Jian Response 2: On Design

Where am I going? This question pops up every time I start to work on multiple writing projects. I am sure many writers-scientist-artist-poets-or-whatever-you-call-its have asked themselves that question. Yes, I have a design of my piece of craft, whether in nonfiction, fiction, or poetry, when I begin to write. I don’t think it starts by accident. In “All About Music,” Zappa states: “If you can think design, you can execute design—it’s only a bunch of air molecules, who’s gonna check up on you?” (197).

I can apply Zappa’s simple instructions of writing music to the process of my own writing. The first one: Declare your intention to create a “composition.” I believe there is a cause and effect of what Zappa says, either from someone or something that makes you start your project. In one of the Bible studies I attended during the spring of 2006 on Berkeley’s campus, I encountered a Christian who treated me as a second-class citizen and who thought that I needed help because of my disability. That Christian regarded people with disabilities as imperfect.

This is what happened:


John begins his prayer, in a harmonious tone: “Please God. You are my mighty God who has the power to cure everyone. Please God. Please help Jian, so that he can recover his health and get back on his feet. Please God . . . I believe in you, God. My mighty God.” He pauses for a second and takes a deep breath, deeper than before. His eyes are still closed, and he then continues: “You are the only one I can trust and love. Please God. You are my Father, the only Father can heal everyone in this world. Oh, Father. Please help him to cure every joint in his body. Oh, God. Please God. Please cure him. Amen.” He ends his prayer, then opens his eyes as David walks away to look for his friends. John withdraws his hands. After asking God to cure the “sick” person, he is excited and desperately wants to find out whether his wish came true.
“How do you feel?” he asks.
“Feel great,” I say, smiling. Of course, I always feel great about myself.
“Can you stand up and walk?” he says impatiently, not blinking, with his face inching toward mine.



Since the Bible study session, using my own experience, I have started working on this project about how religious people, such as Christians and Buddhists, and non-religious people look upon the disabled. (Number 2 in Zappa’s design: Start a piece at the some time).

Though this step is simple and straight forward, sometimes I got stuck on that project, just like working on my memoir, which I can’t write until I read one of my favorite books: Absalom, Absalom! So number three on Zappa’s list matches my design perfectly : “Cause something to happen over a period of time (it doesn’t matter what happens in your ‘time hole’—we have critics to tell us whether it’s any good or not, so we won’t worry about that part)”. I find this step is the most challenging and interesting part of my writing process and have got alot out of it. This step is where the flow of creativity kicks in. Back then I knew where I was going from point A to point B. But how could I fill in the spaces between A and B? How did not I solve my problem then? You might guess. I did not solve it until I took a nap. Back then I did not take nap at all, let alone any breaks from my studies. But since I was sleepy, I took one for twenty or thirty minutes. When I woke up suddenly, I said: Ha. I know how my story is going to end. I smiled, glad that I took a break.

I have not realized how powerful taking a twenty-minute nap is until after I have read an article about power nap: “Problems are solved by sleeping.” “Sleeping on a problem really can help solve it, say scientists who found a dreamy nap boosts creative powers.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8090730.stm) Power nap increases your performance up to 40%.

According to Dr. Mao on Yahoo! Health, “When you take a nap during the day, you are in good company: Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Thomas Edison are all famous nap enthusiasts. What they knew was that a midday snooze could actually increase their effectiveness. Research has found that some of the reviving benefits of naps include enhanced cognitive function, better reaction time, stress relief, and better overall health.” (http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/24608/5-ways-to-avoid-burn-outs/)

Yes, I believe that the Muse is doing the work whenever I take a nap. Csikszenthmihalyi states: “Very often this how the Muse communicates” (115). Naping works for me because most of my writing problems are solved this way. Does it work for you? I wonder. Take a nap and try it yourself.

It seems the flow of creativity is mysterious. In “Trance, Text and the Creative State,” David Whish Wilson quotes from Harding, saying that “the mystery of the creative process, where ideas may well up involuntarily, is thus ascribed to a transcendent (because unwilled, sudden, from outside of conscious thought) divinity” (4). In other words, the mystery is deeply seated in the subconscious level: one of the ways to open the flow of creativity is by sleeping.

The last two steps on Zappa’s list are straight forward. You get the process, right? 4) End the piece at some time (or keep it going, telling the audience it is a “work in progress”). 5) Get a part-time job so you continue to do stuff like this.

In short—writing this response 2 needs a design too! Otherwise I would not reach the end of it. ;-)