Day 11

We're bringing the timer back down to 10 minutes because you might find this harder than you expect. Grab your notebook. Find a window with a lovely view. A train window is great for this if you happen to be travelling at any point today.

Stare out the window.

No phone. No other screen. No music. No book, no newspaper, nothing.

10 minutes of blank staring.

If at first you panic because you think you must find something profound to think about, take a deep breath and just chill. No need to think about anything. Just let your mind wander. Or let it be blank for ten minutes.

At the end, scribble some notes down if anything has popped into your mind. Don't if they haven't.

And that's it for today. Writing without writing.

I usually do my writing after dark so this one was a little tricky. Instead I lay on my bed and imagined all the places I would like to write. 

I had visions of sitting in the pub on the canal, watching all the barges in the basin bobbing on the water.

I thought about taking long walks in a wood, trying to untangle a tricky plot problem. 

I thought about a space of my own, a small cabin of daub and wattle made where I can work in peace with a brook babbling its secrets as it passes by. 

I thought about the reality of my writing, perched on the sofa/bed, legs crossed, head bent - my studying pose since I was 15 years old - and how it still works for these old bones even now.