Last night I started a post to ask a question that was potentially stopping me from continuing with my novel. I wrote it once, to explain the circumstances leading up to the question, but never really getting the point of the question itself. I scrapped it, and went to bed. This morning I tried again, re-writing the original post in a way that was more coherent, and got to the point much quicker. This time I was able to start writing the question, and the possible answers I had come up with to resolve my question. While writing it, I came up with a third solution to the question, and the more I wrote, the more I became convinced it was the perfect solution to that question. Consequently I scrapped the post, and decided to write this one instead. The moral of this story, which I think applies to writing posts as well as novels: 1) re-write until it makes sense; the answer won't be clear until the question is. 2) Thinking about it in your head usually just makes the idea cloudier. Writing makes your creative ideas flow with more clarity. The more you write, the more ideas you will come up with, and one idea will stand out above the rest. So, how often do you find yourself posing a question to someone else, but once you've broken it down clearly enough to explain it, the answer becomes obvious?
Fairly often I start to make a post to ask a question or think (while doing dishes or laundry) I need to ask how to do this, and then before I can get it done I figure it out. I actually don't have too much trouble at all thinking about things in my head. Sometimes writing it is what makes it make sense, but usually I figure it out in my head while doing some other mundane task. I'm sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night, I hope that made sense...
That's actually what usually happens to me. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever started a thread in this section...because of that.
Yeah, I sit and stare at the new thread box far far more than I ask - my posts I do make often contain the line "and I've written this out a hundred times and it still doesn't make sense" because of all the times I do explain it all to everyone here, realise what to do, and scrap the post. It's a great tool.
Lol yeah, then I feel stupid when people give me responses to that question, when I know I'm not going to use them because I've figured it out. Though, I still do thank them.
It's not just writing. I think programmers actually tend to figure things out as soon as they explain the problem to someone.
I wrote four (long) paragraphs of a question, then just before hitting the 'post' button, I realized I'd answered my own question already.
It was an axiom at my Emgineering school that a precise enough formulation of a question is synonymous with the answer. By organizing your thoughts into a clear statement of the question, you are inevitably steering toward the answer (or the set of acceptable answers).
