Stream of Consciousness Writing

[Silas Thorne]

About stream of consciousness, James Joyce is the big one, I think. I think it's supposed to emulate thought patterns and allow the author to behave like an omniscient presence all at once.

I've heard W. B. Yeats used automatic writing to write some of his poetry.

But automatic writing and stream of conciousness are not the same thing. Stream of consciousness is a style of narration, isn't it? It can be carefully planned and edited. I think automatic writing is either a way to stop over-the-top self-criticism (and so eliminate writer's block by writing something/anything) or to allow the spirits, or whatever you believe, to flow through you.

I'm just writing from hearsay. Someone please stop me if I'm spouting the toothpaste all over the floor.

[shortstoryfan]

No, that seems right. I started to read this book once, umm, by Joyce, and it was all like that. I was just confused when you posted that unedited thing, I think...but this exercise is different than stream of consciousness narration, I guess...

[Virgil]

I have yet another question. Please don't hate me (if you do not already).

I am not familiar with works by authors who are known for stream of consciousness writings. Isn't it supposed to emulate thoughts? Could someone give me some examples of stream of consciousness works/authors? I have heard that Virginia Woolf writes in this style, I believe.

Some of the posts made in here have kind of confused me as to what stream of consciousness is supposed to be. Is it random words? Or does it emulate thought patterns? I feel so stupid sometimes. Bah.

Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse is a good example. Parts of Joyce's Ulysses is in stream of conscious.

[JacobF]

I have yet another question. Please don't hate me (if you do not already).

I am not familiar with works by authors who are known for stream of consciousness writings. Isn't it supposed to emulate thoughts? Could someone give me some examples of stream of consciousness works/authors? I have heard that Virginia Woolf writes in this style, I believe.

Some of the posts made in here have kind of confused me as to what stream of consciousness is supposed to be. Is it random words? Or does it emulate thought patterns? I feel so stupid sometimes. Bah.

To my knowledge, stream of consciousness writing is what I described in the OP. However, from more research I've discovered that some authors use a stream-of-consciousness writing style for a character's interior monologue. I think it's supposed to emulate certain thought patterns too. In a lot of my stream-of-consciousness writings there were lots of references to video games -- which is a hobby of mine. I don't think it's completely random, although due to the incoherency it can appear to be.

And stop beating yourself up, I don't hate you . Nor are you stupid.

And Silas, you could be correct about the terminology. I've looked up both 'automatic writing' and 'stream of consciousness writing' on Google and many of the results discussed the same thing -- sitting down with a pen and paper and writing non-stop. I was always told stream of consciousness, though. Not sure which is the correct one.

[shortstoryfan]

Well, maybe I will make Virginia Woolf the next author I read. I kind of dread it though. I suppose it must be done sooner or later though.

[Silas Thorne]

Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse is a good example. Parts of Joyce's Ulysses is in stream of conscious.

Isn't 'Finnegan's Wake' entirely stream of consciousness? I didn't have the mental stamina to plow through this work, but was amazed by the poetry of it.

'Portrait of the Artist' was much more readable.This was kind of stream of consciousness too, I think, yet less abstruse.

[NickAdams]

About stream of consciousness, James Joyce is the big one, I think. I think it's supposed to emulate thought patterns and allow the author to behave like an omniscient presence all at once.

I've heard W. B. Yeats used automatic writing to write some of his poetry.

But automatic writing and stream of conciousness are not the same thing. Stream of consciousness is a style of narration, isn't it? It can be carefully planned and edited. I think automatic writing is either a way to stop over-the-top self-criticism (and so eliminate writer's block by writing something/anything) or to allow the spirits, or whatever you believe, to flow through you.

I'm just writing from hearsay. Someone please stop me if I'm spouting the toothpaste all over the floor.

You have not spouted the paste. Automatic writing is an excerise and stream of conscious is a narrative technique.

Isn't 'Finnegan's Wake' entirely stream of consciousness? I didn't have the mental stamina to plow through this work, but was amazed by the poetry of it.

It is stream of consciousness in terms of a linking system of images, ideas, words and sounds.

[Delta40]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_...usness_writing

hey isn't wikipedia just great? This link has a heap of information and lists of published works

[xtianfriborg13]

Haven't tried it but definitely will. Sounds fun.

[moodymozart]

Well, you talk about this technique being used to "remove" yourself and allow you to connect with the story. And also about the things you write seeming foreign and not of yourself.

Let me explain a few things now.

For three years, I studied opera at university. Emphasis was always placed on being present in the body, not in the mind so much: thinking too much was considered bad, because you process things instead of feeling them immediately.

Later, I read some writing by Eckhart Tolle, this guy who has become very famous from being on Oprah. He talks about how human misery stems from us being unconscious most of the time, and not living in the present moment. Many of his writings are based on earlier Hindu and Buddhist writings. He advocates paying attention to body function and your surroundings in the present moments while idle to keep yourself from thinking about sad things in the past, or imagining dreary futures. He calls this being in the "Now". (His first book is "The Power of Now", which I'm sure many have read.)

It reminded me a lot of the advice in music school. I was always horrible at this, being a very introverted, thoughtful person, and I constantly censored my voice on its way out. I "thought" about my voice instead of "feeling" it and being aware in the present moment.

The writing process that many authors seem to use, especially in prose, does not seem too spontaneous. It involves research and editing and lots of thinking and plotting, etc. So, I tend to envision writing as an antithesis to singing, purely concerned with information gained in the past and using that information, or the future, due to the plotting and foresight that it requires. I'm not saying all writers write in this way, but I know very few writers that write totally in the Now. It seems more Past and Future Driven.

Eckhart Tolle says that when you are in the Now, you may feel disconnected from "yourself" your ego that you perceive yourself as. You are more connected to your true self, your universal self.

This may not make sense, I feel that I'm rambling, but it struck me when you talked about feeling that you were able to connect with the story. Maybe writing involves spontaneous inspiration, and then all that other stuff? I don't know...I'd like to hear how other people perceive it.

Hi, have only just registered and came across your post shortstoryfan and your other posts in the thread and I just wanted to say that it must be terrific to write in this way and also two of my favourite authors kind of give me the impression that they did write 'in this ZONE' so to speak. Virginia Woolf and Haruki Murakami.... Murakami particularly (I can picture Haruki just sitting himself down and letting go of the rail and drifting off with that flow). I enjoy the writings of John Banville also but listening to him gives me the impression that writing can almost be tortuous taking hours to get a sentence the way he wants it in what he calls his John Banville novels aside from his Benjamin Black ones. Rambling on a bit now sorry, see you here again I hope. :-)