Strumming my Guitar
I am unconvinced that there is an equivalent to “strumming your guitar” for a writer. A musician/composer can pick away at their guitar (or pluck away at the piano) with no intention of composing a piece of music. They can strum a few chords or even play someone else’s music. A visual artist can pick up pencil and paper and sketch something right there manifestly in front of them (and, depending on the artist, that by itself might be considered a masterpiece). But a writer who writes someone else’s work or copies what’s in front of them is at best considered to be typing and at worst considered to be plagiarising. And sure, I have heard the arguments that the writing need not be WRITING. It can be writing exercises, a stream of consciousness, a journal entry or even a blog – all somehow working to improve skill and blah, blah, blah. But it’s still a blank page that’s filled with stuff that came from nowhere else but your head. (Unless, of course, you decide to fill your blog with quotes.)