Writing in circles

I actually had a bit of quiet writing time this morning, courtesy of a new Skylander the boys got yesterday.  I had some recent research sitting in an Evernote folder, my list of upcoming theme deadlines on my desk ... and a very blank page staring back at me.  It's times like this where I end up writing in circles, or so it seems, but those circles can certainly bear fruit, although not always in the way you expect them to.

The I'd chosen to work on this morning was, ironically, work.  I had an idea half formed in my head, one I'd been kicking around for a few days.  But once I put the character on the page, she just sat there like one of those chipboard figures.  Static, not moving, and very, very stock.

So, after a glare at the page, I poured another cup of coffee and sat down to write circles around her.  Questions emerged, like why she was stock, what things could I change about her, about the situation, about the story in general?  I wrote about work, about women's work, about perceptions of work, of differing valuations of work, of paid and unpaid labour, and many, many other things.  I didn't exactly get the short story I'd sat down to write written, but I did end up with a lot of material I'll be able to use for other projects.  I got to thinking about what I didn't like about her (she was too much of a wimp, no backbone) and what I didn't like about her husband (seemed to have been teleported into existence from the 1950s).  I've got a pretty good idea of where I'm going to take this story (and character) from here, and have some pretty extensive notes, but I'll come back to her later.

This kind of writing feels odd at first.  The easiest way to describe it is "brain dump," where every single thought that comes into your brain gets written onto the page.  No editing or censoring allowed.  You'll be amazed at the weird directions your mind goes, but when you go back through what you've written (which I don't recommend doing for a day or two), I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what's lurking there.