Clamoring Clattering Clashes of Unconventional Thoughts
Have you ever immensely thought about doing things outside the normal way? Or, perhaps, have you thought of melding two ideas that might not go together? Frankly speaking, you could mesh together seven ideas and form something the world may not have seen yet.
I am a champion of doing things outside the normal method.
Why Does Weird Make Sense?
Doing things strangely is my go-to way of writing novels. There truly are no rules here, and I recently posted a tweet (sorry, not used to calling them posts yet) about how dictation can net you amazing results and word counts you might not otherwise reach. Writing is fun for me whether I write by hand, type the text out, or speak it into existence. In The Symphonist, I dictated parts of it to give myself a sort of meta-immersion into the world.
The Conductor had created the world into the current existence through music, so I wanted to use the sound of my voice to create words.
Typing is the normal method. But do you know what typing doesn’t always do? It doesn’t always give you a sense of how clunky or tight a sentence sounds. But if you’re speaking it aloud, including dialogue, you get a sense of being the character in a way, and you can hear when things don’t sound quite right.
This is a weird way of writing books, but it might be the best way for some. Sure, saying “comma” out loud and “period” out loud is weird at first, but you get used to it.
Besides, dictation isn’t always 100% correct, so you’re forced to go back and edit the prose and refine it.
It forces multiple drafts, meaning you shine a new light on the story. I’ve rewritten sentences 30-60 times before.
Don’t be afraid of the weird ways of making things work.
Some Examples of Strange Methods
Throughout history, there have been some interesting ways to get things done.
The ancient Israelites took down a city’s walls by marching around them six times, an extra time on the last day, followed by trumpets and noise.
Some non-religious people would find this ridiculous, but I am a man who believes in miracles. Yahweh, the God of the Universe, always does things in unconventional ways.
Joseph, my favorite historical figure from the Bible, rose to power in Egypt and had his prophecy come true by going into slavery and then into prison, ultimately understanding the sovereign power of Yahweh when the king needed a dream interpreted. Slavery doesn’t normally lead to royal authority, yet it happened for him.
Shifting gears into the more mundane minutiae of the world, Serge Nubret taught some interesting methods to increase muscle size. He didn’t lift heavily, and instead trashed his muscles with lighter weights, only eating once a day. He didn’t constantly down protein to hit his macros throughout the day, choosing to eat like a panther. And he kept up with the greats like Schwarzenegger.
Unconventional?
Yes, but that’s why it is so interesting to learn new methods. You don’t expect those things to work, and yet they sometimes work 10x greater than the normal way.
Galileo Galilei taught at a time when everyone thought the Earth was the center of everything. He suggested the Earth revolves around the sun, to the ire of the Catholic faith. But that was a tremendous step that led to modern space technology.
If he had stuck with convention and the status quo, we’d not have the marvels of our modern age today.
Step Out of Normal
If someone says there is only one right way of doing something, you can safely ignore them and expand out into the ways of defying the convention of the field.
That does not mean everything will defy what is set in stone. Playing a B-major chord can be done in multiple ways, but you’ve got to follow the rules or things will be discordant.
But is there a correct way when it comes to mixing genres? The answer for music, literature, movies, and the like is no.
You can have a cowboy-western space opera, a la Trigun, set on a planet surrounded by palm trees and beaches if you want. As long as you make it believable, it’s your story.
If the masses believe getting a degree is the path to success, then by all means do it. But what if you defied convention and learned everything on YouTube instead? I mean, if you’re trying to become a neurosurgeon, then please get the schooling done. But becoming a mechanic does not require trade school, and there are some shade-tree mechanics who make a great living.
Schooling has changed with the advent of sites like YouTube. iFixit is a godsend for repairing technology or just having a bit of fun tearing things down.
The traditional channels are not necessarily negative methods, but there are unconventional ways and options to learn in the year 2026.
Think Without a Box
What I am admonishing is not that you should take things as outside-the-box thinking, but rather, that there is no box to speak of. The moment you think there is a box, you have lost. There’s never a time when you must confine your methods or ways to a structure that has been fed to you. I should add the caveat that sometimes things just work, and in these cases, it’s okay to follow what has been done.
But don’t fear abstaining in abeyance from abating methods. Follow what will work for you and make the most impact for your particular goals.
Just an unconventional cluster of thoughts as I enjoy a rainy evening tonight.
Blessings and shalom!
