Monday Musing: Things that Inspire
I thought about doing some sort of retrospective post or something about resolutions for my first blog post of the New Year, but a retrospective post would probably be about how well I did or did not fulfill last year’s resolutions.
Besides, John Scalzi has already covered my resolution for 2011 better than I possibly could in his post about how he has resolved to stay off the internet before noon so that he can get more writing done. (And if I do not post this in the morning from now own, you know why.)
Instead, I would like to talk about finding other creative outlets to inspire your work. No one would dispute that authors are creative people. But sometimes, getting the words out of your head and onto paper can be tough. Having another outlet that can let your mind rest (or at least not think about writing) can be energizing. By taking your conscious brain out of the writing process for a while, you give your subconscious the chance to work on it.
This is why we usually get good ideas when we’re in the bathroom or in the middle of the night. This is also why we remember where we put something we’ve lost about three days after we’ve stopped looking for it.
Quite a few of the authors that I’ve spoken with say that they listen to music to become inspired. Over the years I’ve gotten ideas while doing mindless manual labor (but not uncomfortable labor. Because when you roof a house, all you can think of is how hot it is).
Some things that I’ve done while noodling on a story over the years have included:
This year I am trying something a bit different. I’ve been out of photography as a hobby for a while, but I’ve always wanted to try a 365 day project like this one. The idea is that you are only allowed to take one photo a day for the project. No do-overs. The project not only has the benefit of sharpening my photography skills, but it can serve as a kind of photo diary of my life. And hopefully, while looking for photos, I’ll be inspired as a writer.
One thing that has me thinking about the project is that my phone has a pretty decent camera (for a point-and-shoot). In order to ramp up the challenge, I’m not going to use any of my nicer photography equipment for this project. Just my phone camera. I’ll post the photos as I take them to my new flickr account, facebook and Livejournal.
Besides, John Scalzi has already covered my resolution for 2011 better than I possibly could in his post about how he has resolved to stay off the internet before noon so that he can get more writing done. (And if I do not post this in the morning from now own, you know why.)
Instead, I would like to talk about finding other creative outlets to inspire your work. No one would dispute that authors are creative people. But sometimes, getting the words out of your head and onto paper can be tough. Having another outlet that can let your mind rest (or at least not think about writing) can be energizing. By taking your conscious brain out of the writing process for a while, you give your subconscious the chance to work on it.
This is why we usually get good ideas when we’re in the bathroom or in the middle of the night. This is also why we remember where we put something we’ve lost about three days after we’ve stopped looking for it.
Quite a few of the authors that I’ve spoken with say that they listen to music to become inspired. Over the years I’ve gotten ideas while doing mindless manual labor (but not uncomfortable labor. Because when you roof a house, all you can think of is how hot it is).
Some things that I’ve done while noodling on a story over the years have included:
- · fishing
- · drawing
- · listening to music
- · exercise
- · driving
This year I am trying something a bit different. I’ve been out of photography as a hobby for a while, but I’ve always wanted to try a 365 day project like this one. The idea is that you are only allowed to take one photo a day for the project. No do-overs. The project not only has the benefit of sharpening my photography skills, but it can serve as a kind of photo diary of my life. And hopefully, while looking for photos, I’ll be inspired as a writer.
One thing that has me thinking about the project is that my phone has a pretty decent camera (for a point-and-shoot). In order to ramp up the challenge, I’m not going to use any of my nicer photography equipment for this project. Just my phone camera. I’ll post the photos as I take them to my new flickr account, facebook and Livejournal.