Today’s comment of Merrilee, an Australian blogging writer whose great mix of insight and sarcasm I very recently discovered, on my blog post on inspiration, triggered a thought that I keep wondering about:
Is inspiration a spark, quick and unpredictable, a divine spur of the moment? Or is it rather the result of putting enough experiences, impressions and books into your head and then wait for what I call the Writer’s Digestion to set in, churning everything through the blender of reflection and time and wait for it to come out as a good story or …. crap.
found on layoutsparks.com
After I have come to find out that I am one of the slow types, which interestingly enough is pretty much in contradiction to my usual zero tolerance approach to bumming around. I’m not one of those people who could churn out a book about a big topic, like for example 9-11 within a couple of months. What’s more, I find it hard writing something more significant than some blog observations about Berlin yet. It seems I am currently just too busy to experience for inspiration for something bigger to strike yet.
Me, while digesting big topics ...
Inspiration usually works like this: Like a boa contrictor, I take in a whole topic/new experience first, then roll up in a corner, reading about it more, let it sit in my guts for a while, read loads more, and some more, until finally … I have come to my own picture of what I saw and felt and can finally give my thoughts back to the anxiously waiting world….
found on rosssea.info
Right, that’s exactly why you end up writing about Ireland in the 90s in the Noughties, some malicious tongues might say now. That might be very true. True is as well though that I enjoy writing about big whoppers of topics, ambitious and on paper not at all close to my personal quite drama-free life. Big topics, wherever they lurk, to me are the only topics worth writing about. Getting an insight into them and digesting them sometimes need a glacial approach so I can gain a real insight before I start telling stories about them. The whole write about you know approach, but that’s a story for the next post.
But enough of me, dear reader. What about you, writers and otherwise creative people out there – is inspiration for you a divine spark, or rather a boa constrictor? Or maybe both?
8 Comments
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Sarcasm? Lol, I never noticed
Anyway, on to your topic. I think some people do all their planning in their head, then write, while others plan as they write, and do all their exploring on paper. I don’t think it matters which approach you take.
Me, I like to mull a bit, then I write until I have nothing left, then mull some more. It works for me
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I probably fall in the combo category. As you’ve seen in my whining blog posts so far, I tend to take a long time to mull ideas over in my head, in the shower, as I sleep, yada yada yada…they keep yammering and yapping in there to the point I’ve sometimes let them fester too much, leaving me feeling UNinspired because I’m so sick of thinking about it. But then, after a brief while of clearing my head with other things, I’ll devote a chunk of time to sit and write, and *snap* that little electrical shock of inspiration pricks and has me creating new stuff while also magically incorporating all the previously undigested. I have yet to pinpoint any consistency in this
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I loved your approach on inspiration Eva! A digestive process rather than a bolt of lightning
For me it works like this; I go outside, meet new people, hear or read random stories about random places/topics/people, go to museums, read books etc. Basically I collect data about anything and everything; I go out there and observe whatever I can with my 5 senses. While doing this, I don’t look for stories or ideas to write about, I’m more like a sponge, taking it all in… And one day when I’m driving, or taking a shower or right before I fell asleep (basically in the most inconvenient conditions possible- I know inspiration has a grudge for me, perhaps it’s because I stalk it all the time) I ‘get it’. The idea, the premise just comes to me and from there it’s all about finding who my characters are and the whole process of plotting and I use what I have collected outside while I go back into my room and write
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Hey Merrilee, thanks for sharing your two cents! I do agree – am convinced there is no single “right” way to do it, just a personal way. And the sarcasm was meant in an all good way … keep it up.
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@ Monkey: This sounds very interesting, indeed. And it seems to work well for you, so guess that consistency is only secondary. What I really like about the whole thing (and what freaks me out, of course) is my total inability to predict when everything will strike. When the two hours of bleeding words onto a page lead into a frenzy of inspired writing. But that’s what makes it interesting after all, I guess.
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@ Lua: Really nice comment, thanks a lot! Yes, what you describe is reminding me a lot of my own process, too. They say that ideas like to visit the free mind, so when lightening strikes for me I usually have my little black book with me to keep those thoughts for later. It always excites me so much when it happens, has something divine to it. So the lightening bolt does exist for me! Just seems it is a 80-20 share: 80 digestion, 20 lightening.
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Thanks for the link to Merrilee’s site. Very interesting. Inspiration for me…hm. I find it is a very slow process. I have a small tiny spark. Actually it’s more like a slight glow, a tiny ember. I blow and blow and blow. After a few days it has usually grown into something I can work with. I then sit down and begin to write!
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Hey Susie, great to see a new face on my site, especially from so far.
I like the comparison you made, the tiny glow, growing. Just checked on your blog and admire that you write poetry, which I never had the inspiration/courage to do myself. All the best for your writing, and loads of energy and glowing inspiration. 