion"which can come is always offered as new combinations of pre- vious experiences.The subconscious presumably gets results by shuffling all the possible combinations and presenting only those which may appeal to the thinker's need."The sterile combina- tions,"remarks Poincare,"do not even present themselves to the mind of the inventor."It does not create something out of noth- ing.Even our airiest dreams are subconscious recombinations of bits of daylight experience.Herein lies the reward for the faithful preparation that has been done;for inspiration never comes unless this voluntary work has been put in,even though it seemed abso- lutely fruitless at the time.Says Polya:"Only such problems come back improved whose solution we passionately desire or for which we have worked with great tension;conscious effort and tension seem to be necessary to set the subconscious work going."
The period of incubation requires a minimum amount of time-often a long time -and therefore cannot always produce results upon demand.For this reason,a writer should start work well in advance of the deadline.For this reason,the most efficient thinker is likely to have his mind stored with a number of problems at all times,so that incubation of one idea can take place while he is consciously working on another.The prolific writer is usually one who has his mind filled with"work in progress."
The eliciting of"inspiration"cannot be forced by conscious effort,for it arises from no conscious realm.It may be suspected, however,that there are ways of advancing the process by practice, and of putting one's mind in the way of receiving this help more easily.Means to do this will suggest themselves after the whole process is further described.
Intimation.The next step is to seize the familiar"flash of in- spiration"which may come at any time,and which offers a path to solution.This"guess of genius"is a shy and furtive thing,and must be cunningly snared.How many world-shaking ideas have been lost because the first intimation flickered out and was for- gotten,or because the thinker had no pencil handy to make notes, or because a telephone bell or a"person from Porlock"rudely de- railed the train of thought?The intimation arrives first as a sort of"fringe"effect on the edge of consciousness,and must be lured into the mind and made at home there.If it promises to come,the thinker should stop everything and open his mind to its reception. If he is reading,he should not read another line until his thought becomes more clear.
At this stage,a few brief notes are sometimes necessary.It would be well to avoid putting down a fuller account until the implications of the idea are nurtured to a clearer state.
Illumination.This stage is often considered to be a part of inti- mation.Both stages come suddenly and are over quickly;and they are usually accompanied by excitement and a feeling of suc- cess.The full recognition of the idea,however,may be called "illumination,"and at this stage the idea can be consciously ex- amined and notes made.
Again and again,writers have found that illumination comes at unexpected moments,when the conscious mind is pondering other things or is momentarily idle.It is likely that the process is encouraged by putting the mind in a state where there is little interference with its free working.The incubation of ideas may be fostered by a good amount of complete mental relaxation.The process may be hampered by reading,for then the mind is being fed with the words of others,leaving no room for original contempla- tion.Discussing the problem with a friend may be helpful,al- though it offers the danger that all the desire to write may be killed by the easy satisfaction of expressing one's ideas in conversation. Mere busyness of mind will probably prevent the emergence of good ideas above the conscious threshold.Strenuous physical exercise is,of course,deadening to thought;one cannot compose a poem while he is running for his life.Intense mental fatigue is likewise inhibitive.
On the other hand,mild,monotonous tasks such as many factory or clerical jobs may encourage daydreaming that could be put to work;playing solitaire or raking leaves often has the same effect. Graham Wallis cites the physicist Helmholtz as getting his best new ideas"during the slow ascent of wooded hills on a sunny day."A restful stroll may produce dozens of ideas;the liking of poets for solitary rambles is something more than a mannerism.Charles Darwin in his Life and Letterssays,of the moment when his theory of evolution by natural selection came to him:"I can remember the very spot in the road,whilst in my carriage,when to my joy the solution occurred to me."Henri Poincare made an important mathematical discovery while stepping into an omnibus.One writer of my acquaintance takes a shower bath when he is"stuck" in his story,and usually emerges damp and full of new devices. Every writer should experiment to discover the times when his own mind is most open to illumination,and arrange to put himself in the way of this experience in times of need.One may welcome an occasional night of insomnia,because then unplumbed thoughts rise to the surface and torment him until he rises and notes them down.
Verification.Every idea that comes to us is not,of course,use- ful or valid.Everyone has had the experience of awakening from sleep with a brilliant scheme or answer to a problem in his mind - only to realize,as the conscious mind took over,that the idea was an absurdity.The paths to solution must,therefore,be subjected    to all the tests of validity and logic that the conscious mind can furnish.Many times the"inspiration"simply will not work. But if it cannot be verified,the process of incubation can be tried again and again,until a clearly valuable answer to the problem is discovered.
Expression and Revision.This is the stage of actual writing - the stage at which the tyro vainly thinks he can begin work.Yet not until now,the seventh stage of the creative process,is it worth while to put down the result in words.Now,and only now,is the writer able to jot down an outline based on his thinking,to write a first draft,to edit his work,and to utilize all the writing technique that can be taught in a course in composition.