EMPTY IT OUT! A Lego-Inspired Guest Writing Post by Allison Lynn

 

One of my favourite childhood pastimes was an afternoon of building Legos. We had piles and piles of the colourful plastic blocks. Maybe they were originally packaged to build a house or a car, but they very quickly ended up in the shiny red storage box. There was no attempt to sort by colour or size. They all lived happily in a big, complicated mess. 

So, there was only one way to start an afternoon of Lego magic: empty the box!

We lifted it as high as our little arms could stretch and dumped the whole thing out all over the floor. Colourful pieces scattered across the carpet, followed by Mom’s strict warning to eventually pick them all up. (No one wants to step on a lost Lego!)

Seeing those Legos spread across the floor was all we needed to spark our imaginations! 

Spread before us was a rich and varied palette of colours, shapes, and sizes. Flat green platforms provided the perfect base for a country cottage with flowery gardens. Long rectangular pieces anchored the strong base of a looming tower. Tiny two-bump pieces formed ornate battlements along the top of a castle. Black rubber wheels turned any creation - car or otherwise - into a racing vehicle. And, of course, heads, hands, and feet were mixed and matched to build families, rock bands, parades, and teams of superheroes.

But it all started by emptying the box. 

Laying out our tools and playing in the mess, allowing our creativity space to grow. 

You know, writing is no different. 

Sometimes, it’s helpful to organize everything in our heads. I’m a planner by nature, so this makes sense to me.

But sometimes, the plan doesn’t form on its own. Sometimes, it’s just a bunch of random thoughts or words, bouncing around in our imaginations.

And in those moments, we need to empty our ideas out like a messy box of Legos!

Make a list of those random words. Or maybe, don’t make a list! Just write them all over the page at various angles and spacings. Allow each word or idea to float on its own, or bounce against another. See what new creations might come from bringing words together or pulling them apart. 

Write down those odd sentences. Maybe they’re not connected, but maybe they are? Won’t it be neat to see them on the page together and look for synchronicity? Dictate them as they formed in your head, and then, write them out again, switching up a few keywords. Maybe put them in a different tense, or switch up the pronouns. How many variations can you find with just those specific words?

And that unformed draft that keeps bouncing around inside you? Empty that out, too. Just start writing. Get out what you can in this moment. If it’s bumpy or nonsensical, that’s okay. Save it, giving yourself the freedom to delete it later. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make sense now. You can sort it out when you edit and rewrite.

So, I encourage you to empty it all out today! Grab your laptop, or your pen and paper, and just get those words, ideas, and thoughts down on the page. Allow yourself to play in the mess, and see what sparks … 

And if you need a little extra inspiration, pick up a box of Legos, dump them on the carpet, and really have some fun!

Singer, songwriter and worship leader, Allison Lynn, is drawn to the power of story to grow hearts and communities. Allison and her husband, Gerald Flemming, just released their 9th Infinitely More album - The Sum of All Love. Publications include The Anglican Journal (national newspaper), Taste and See (journal), Love STC (Niagara Tourism Blog), and four stories with Chicken Soup for the Soul. www.InfinitelyMore.ca