The Hamlet Project

When I don’t know what to write
(Like when I’ve followed the “following” thread multiple times already)
I follow the line of the pen
starting from a small dot and circling around itself
wider and wider until it slips off the page
or into some other spiral.
It’s a trick Matilda taught us this summer –
A way to keep the pen moving when the mind wants to stall
When it wants to give up
Or start editing and judging
When it wants to stare out the window
Instead of filling up the page.
It has come very much in handy, this spiral trick,
Because it helps me follow my thought in writing
But also
When listening
When trying to follow a spoken line
The following of a circling line
Comes in very handy.