Don't Think

Some thoughts for overthinkers

Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash

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I’ve never done improv theatre, which sounds, honestly, like a living nightmare, but I have known people who partake, and thus I know that, according to the Upright Citizens Brigade anyway, an important mantra for those in the Lifestyle is: Don’t Think. It makes sense — it’s hard to be funny if you’re overthinking, or being too cautious.

Sketch comedy dreams/nightmares aside, overthinking can also be deadly for a writer.

Yes, even though most of what writers do is think.

Because here’s the thing — it matters where you expend all that thinking energy. You want to think about your characters, or if you’re writing nonfiction, the people in your work. You want to think about your plot, or whatever the shape of the piece is. Eventually, you want to think about your sentences and word choice. Eventuallyer, you want to think about rhythm and pacing. And then, if you haven’t done this bit already, you’ll need to zoom way out and think about your reader.

Before all that, however, you have to not think.