11-27-2009
Bathtub Inspiration
Writing by the seat of my pants can get a bit harrowing after a little while. My experience so far with NaNoWriMo so far is that while I love writing “without a map”, so to speak, I do like to have my headlights on so that I can see ten feet in front of me.
So last week, I ended up in a very chaotic place in my manuscript. There was lots of stuff going on, and nothing particularly coherent about any of it.
I did what I normally do whenever I’ve reached a creative muddle. I ran a bath, added a favorite bubble mixture, then slipped into the lovely hot water with a soft sigh.
I’m not sure why, but I get incredibly good ideas when I’m near water – especially when I’m in water. The bath works best, but the shower’s pretty awesome for my creativity, too.
(The reason why the bath works better might be because I normally have a glass of wine near at hand, too …)
That night, when I closed my eyes, one phrase from the writing I’d done that day popped into my mind. One small phrase. And suddenly, all the pieces fell into place. I knew where I was going with all of this. I knew what scenes I had to go back and add. What scenes will need to be deleted or heavily revised. And even better, I suddenly saw arcs where no arcs had existed! (For me, that is really the ultimate moment, the moment when I know I don’t have just an idea, I truly have a story.)
It was extremely exciting. Mind you, immediately after that, I got immersed in deadlines and so now I’m behind in my word count …
What about you? Where do you go to get creative fixes for problems, whether they’re about your writing or anything else in your life? And do you get great ideas while you’re in the bath or shower too?
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November 27th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Where do you get your best ideas? My recent bathtub inspiration: http://msbookish.com/bathtub-inspiration…
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November 27th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Now I know why I’m not very creative! I take showers, instead of baths.
Kathy´s last blog ..Virtual Cookie Swap
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November 27th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Wow, you and Archimedes! The rest of us should take baths more often!
rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Recipes for The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies Virtual Cookie Swap
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November 27th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
The deadline draws near – I hope you’ll finish in time.
I do love a nice bath. Oddly, though, my inspiration comes mostly from walking. I used to do math problems in the air in front of me when walking from place to place in New York and Montreal, but it’s hard to do that in Paris without running into people. I’ve found it’s a nice change, though, as now that’s when story ideas come to me. :-)
Inspiration in a different way!
Audrey/brizmus´s last blog ..Contests in the Blogosphere
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November 27th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I exhausted myself with the seat-of-my-pants type of writing after 3 weeks. I went back and restructured last weekend but now I’m visiting family. I haven’t written more than 500 words in 4 days. There is no way I can make up the missing word count. But I love the new structure so I will continue to write a little bit each day.
I’ll have to remember the bath idea for getting out of a creative funk.
Petunia´s last blog ..Adventures in French Cooking
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November 27th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
I get many of my ideas on my walk home from work. I don’t know if it’s the walk, or the transition between job and home lives, but it’s where I tend to do a lot of my thinking :)
Jemi Fraser´s last blog ..Finished! Well… sort of
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November 28th, 2009 at 10:10 am
LOL about Kathy’s comment! But a huge congrats on finding that thread. How exciting.
Beth F´s last blog ..Looking to 2010: Readalong and Challenges
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November 28th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
I get the most creative at the beach watching the surf. Unfortunately, I live in Pennsylvania :( Our next home will be much closer to the Atlantic Ocean.
Barbara´s last blog ..I’m Thankful for So Many Things
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November 28th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I get most of my ideas in the shower, walking, doing yard work … in other words, I think any place where the mind can drift and make connections because it’s relaxed and there are no computer keys or pen and paper saying: write something brilliant.
Cathryn´s last blog ..Sour Cream, Milk and Whipped Cream
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November 28th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
[...] I’m going to do it. Things are so much clearer in my mind now that I’ve had my moment of bathtub inspiration. I just have to find the time to sit down and [...]
November 29th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
It’s good that you know the right place to go for inspiration. For me, it’s being outdoors in nature – preferably in the mountains or a forest. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to take along a pencil and paper in my pocket. Otherwise I forget all those clever little ideas.
Margot´s last blog ..Favorite Places: Santa Claus, Indiana
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