Monkey Mind

I read a great article in the April 2013 issue of Runner’s World, called “The Zen Zone.” It starts off eavesdropping on what a runner might be thinking to himself. Those thoughts are scattered from running gear to food, to scenery, what Buddhists call “monkey mind.”

Monkey mind, or those random thoughts that keep popping up, happen to writers too. It might be something like this: Need to write. What about the dishes? I’m hungry. Next time I go to the grocery store, I need to remember to buy tofu. I wonder what my neighbor is doing? Maybe I should brush the dog.

Don’t worry; monkey mind is normal—to a point. When the monkeys are noisy and start saying mean, nasty things (You think you’re a writer? You have nothing to say that anyone will want to read. You can’t finish a novel. This is crap and you’ll be laughed off the face of this Earth!), it’s time to throw the monkeys a banana or two.

Buddhists recommend meditation to cure monkey mind. Now don’t get me wrong, meditation is great, and it can clear your mind and bring focus. Runners need to bring their mind and body into balance, and meditation helps with that. But I think writers have a lot of other tools as well, to bring their mind to their writing.

Some writers have certain music that motivates, others journal. Some use a timer and write anything for thirty minutes to see if it gets the creativity going, others mind map. Some writers research, others interview characters. Some edit what’s already been written, others grit their teeth and just write, knowing they can toss it out with the garbage if they need to.

A little monkey is okay. But when the monkey is wild, do whatever you need to, whatever works for you, to get that monkey off your back.