Creative Whirlpools

[jenna]

Does anyone else ever find that being in certain physical spots just opens up the creativity? Like at the store I manage, (which is actually a kiosk), there are 3 large island cabinets, and I always find that if I'm standing at the end of the one in the middle, the writing just flows. But standing at the other cabinets doesn't work! Or at home, there's 2 different spots I've found that work like a charm. Am I just weird or do other people find this happens too?

[Manarion]

It doesn't happen to me, though I'm sure it happens to others. I think it has to do with the fact that my imagination always runs wild, along with my thoughts....probably due to the fact that I think deep and hard on philosophical matters.

It can get a little hard to get the juices flowing, but mine bust open like a leaky dam when it does occur....

[jenna]

My imagination always runs wild too, it's just in these spots the actual writing is easier, and I can't explain why!

[Manarion]

It happens to all of us, with certain items, songs, pieces of other authors, or places. Me, a song can inspire me to come up with new ideas, but with my laptop down....*sigh* You wouldn't believe how much "Me and Julio" has given me writing ideas.


It's all a matter of how minds work, I think....

[Kissmequick]

music for me too - each of my characters has a theme song or two, and I make a playlist to put on when I'm writing about them.

As for places, it's really annoying that I get my best thoughts just as I'm nodding off in bed. I write them down ( notepad by the bed) but then I'm awake again. Grrr.

[Manarion]

Originally Posted by Kissmequick

music for me too - each of my characters has a theme song or two, and I make a playlist to put on when I'm writing about them.

As for places, it's really annoying that I get my best thoughts just as I'm nodding off in bed. I write them down ( notepad by the bed) but then I'm awake again. Grrr.

Hehehehe. Try having the best ideas in DREAMS. I really hate that....even in sleep my mind refuses to calm down. Maybe that's why I'm so tired all the time, because my mind's always restless when my physical body sleeps....

[HoopyFrood]

Sometimes when I'm having particularly vivid dreams, even while dreaming I'm thinking of how I could convey them in a story. There's a part of me that seems to be watching the dream and turning it into words that could be written down.

I also tend to get ideas just before sleep (seems like it's the time when you've got nothing else distracting you and you finally have time to listen to your own thoughts). I can remember once that I was having trouble with a story, then hit on something that would completely change it (and kick it up a gear) and had to write it down straightaway. I didn't even turn on the light, I just scribbled it all down while it was still fresh (and when I looked at the pages the next morning, man, there were a mess with sentences running off everywhere!). Worked though; I had such a writing spree afterwards.

I can't say I have places where the writing seems to flow more...I tend to have times instead. Irritatingly, nothing regular, like at 6pm every night or something. I tend to have a period where I can write like mad, really getting into my story. But I hit a slump that can go on for weeks and the most I do is edit a paragraph here, maybe write a couple of extra sentences there. But then the writing period comes around again and away I go.

[Manarion]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

Sometimes when I'm having particularly vivid dreams, even while dreaming I'm thinking of how I could convey them in a story. There's a part of me that seems to be watching the dream and turning it into words that could be written down.

I also tend to get ideas just before sleep (seems like it's the time when you've got nothing else distracting you and you finally have time to listen to your own thoughts). I can remember once that I was having trouble with a story, then hit on something that would completely change it (and kick it up a gear) and had to write it down straightaway. I didn't even turn on the light, I just scribbled it all down while it was still fresh (and when I looked at the pages the next morning, man, there were a mess with sentences running off everywhere!). Worked though; I had such a writing spree afterwards.

I can't say I have places where the writing seems to flow more...I tend to have times instead. Irritatingly, nothing regular, like at 6pm every night or something. I tend to have a period where I can write like mad, really getting into my story. But I hit a slump that can go on for weeks and the most I do is edit a paragraph here, maybe write a couple of extra sentences there. But then the writing period comes around again and away I go.

That's how it usually goes. But with me, it hurts, because I don't get ideas until AFTER I fall asleep, and I never seem to be able to hold onto them for the next morning....and as of yet, I haven't figured out how to write or type in my sleep, and I don't suffer from somnambulism....

[jenna]

Some of my best story ideas have come from dreams, I love having creative dreams! It really irritates me when I have mundane dreams about work or what not, and not cool dreams about the end of the world, or going into space in a convertible or visiting other planets etc..

[Manarion]

Originally Posted by jenna

Some of my best story ideas have come from dreams, I love having creative dreams! It really irritates me when I have mundane dreams about work or what not, and not cool dreams about the end of the world, or going into space in a convertible or visiting other planets etc..

Or dreams about fantastic characters and possibilities of magic and mystery....love and hate, war and peace....

[Kissmequick]

Thinking about this a bit more, it's not just place/ time

For me, if I get stuck, I chat about my story with my Old Man. He knows the basics of my characters/ plot, I tell him what is bogging me down and he pops in these ideas. More often than not I don't use his idea, but it gives me one of my own and whooooosh I'm off.


Anyone else use a muse?

[power to the J]

Originally Posted by Kissmequick

Anyone else use a muse?

Sadly enough, most of my muses are scattered acros the internet, lurking in the dark corners of writing forums. But, they really help me out!

[scalem X]

I also tend to get ideas just before sleep (seems like it's the time when you've got nothing else distracting you and you finally have time to listen to your own thoughts). I can remember once that I was having trouble with a story, then hit on something that would completely change it (and kick it up a gear) and had to write it down straightaway. I didn't even turn on the light, I just scribbled it all down while it was still fresh (and when I looked at the pages the next morning, man, there were a mess with sentences running off everywhere!). Worked though; I had such a writing spree afterwards.

Exactly, I think all my titles come from the state where I'm half asleep and a lot of twists in my stories. I do remember them or just get up and start writing. The best moment indeed.
The weirdest places inspire me for writing more. The best ones are movie theatres and airports. You can observe people and think of the weirdest things. If you see a guy typing on his laptop someplace weird, that's me, writing.

[Lith]

My muse lives in all those little corners between actual places, and I always see it over here and over there, and when I get there, it's gone. But in the meantime I've had twenty good insights, only five of which may get written down.

[power to the J]

Originally Posted by scalem X

The best ones are movie theatres and airports. You can observe people and think of the weirdest things.

I think that that is what seperates writers from the rest; we'll see something and think of a story, and others will just dismiss it.