ARE YOU A BLURTER OR A BLEEDER?

Recently I came across a wonderful quote about writers being either blurters or bleeders. Blurters dump everything out on the page and then have to sort through to find the good stuff. Bleeders struggle with every word they write so it comes out perfectly.

There is a wonderful scene from a film called “Finding Forrester” in which Sean Connery plays the title role as a former prize-winning, now reclusive writer. He befriends a talented young man and mentors him. When his student hesitates before writing a single word, Forrester tells him to punch the keys. The youth responds, “I’m thinking.” “No” says Forrester, “Not now! The first draft is from your heart; the second draft is from your head.”

I’m with Forrester on this one. Where being a bleeder is critical for a final draft, much more writing will get done if you are blurter. Here are several thoughts to consider about blurting:

• Tell yourself, this draft doesn’t matter; after all it’s just a first draft and you are still exploring what you want to write about
• You are more likely to sit down and start writing if your first draft doesn’t count
• You may be surprised at how much of your blurted draft is actually not bad
• Think about blurting as warm-up writing, like practicing scales on a piano
• Set a kitchen timer for ten minutes, write continuously and see how much you can get done
• Starting is the most difficult part of writing; so sit down and start blurting!

I would love to hear what happens with your blurting. Let us know by leaving a comment on this blog.

Take good care,




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