: How do I write about something which can only be felt with closed eyes? When I try to write something on paper, no thoughts or dialogues come to my mind. I just go blank and stare at the

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I have heard the recommendation that you close your eyes and record yourself speaking out loud what you want to write. College students often record their professors during lectures then go back and write down their notes. You could try recording yourself and just speaking your ideas then listen to it and write out what you say. There are programs like Dragon that will type as you speak to it.

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If you recite the story out loud with your eyes closed it may become sufficiently fixed in your mind to write down after you open your eyes. You may need a few tries to get the gist of this method, though.

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I have just been reading a short article about 'blind writing'. You either turn off the screen on your computer or close your eyes when you are handwriting. Then you just get on with it.

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It sounds to me like you are trying to go to a first draft of your piece before you are ready. Perhaps you should spend some time capturing the thoughts from "when your eyes are closed" in a notebook, just jotting down scraps of ideas and feelings and so on. Then, with your eyes "open", start outlining a story from the raw material you have daydreamed. Only once you have an outline, should you think about trying to write a first draft.

If you don't know how to turn your raw thoughts into an outline, there are many good books on this. I've just read Scarlett Thomas's Monkeys With Typewriters which is very good on plotting, but I'm sure other posters will have other suggestions.

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