Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.
Francis Bacon
Sometimes we spend hours in front of blank pages, searching and searching for the right thing to write. And then once we wrote what we've thought of, we're critical. Some of us tend to spend hours editing and changing every. single. thing. we've written.
I know I do, if I don't watch my internal editor like a hawk.
But here's the thing. Those thoughts and ideas that I actively go looking for always have something lacking in them. Which is why I edit the writing that comes from those thoughts to death.
There are other thoughts and ideas, though. Unbidden ones. If I spend too much time on thinking when I write, those ideas are rare. Or maybe they pop up as often as always, but they're drowned out in all of my forced thoughts.
Those jewels appear, seemingly out of the ether. They're the ones that are the miracle cures of writing. More often than not, they're brilliant. All of my original inspirations, plot problem solutions etc. come from unbidden thoughts.
I could be wrong, but from my own experience, unbidden thoughts and ideas come from the subconscious, after my mind has taken into account more aspects than I could even have thought of and untangled the mess. The result therefore is more complex than the one I consciously could have thought of and yet simple to apply.
And usually, it solves more than just the issue that got me thinking in the first place.
Because of this, I never worry about a writer's block. It's just my mind working out some issues in the story that I haven't even perceived.
It's also the reason why I zone out when I write. I don't want to consciously decide what I'm writing. Because those conscious decisions have led me astray time and time again. To me, conscious decisions are for revisions and edits.
They have no real place in my creative process. Which is why I always refer to my muse, or to my characters making the calls. I don't really believe in muses. But for me to write, I have to keep my writing mind (one dependent on unbidden thoughts) as far from my conscious mind as possible.
Without that, I would never have been able to create something as complex as the Doorways series.
While writing, do you consciously decide what you're going to write? Or do you also try to disconnect your thoughts as far as possible?
Ref: Do you consciously decide what you're going to write?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
Here's my secret to writing: I write my ending first--then I write everything that leads up to it. :)
I've never thought of it this way, but yes I do consciously decide what I'm going to write, but mostly I disconnect from my thoughts. I like to keep myself somewhat in check; otherwise, we're talking about huge disasters.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely consciously decide what I'm going to write. At this point I have deadlines and people waiting for me to finish mss. That being said, I love those wide-open, I-can-write-anything-I-like times, and now that they're gone for a bit, I kind of miss them. And I'm really looking forward to their return :)
ReplyDeleteWhat I write comes out of thin air, or so it seems. Editing though comes with its own whip and chain. I've learned to be submissive.
ReplyDeleteI make a conscious decision. Sometimes it slows the process (far more than my inept typing skills) but I find the more I think about it, the better the idea that ends up on paper.
ReplyDeleteMy flashes of ideas tend to come before I begin writing or after the second or third draft.
ReplyDeleteI love the phrase "miracle cures of writing". So true, and that's exactly how mine come too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I write there tends to be a mix of conscious thought and of my turning off my brain. I think I need to do a little more of the latter than I do, but I'm working on it :)
ReplyDelete~ Rhonda Parrish
I do both. Usually the unconscious takes over resulting in things greater than I had planned.
ReplyDeleteNPR had an interesting guest that spoke about this very idea of zoning out when you write. NPR in the USA by the way stands for National Public Radio.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the gist of what the guest author was saying is that many famous authors have often said that the most creative time of the day for them was when they were tired. To clarify, when they had reached the point in a day that they were drifting into and out of sleep.
Scientists have set up brain monitoring equipment to study the neurons that fire at this time and the brain is quite active because the subconscious as well as the conscious are kind of intermingling.
I'm never too sure how a story is going to come down. I've done it in disconnected scenes, writing the end first, writing a single summary sentence as a guideline, character sketches . . . you name it. The story does what it wants once the idea pops into my head. I sometimes think if I left the room it would write itself and leave me a note about how to edit it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have to know what Im going to write. I always start with a basic plot-just what I want to happen. Then I build an outline. But from there, I just let the words flow onto the page.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post though. Thinking of writers blog that way!
Usually, when I get stuck, I just have to step back and work on something else. Or read like... 3 books. I have to get my mind off of my story for a minute to clear my head. Then when I come back to it, with fresh eyes, my creative juices are flowing like crazy! :)
Great luck on Doorways!
I usually write when I first get up, so i'm rarely fully conscious. It comes easiest then. Sometimes things do need to marinate. Sometimes I write a scene, then later decide i need to redirect it. Sometimes those stuck spots come along. I usually keep writing, having faith the aha will come.
ReplyDeleteI hope to achieve disconnect or I will be a perfectionist and produce nothing. My best ideas come while I'm not thinking about them. I frequently write things based on dreams. I write best first thing in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI know my characters before I write, and then I trust them (and my instincts). When the unbidden ideas crop up, I run with them and see where it takes me.
ReplyDeleteI make a conscious decision about my writing topic. Once I choose the topic, the characters start talking to me.
ReplyDeleteMostly, decide what to write except when writing poetry:)
ReplyDeleteDo decide what to write about except when penning a poem:)
ReplyDeleteI prefer to let my unconscious mind take over certain aspects of my writing as those times are usually the kernels that propel my story forward. If I thinks about it too much, that's when I get blocked.
ReplyDeleteA lot of my best writing comes from ideas that are generated when I'm not actively writing. Often they come when everything is calm and quiet and/or I'm resting. (When I'm really desperate and don't know what to do (plot problem, etc.), I'll take a shower by candlelight. 90% of the time, I'll have the answer by the time I'm done showering.
ReplyDeleteI have an idea of what I want to write, but I've learned to let all the weird randomness come out and then see what happens. Editing can fix what doesn't make sense. But I agree with your quote. The unsought is usually better than my pre-planned ideas. Love this post.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the unbidden thoughts are gifts. Often, ideas--even words--come to me when I'm meditating. I often wonder whether it's my unconscious mind being more clever than I am, or if the Universal Consciousness has a hand in the inspiration.
ReplyDelete