I was trying to capture how we, as writers, often get caught in the loop of coming up with ideas…
In this piece, I’m working with two writing prompts from two different sources, that I follow on Bluesky:
- The first word prompt of thread is from #vss365
- The second word prompt of cadence is from #blueskyrelay
The idea behind this piece is an exploration of the internal dialogue that happens when a writer gets caught in the loop of coming up with an idea—and then figuring out how to express it.
It becomes an internal struggle to shape a concept into something tangible, with the pressure to find the right way to communicate what we’re trying to say.
Caught in the Loop
Writer talking to into a recorder:
Alright… so, thread. Thread, thread, thread… What is a thread? Is it literally a string of words that ties everything together? Or is it something more abstract, like the thread of an idea that stretches thin, ready to snap at any second?
Could be both. Or maybe… maybe it’s the things that connect us. The unspoken things. Like when someone says ‘yeah,’ but you can feel all the other things they want to say through just that one word…
Okay, okay. Then cadence… That’s rhythm. Timing. How things fall into place. The pace of something—of words, of silence, of action. It’s the sound of things. What kind of cadence should this piece have?
What’s the pacing like when you’re… just… thinking? Not talking, but just… processing. That space between thoughts—like the way you can hear your own pulse in your head when things go quiet. Does that count as cadence?
I don’t know, maybe it’s not even about creating a story here. Maybe it’s just about… uhm, about capturing the essence of that moment, the pause. The thread of thought, the cadence of hesitation. Maybe it’s the quiet between the words that says everything.
Yeah, but that could be too abstract, right? People need something concrete, something to hang on to. I can’t just write about silence. No, no. Hmm, maybe… maybe it’s about the tension of waiting for the words to come, the pressure of that silence stretching tighter and tighter…
(c) Eric Montgomery
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