It’s been my experience that structure does “sterilize” my creativity. (But it’s a very personal thing!) When I set out to write my novel way back (feels like another lifetime, but was only another… decade!), I knew where I was going. I had ten chapters, notes on all the characters, I knew what would happen when–at every step. Then I tried to write and it proved absolutely impossible for me! The framework I’d given myself was stifling my abilities. I ended up taking a few pages I’d written in a fit of unrelated rage, and finding them good enough… to turn those into a novel, 180 degrees from the one I’d planned on writing!

(No rewrites for the publisher I had, but then again, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to use the same! Ever, under no circumstances!)

I’m only half way through it and not all the essays are as compelling as this one. I particularly enjoyed this one because it came from a writer who used to structure and plan the HELL out of everything he wrote but was never getting anything satisfying (to him or even to other readers) until he allowed himself to “not know” what was going to happen and trusted the writing and the process a bit more.

In screenwriting, we are used to planning the hell out of everything we do, especially in television where we have to turn in a synopsis and a detailed outline (scène à scène) before we can actually write the script. While I understand the production need to proceed this way (a lot of people have to approve what you write and you also need to move fast when you are shooting) and while I’m really big on structure, I find the process somewhat sterilizing (for lack of a better word). It doesn’t take into account all the discoveries that happen while you actually write. It’s when I get the characters to start talking and put together scenes on the fly that I get my best ideas for what should come next. I need to “feel” both the character and the story before I can figure out where they are going.

I’m dying to work on a novel or short stories right now just so that I can let it flow and see what happens. Of course, there’s A LOT of rewriting involved when you proceed that way and you often have to get rid of most of what you initially wrote, but hey, it keeps the muscles warm and it allows you to make some interesting discoveries!

I’m not sure I answered your question. You can borrow the book when I’m done with it!