Welcome to David’s school of chaotic writing. Chaotic writing is a state of mind and a way of life. In many ways it may well remind you of the days when you were chaotic and wild, and some of you may still be there. I used to be there, but now I need to get my head down, and all that effort I put into getting out of my head. I have to put into getting into my head and getting the words out. 

What is chaotic writing? 

Chaotic writing is for writers who really are unorganized, uncoordinated, and are unable to plan anything more than a trip to the shop to buy the basic necessities for the next two days. A chaotic writer has a chaotic writing lifestyle. He/she never knows when a burst of creative writing may occur and often sits poised like a coiled Cobra. The job he/she chooses never supersedes or impedes on their writing life. Even if they are poor as fuck. That means you do not have a job that leaves you so tired that you do not have enough time left to write. The whole point is that you want to be a published author either via self-publishing or traditional methods. 

A chaotic writer works a little.  

Don’t make yourself too poor. I have a job as a tefl teacher. The reason I chose tefl teaching is that there is enough of it around the world and that I can choose the hours to suit my writing lifestyle and moods, and when a chaotic urge to write hits me like the wind. I can cut the job for say one or three months and write like a man possessed. A chaotic writer occasionally needs to be on the edge, because fear of losing things, adds greater fuel to their writing. Of course, not so on the edge that you could be made ill or homeless. But then again. A stint in a down-and-out hostel (with some cash) could provide you with greater inspiration. Think of every person you meet as another character.  

A chaotic writer never plans. 

Chaotic writers never plan a novel or a poem. They are caught by the bug and just go until they stop, and then look back and say, ‘what the fuck was that’ like a car crash. They then go back to the scene and try and piece the damn thing together. This part is more like an investigation. At some point you will have to do some basic planning. Maybe think loosely about the chapters and ponder some questions about the characters. But the planning is always very loosely defined leaving you scope to go out into the night creating madness as you write. 

How does it all end? 

At the end when you have created your car crash of a novel. It’s time to employ an editor. Never will you edit your own work because you spend so much time in the unconscious realm that you do not have the spatial awareness, or the patience, to even edit the shit out of that manuscript. Anyway enough for now. I feel the need. The need for speed. I’m off to write something. Anything. First I will blindfold myself and try and find my typewriter which I placed somewhere in the garden. It sits on top of a wobbly wooden table. Exposed to the elements. Outside it is midnight. This is gonna be wild.