RTW: My Creative Place
Wouldn’t it be cool if a really popular blog gave you a topic to blog about, and then invited you to post a link to your blog article on their site? Good news! That’s what the ladies at YA Highway do every week for Road Trip Wednesday. Every Wednesday, they post a reading or writing related topic, and people blog their responses. YA Highway then hosts their links so we can all hop around reading each other’s answers, commenting, and having fun. Today’s topic is:
When you need creative inspiration, where do you go?
“Where do you go?” could be taken physically, as in removing yourself to a different location, such as the beach, or going hiking. I don’t know that there’s a single location for me. Inspiration can strike just about anywhere. I suppose, more often than not, the place I look most for inspiration is not a physical location but a state of mind–specifically that place in my head as I’m drifting off to sleep. I will often pay attention to the thoughts floating around my head during that time, because that’s usually where disparate ideas will collide to make a Shiny New Idea, or plots for existing story ideas will develop. In fact, just the other night I was dwelling on a story idea, and a whole plot (and a sub-plot, even) started unfurling in my semi-conscious mind. This didn’t do much for getting restful sleep, but that’s a small sacrifice for what could potentially be a really good novel!
Do you dream your ideas, or look elsewhere for inspiration–perhaps a favorite place in the back yard, or a beach getaway? Blog your answer and link on the YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday article for today. Or you can answer in the comments below.
Love the painting. My problem with getting ideas just before going to sleep is that I never remember them 🙁
Stephen King would say that’s the test of a good story, which is why he never carries a notepad. Good ideas stick, so he says. I don’t think that’s always the case; often writing an idea down helps you develop it, which in turn helps you remember it. Sometimes when a great idea strikes as I’m falling asleep, I will think, “Oh no, I’m going to forget this in the morning!” But that doesn’t often happen. Perhaps worrying about forgetting it triggers the brain to remember it? I’m sure there’s a study on that somewhere. 🙂 That works for me, anyway!
Many a night I’ve been drifting off, gotten a great idea, and snatched my phone off my side table so that I could jot it down. It’s great for inspiration but not so much for sleep. 🙂
Ha! That shows what a Luddite I am–when you said you snatched your phone off your side table, I immediately expected you to say you call someone. Man–am I that old?!
Sleep is overrated–great ideas rule! 😀
I wouldn’t say that I “dream” my ideas (I am never inspired by actual dreams that I have, unlike some writers I know.), but sometimes I do keep having ideas that make me wake up and write stuff down when I’m just trying to go to sleep. (Sheesh, creativity, why couldn’t you have struck that afternoon when I was staring vacantly at my computer???)
I think it’s all about letting your subconscious work things out while you distract your conscious mind elsewhere.
There is some good science behind this. From what little I know of the whole subject (and trust me, I know very little), when we sleep, the brain uses that time for data processing and storage. This is why sleep is good for memory. It’s also why some people recommend revising for tests and exams immediately before going to bed. Some have demonstrated that the brain’s problem-solving capacities are at a premium during this time. And some suggest this is what a lot of our dreams are–the brain’s way of handling and trying to make sense of information from that day, or things that have been of particular concern. I don’t find it surprising, then, that while we are drifting off to sleep, the brain is taking all these little thoughts and ideas floating around our heads, and bringing them together in strange ways.
I vote that every place of work should institute the 30 minute paid siesta right after lunch. 🙂
Very interesting! And I’m with you on the 30-minute paid siesta!
I usually have ideas in the middle of the night and, when I can, because not always I’m able to fully wake up, I sit up and write them down lol
Books and songs are my major inspiration “places” 😉
I kept a notepad beside my bed for a short while, but I was usually too sleepy to write any ideas down. And when I did write them down, I couldn’t always guarantee they’d be legible in the morning. My handwriting’s not great at the best of times, but when I’m half awake…? Forget it! Thankfully, I don’t think I’ve forgotten any really good idea. Though, if I have forgotten really good ideas, I’d probably never know… 🙂
Colin, I would never get to sleep again if that’s what my muse looked like!
I know, Angelica! But it’s a great picture to illustrate how unforgettable a good story can be. I mean, when she wakes up the next morning with dragon footprints on the floor, and troll hair on her nightgown..? Oh my, there’s a lot of metaphor there… and that picture definitely could inspire a story… hmmm…! 🙂 Sorry, synapses firing… need to take a nap… 😉
My serious answer is that the majority of my (good) stories are from dreams. I often dream with all 5 senses and that makes it much nicer when I go to put it on the page. But as for the falling-asleep part, I have a very hard time shutting my brain off so I wouldn’t dare encourage it by tackling writing stuff then!
Yes, it is hard to sleep when your brain is firing on all cylinders. Sometimes, though, I don’t know how to stop it, so I indulge it until it tires itself out, gives me a great idea, or both. 🙂
I’m definitely willing to sacrifice sleep for a good idea! ^_^
I’m cautiously fascinated by how the brain works (cautiously, because I don’t have time for another obsession), and it’s a sad fact that we really do need sleep. As I mentioned above in reply to Susan, the brain uses this down-time to process information and do house-cleaning. So I really hate cutting short sleep time. But when your brain spits out great ideas, you can’t let them go! Perhaps we need to find some compromise here: if the brain can hold off spitting out the great ideas until we’re fully awake, we’ll give the brain a good night’s sleep to do its stuff. Sounds fair to me! 😉
i always get great ideas when i’m falling asleep…the problem is, they usually don’t make much sense the next morning. 🙂
lol! That’s an interesting problem, Carey. I think what I would do with that situation is go to bed with that odd, confusing idea, and feed it back in. “Okay, brain, you gave me this I-don’t-know-what last night. Do something interesting with it, and wake me up when it’s done.” 🙂
Do you keep a notebook beside the bed? I thought about doing that because I find that sometimes that’s when my ideas come to me too. Still haven’t gotten around to it, though. 🙂
Like I said to Juliana (above), I used to, but I would often be too tired to write anything in it, or the resulting scrawl would be even more illegible than my signature. 🙂 If you find yourself waking up saying, “I know I had a really good idea last night, but I just can’t think what it was!” then perhaps the notepad would be a good thing for you. I have yet to have a problem with this–most of the ideas I have are strong enough to last the night. 🙂
I’m totally with you on the place of inspiration being more a state of mind than an actual place. And I think that’s a very good thing – it would be pretty impractical to have go physically go somewhere every time I’m in need of a bit of inspiration 🙂
I would allow that there are certain physical places that might help put a writer into that state of mind better than others. But, yes, it’s the mental disposition that matters more than the physical location. 🙂
I get some of my best ideas then, too, but I have to make sure to write them down or I’m certain to forget them!
Sounds like your a pad-and-pen-by-the-bed kind of writer, Bess! 🙂
One night while I was drifting to sleep I had an idea for an awesome new character for my WIP. I also get a lot of good ideas in my dreams. I do have strange ones, but they make the best stories.
The strange ones do have lots of potential, though you might need to go back to them the following night in the hope that your brain will make better sense of them!
This “just before sleep” inspiration sounds so great, but it never works for me. When my head hits the pillow, I’m out. There is no lying down thinking before sleep for me!
I don’t remember my dreams, usually, either. I actually just read an article somewhere that said those who get the same amount of sleep every night don’t remember their dreams because their bodies have learned to get a full REM cycle in those hours. I found this very interesting because I had to get up extra early last week, and I remembered vivid details about my dream! Must be some truth to that article! (Wish I could remember where I read that – seems like it might have been linked from a blog…)
You’re just way too disciplined, Daisy! 😉 Seriously, that makes a lot of sense. Your body gets used to sleep patterns, as you know if you travel across time zones. Thankfully, it’s not the only way to get inspiration. And who knows, maybe dreams are just us being conscious of the work our brain is doing. It’s possible your brain is still processing and creating, even though you’re fast asleep, Your brain’s just nice enough to wait until your awake before it gives you the results. 🙂
Interesting to think about dreams and ideas that stem from them. That’s only happened to me twice — where I’ve created complete plots, etc, in my dreams. The first was during college. I wrote the basic plot out but haven’t gotten back to it, although I found my notes several weeks ago and it might have legs. The second just a couple of weeks ago. I dreamed an entire novel in the span of fifteen minutes – my alarm had gone off, I snoozed and woke up 15 minutes later with all these fantastic ideas. The crazy part – it was based on a few notes I’d jotted down years ago at an airport. Strange and amazing how the brain works!
An entire novel in 15 mins! That’s cool, Sara. We should all definitely nap more often. 🙂
I can’t say I come up with ideas as I’m drifting off to sleep but almost every night I have crazy dreams – especially lately (what the heck is up with that?!). Most often they don’t really make sense but sometimes there are nuggets of ideas in those dreams that I think I might be able to use. If I can remember them in my no-sleep-induced-fog! 🙂
Have you ever tried taking what nuggets you remember and going to bed the following night with those nuggets in mind–almost as if you’re feeding them back into your brain and saying, “Okay, what do you make of this?”? It’s worked for me a few times.
I always get ideas and inspiration when I’m walking, and oddly, when I’m in the shower. Two times when I don’t have a notebook on me!
Don’t mp3 players usually have a “record” function? If so, you could always take that with you when walking, and record ideas that way. It might seem odd talking into the mp3 player in public, but is it really any stranger than seeing people with blue tooth devices hooked onto their ears having conversations with people you can’t see? 🙂
First off, that is one creepy painting! I’m going to have nightmares now >.< But I agree, drifting off to sleep/the moments just before waking up are one of the best times for ideas for me as well.
I guess the painting is a bit creepy… but check back tomorrow (Friday). That’s all I’m saying. 🙂