writing inside the mind
I was watching an old episode of Everybody Loves Raymond tonight – it’s the one where Ray tells his wife Deborah that he’s working late because he’s got to finish writing his column. So Deb goes to his job and brings him dinner – only to find him hanging out, playing paper football and watching TV. She says something like, I thought you had a column to write. And he says something like, writing isn’t all done on paper – I am writing, up here (while pointing to his head)
And yeah, I so understood that. That time I spend staring blankly at the TV / out the window / talking on the phone / baking that cake during the time I’m supposed to be working helps. That doesn’t mean that at any given moment I won’t be ready to turn back around and get back to the computer. Sometimes it happens when I’m in the middle of a conversation or in the middle of the cake baking and I have to wander away and get back to it.
I fully believe that you need to spend time writing inside your head before it’s ready to bring to the paper. However, sometimes I do wonder if I’m really just procrastinating out of fear – case in point – I have a book due soon – like, really soon – but I haven’t been able to get much done on it because I’m not sure of a few things. Sure, I’ve been writing scenes, but nothing was meshing the way I wanted it too. So I stopped working on it for a bit (even though it’s due, like, soon – have I mentioned that?) and I tried not to panic. Reminded myself that I’ve been here before.
And today, I was in the car and I was blasting music and suddenly, one of the answers was looking for was there. So simple. Not the entire plot, but enough to give me a reason to base the middle of the book on. Enough to make me realize that I did the right thing by stopping the writing on that book and letting myself just think it through.
Do you give yourself permission to just sit back and think? Do you find that that helps you, or do you think that continuing to write through the problem helps you more?
November 8th, 2007 at 1:46 am
I do both.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:58 am
I often write inside my mind when I’m getting washed and dressed in the bathroom in the morning. Some of my best lightbulb moments come to me when I’m standing in front of the sink, or I’m in the bath!
November 8th, 2007 at 7:16 am
If I’m not really stuck but just can’t seem to find the right word or figure just how the next part should work, I’ll go wander around my yard and pull weeds. It almost always works. For really big blocks though I have to just let it sit and brew for a while.
November 8th, 2007 at 7:21 am
Do you give yourself permission to just sit back and think? Do you find that that helps you, or do you think that continuing to write through the problem helps you more?
Sigh. Yeah. But usually not until bedtime. And then it hits me like a ton of bricks. Usually after two or three rough nights with the baby, too.
But the books get written.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:11 am
I do a lot of staring out the window. I’m pretty sure my husband thinks I’m procrastinating, but I’m really thinking out plot points or working out a problem.
Other times I’ll get up and move away from the computer, do some other mindless task that helps me work out the problem in my head. It really does help to get away-to think it out.
November 8th, 2007 at 8:30 am
I’m a strong proponent of having a mini-recorder in the car. I have a long drive to work, and that thing has helped me retain so many ideas that I would otherwise lose that I don’t know how I ever managed to write without it.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:07 am
For me, mindless activity seems to free things up in my head - ironing the dreaded activity, actually helps me work through plot quagmires.
Sometimes I push through, sometimes I can’t and I stop and fold shirts, LOL.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Wonderful post! I do both… I think sometimes I push myself to keep writing in fear that I might be procrastinating(I do LIKE to do that too)but that having been said, I have also experienced the ’step back and wham’ moments. My brain just needed some time to work things out. I suppose I shall continue to do both, because I can’t always be sure if I’m ‘playing’ or ‘resting the brain’. Until AFTER the fact.
Cole
November 8th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I’m also a member of the “both” club. 8^) It depends on what it is. Like sometimes I’m trying to get across a feeling or a concept that the character is internalizing and it just won’t come out the way I want it to. I know what I want to say, but it’s not working for some reason. Then I push it, rewrite it, rewrite it again… It reminds me of trying to remove a very stubborn splinter (words) from my finger (mind).
When it’s a plot thing, I’ll walk away from it to think it through. My best solutions usually come while I’m lying in bed just before I fall asleep, or the moment I wake up in the morning.
November 8th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Sometimes if I force it, instead of taking a break, the result is horrid. So, if I’m really stuck, I go do something mindless. Or take a nap and dream the answer to my stickiness.
November 8th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
I’m notorious in certain circles for writing in the shower. I’ll spend all morning putzing around with a scene that refuses to jell. Eventually I give up and take the dog for a long walk which can really align those brain cells, or take a shower. I have bath tub crayons in various different colours(for different characters). The shower wall is cream. Major plot points have been revealed to me in the shower. I usually shut off the water,cause it’s gonna go cold anyway, and let the muse scribble on the walls. Once I’ve got it all transcribed, I wash it off and dive back into writing. I need to get a mini-recorder for the morning dog walks. I jot some of it on paper but that interferes with the walking.
Great post.
November 8th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I write in my mind… all the time. Constantly.
I also waste time. Constantly.
But I find it helps to take a breather from a story and get back to it when you are ready to get back to it. The only trouble is, you have to make sure you don’t abandon it in the meantime!
November 8th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
It doesn’t take me six months to write a 30,000 word novella because I’m a slow typist…:)
November 9th, 2007 at 6:05 am
I do a lot of writing in my mind. Especially while commuting to work, at work, during lunch, commuting home, doing chores, running errands. I try to think about my story even when I’m not working on it.
November 9th, 2007 at 10:24 am
I do both. Sometimes I have to ram through it, because the looking outside my head and the looking inside my head aren’t working. Mostly, I do my staring while in the car. Good thing I’m not driving! My sweetie will say, What are you thinking? I say, Huh? Good post.