Monday, June 4, 2012

Kicked into Real Life

I don’t know about others, but when I write I have to immerse myself in that other world. I get in the head of my characters and live and breathe every word. Before writing a single chapter I envision exactly what will happen. Sometimes the level of detail is pretty basic, a general direction I’m shooting toward, but sometimes I plot down every line of dialogue by running it all through my loony brain first. My characters literally talk to each other in my head before I ever sit down to type a syllable. It gets worked out, and then I find time to write it—hoping I don’t forget everything before then. Trying to force things to happen by sitting down and typing might produce a few sentences, but it’s generally a wasted effort.
You can see that I require times of peace and quiet, which usually come when I take the dogs for walks or when I’m getting ready for work in the morning. A time of no worries.
Lately, my creativity has been zero. The ground has been moving and tilting with me trying to stay on top. For the last few weeks, real life came calling, and there’s been no visualizing of fictitious conversations. Oh, I’m still saying huh a lot when my family speaks to me. But that’s because I’m worrying over other things for once and not writing. Stray thoughts keep intruding like what if O’Hare airport suddenly moves and we can’t find terminal three by eleven o’clock or what if I forget to take second child to his band concert because I’m wondering if we got enough presents for the host family in Japan. Well, boy got to his concert and got picked up too. The endless shopping is done. Eldest protégé is on her fourteen hour way to Japan as I write this.
So what the point to this ramble? Sometimes, for good or ill, real life jolts you out of your cozy bubble. Don’t try and force the writing. It can wait. Don’t forget to enjoy real life.    

4 comments:

  1. I agree. I never force it. Two weeks ago, my muse was on full force. The past week, no writing done. Too many things going on with real life. And so the same goes for this week. But I don't worry too much because I know that when the muse comes to visit, I get a lot of writing done. :) Besides, forcing myself to write is a waste of energy and effort. My prose becomes subpar. Whereas, if I wait, I get better results.

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  2. This is a good reminder that it's okay to take a breather, and enjoy real life.

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  3. I get periods like that too. You're right, enjoy the break. When the time and inclination align, the work will flow.

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