They saw a swing set. I saw a dinosaur.

I watched this video the other day, and all I kept thinking was how interesting it was that I saw regular, everyday pushpins, but the artist saw something very different.

Here’s the video:



Or you can view here on YouTube

It got me thinking that perhaps that’s how non-writers must look at writers.

People who don’t spend their days writing fiction often ask me how I can create a story out of nothing. How I can take a blank document and come up with a 100,000-word story that makes sense and is engaging for readers (or so I hope). My answer is usually a quick comment about there being little else I’d rather spend my time doing. Which of course tells them nothing about the process of writing or how I come up with ideas, but there’s only so much you can get into standing in your aunt’s kitchen on Christmas Eve, balancing a glass and a paper plate filled with three crackers and some funky cheese spread you’re not sure you want to finish.

A longer response might include references to the vast amount of story ideas and “what if” scenarios running through my head, and that if I didn’t feel like I had an outlet for some of those, I might drive myself insane.

It might also include mention of my nutty color-coded index cards and post-it note system, but that just makes me look crazy organized to non-writers (and many writers).

 
Another, simpler answer might be that the desire to make up stories, to play in worlds of my own imagination is something I was born with. A part of me that made me different from the other kids in school who preferred sitting on the swings at recess rather than climbing to the top of the swing set and making up their own elaborate fictional words where ordinary playground equipment turned into dinosaurs that could be controlled as they roamed in search of defectors of the forest lands.

Yeah, I was that kid on the playground.

My imagination may have made me a bit different from the other kids, but I’m okay with that. In fact, I’m more than okay with that. I celebrate it every time I sit down at my computer to work on another story. 

What do you celebrate about yourself?

The Spark of a New Idea

I recently started work on an outline for a new story that I hope I can squeeze in after my current project. For those of you following along, yes, I’m back to outlining and thinking about new plots. This one began with the spark of an idea for a specific setting and one detail about the two main characters.

As I was working on the outline yesterday, it struck me that I couldn’t recall when this idea first hit me. Where had that spark came from? Had I seen something? Read something?

I’m always playing with ideas in my head, and sometimes they start out so innocuous it doesn’t register as anything important until a few days pass and a few dozen “what ifs” run through my mind. Then I start writing it all down, and the idea makes its way into my official story ideas folder.

I guess it’s okay that I don’t know where this one came from or how it started. I know where it’s going. And in the end, it’s the final product that’ll matter.

So where have some of my other ideas come from?

Anything, anywhere. TV, movies, art, news stories, overheard conversations, people watching. The smallest gesture of two people in a crowded restaurant can grow and transform into a full backstory about how these two lovers met. I play with their “story,” asking myself what if this happened? And then this? Oh, how about this? And so on…

Yes, taking me out to dinner can be a challenge.

People are fascinating. You never know what you’ll see when you discreetly watch from a distance at a restaurant, the county fair, the waiting room of the doctor’s office, or even driving down the highway.

Maybe you’ll see a teenager singing to his steering wheel. Does he have dreams of becoming the next American Idol?

Or a couple arguing through tears and shouts, their young child in the backseat chattering away to her doll. Is this a typical family squabble? Or is there something more to it? Maybe they are trying to figure out how to elude the baby’s dangerous biological father who’s just escaped from prison.

I’m sure my conclusions are nowhere near the reality of their lives, but it sure is fun to make up my own ideas…and then throw all kinds of disasters at them.

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com

Writing When the Muse Is Asleep

The other day a writing friend told me about a workshop at the National Romance Writers of America conference that provided a list of ways writers can continue writing even when the muse is asleep. It included things like writing longhand, chewing gum, taking a shower, or doing something else with water like washing dishes.

I don’t know all the details from the workshop on why these sorts of activities work, but this really hit home with me. I’ve found three things helpful when I’m stuck with a scene: writing longhand, taking a shower, and driving in my car with the radio blaring. Only one of which is actually conducive to the task of writing down any ideas that develop.

Just the other day I was stuck on the climactic scene of my new project, and I spent several hours working through the frustration, completing other work tasks, catching up on email, and reading a book on the craft of writing. Nothing was coming to me. I could not seem to figure out how to get the heroes into their biggest trouble and then how to get them out of it. I had the ending of the book planned (the romantic resolution), but I could not get the suspense storyline to come together.

I decided I’d hop on my bike for a nice ride then hit the shower. Three minutes into the shower and I was inundated with ideas, snippets of dialogue, even additional scenes for the middle part of the book. It turned into the fastest shower ever. I had to get to a piece of paper and a pen. I ran through the house, dripping water everywhere, snatching up a notebook and pen, then sat on the edge of the bathtub writing for about a half hour.

This is not the first time this has happened to me (you’d think I’d remember to take a notepad into the bathroom, but I rarely do). I’ve even mentioned it on Twitter and Facebook a few times before. I’ve written some of the best stuff wearing nothing but a towel (and sometimes less). A long soak in the bathtub is the best place for me to edit a scene that’s giving me fits.

I know I’m not alone in this. I’ve heard other writers say they also get their best ideas in the shower. You’d think more corporations would latch on to this concept and install boardroom showers. Hmmm…interesting idea there.

This got me to wondering why this (and other changes in scenery or activity) work so well on overcoming writer’s block. Is it because the activity relaxes you and eases the tension of not producing? Is it the feel or sound of water that opens up part of the brain responsible for creative thought? Does music do the same? A quick search produced several studies identifying that chewing gum can improve concentration. Maybe water, music, and driving do the same.

What do you think? Is there a benefit creatively to activities like writing longhand, chewing gum, taking a shower, or washing dishes? Or is it all in my head?

In any case, it works for me. I guess I should just invest in a waterproof digital voice recorder and save the rest of my pennies for the water bill.

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com

Stretching the Creative Muscles

Last month I posted about my outlining process after having just finished the outline for my third romantic suspense. Before digging in to write that book, I decided to get together notes for two other stories that, if all goes well, will be waiting for me to write next year. That means I'm outlining three books back to back. That's a lot of "what ifs."

Brainstorming new stories can be an exhausting process (at least for me). I have to stretch my creative muscles, push past insecurities, doubts, the mundane and clichéd ideas. Push past the first sparks of possibilities and dig deeper to find a story unique for these characters. I hope I'm coming up with something interesting. Only time (and my editor) will tell.

But it got me to thinking about where creativity comes from? Is it something innate - something we either have or do not have? Is it something that can be taught? A skill that can be honed over time?

I think it may be a combination of who we are, what we learn, the experiences we've lived through, the inspiration we take in everyday, and the continued practice of being creative over and over again. One of my favorite quotes reads..."Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young." -W. Somerset Maugham.

I hope that's true. I'm doing a lot of exercising of the imagination right now. And I'm certainly not getting any younger.

So what do you think? How do people generate unique ideas? And not just for writers. Creativity is useful in so many of life's problems. It can help construct business decisions, reduce spending, organize the chaotic, and save lives. Where do those ideas and the more artistic kinds of creativity come from? I'm curious to hear what you think.

Sloan Parker
www.sloanparker.com