My creative process, though severely truncated by having a 20 month old daughter, is usually a matter of brewing a cup of tea and sitting quietly for several minutes. It takes time for the mind to leave the flittering world and sink into our own thoughts, our own dimensions. So I wait until I'm in that head space, then I begin writing. Usually crap for the first twenty minutes, but eventually something good comes of each session. I like early morning writing best.
I start with a blank. Always. Getting started is the most difficult part. Then, I revise my mental notes, think about things I would like to write about and then, begin typing whatever first comes to mind.
I believe it really depends on what I am writing. When I write my poetry it's more personal and emotionally connected to me, my own views and values. When I write lyrics it's more about a particular feeling or message I wish to send. When I was writing my stories "The Inner Realm" it was more of an imaginative playing field.
I wanted the reader to question possibilities between the known and the unknown. Every time the reader was just beginning to think they knew it was the science or the health issue for my main character I turned and took them deeper into the unkown of how well she knew this other person this other life or recall of her past life. It was very fun to write and I couldn't stop I wrote my complete first draft to the end and then went back revising it and cleaning it up.
However there is a book I am writing now "The Letters" which is really a first time for me to go the root of historical. This is a story set back in the 1800's and I am enjoying it very much. It's really about a families history and how we can all learn so much from our own family history if only we looked. A young girl goes into her grandmother attic and finds a box with a bunch of old letters in it. The story part that I love the most is writing these letters of a woman much like myself..
Example:
Dear Anne,
I was so filled with excitement when I received your letter.
I ran upstairs straight away and started packing.
Mother was more then happy to hear of your invitation for a not so distant visit on my part.
She would have me marry the next man whom knocked at the door if it where not so unpleasing to father.
How could she expect such a think of me? I know I am not getting any younger but my youth has not yet abandoned me.
With both my sisters Pauline and Emily married and now you
I feel as though I am a fish out of water or so that is how mother sees me.
I should go to sleep early every night if that would bring the day any sooner.
Until then I shall try not to upset her.
My thoughts are with you
As I long for your understanding.
Katherine
So for me it's not really about how it comes out..most of it really just comes from diving deep into a sea of imagination. The exciting part is to see what I have pulled out.
Writing is really just from my pure joy of it ...whether I am any good or not I guess is up to each reader but my reward is in that moment of sitting down and just writing.
I don't write on a schedule I write from creative flow which never seems to start and end far to soon.
I will say this, I enjoy meeting other writers because what they think is very important to me it's a learning experience and some are pulled more to a particular type of writing I do than to other... and therefore I judge by that my strong points and my weaknesses.   | | |
I like to create when I feel an urge within me that I cant explain. Before I start I say a quick prayer and after that the title or subject of the poem comes to me. Next, I jot down what it is I want to say within the poem, with a quick list. Usually, after that I will pull up my favorite thesaurus website and rhyming site. That is my poem writing habit or routine.
Before I write sometimes there is a thought or memory that replays itself over and over to me. Some of my poetry comes to me in a dream or right before going to sleep. I hate when it comes to me right between that point of resting and sleep, because if it is really good, I get up to write.
Deep Breath..Self-Analysis...Glass of Wine
Music has a lot to do with my creativity. We are all diverse, but one thing that everyone shares is music. But I get my inspiration from a lot of things. Other people, a photograph, or life experiences. Sometimes, it is even from another person's published writing.
My creative process is very simple. I contemplate a subject, consider the points that I want to make regarding the subject, then write them down–not as an outline, but only as a memory tool. That generally provides the scope of the piece. Then I do the necessary research to substantiate my point of view. I then develop my lead which, if done properly, should provide a road map of how the piece should be developed.
I never adhere to a strict outline, however. While an outline seems to be the logical way to organize a piece, I’ve found that the rigidity of an outline tends to stifle creativity, since on more than one occasion, I’ve found that one of the secondary points should be elevated to the thesis statement in order to most effectively make my point.
Sometimes it’s more effective to approach a subject through the backdoor. That way, instead of giving the reader my point of view up front, and then go about proving my case, I use a sort of bait-and-switch approach. I begin to develop a secondary point, and then gradually move into my actual thesis. While that may seem deceptive, it’s really not. It’s simply a device that allows the reader to feel like you’ve come to a mutual conclusion together, as oppose to being subjected to the condescending approach of being “instructed.” | | |
My creative process just consists of me having to get down what’s been going on in my head. I get inspired by so many things that it forms into stories in my mind that I have to put down on paper (on screen).
These days I usually quaff a bucket of Victorian shiraz and sit down with a pen and notebook on my deck if the weather's good. Four o'clock of an afternoon seems to be my starting time, and if I'm working on a big project like the two verse novels ("The Great Big Show" and "Magellenica"), then I can work all through the night into the very wee hours. That's if there isn't a game of cricket being played somewhere.
The smallest things inspire me. I don't consider myself a very naturally creative person...I don't draw, paint, or design anything. I'm terrible at that stuff, but for some reason writing just comes naturally to me. Usually, when I get a small idea for a character in my head or a setting, it is from something that I see or something that happens ever so briefly. For example, a few months ago I was driving home and saw "Missing" signs up all over my street with a guy's picture on them. I thought to myself, What if that guy put up the pictures himself and he's not really missing? And out of that thought came one of my favorite short stories I've written, simply titled, "Missing" about a young man doing just that.
It's haphazard... Sometimes I'll think of a particular phrase, or hear a conversation. Often, it's a combination of both--overhearing the conversations of people I don't know.
The process varies from manuscript to manuscript. In some instances I tightly plot the entire book, in others I write after loosely conjuring some notes. All plotting, whether in great detail or not, is done in longhand, on college ruled paper with gel pens. I love black ink, preferably with a .5 Pentel Needle Tip pen.
Before I sit to write, I read the previous day's work, so I know what in the world has just occurred. On a good day I manage a chapter, but my typing is so poor, lengthy corrections follow. I read it over, then usually it's time for lunch, as I'm strictly a morning writer. I'll edit in the afternoon, or first thing, Gentle Morning Edits a way to wake up with a pretty tight manuscript. Once caffeine has kicked in, the real work, be it writing or intense revising, begins.
Sometimes I write the night before but mostly the morning of my blog. It depends on how I feel and what I feel like writing.. Some days I am OK with me, other days I don’t like what’s happening in the world. I try to help people with my knowledge and experience..
I can write anytime, anywhere. But wait! Before you begin to envy me, let me explain that it is an isolated existence. I am always within my self, even in a crowd. Perpetually disconnected and thinking about the time when I can go back to my computer/notebook and begin to indulge myself.
I call myself self indulgent writer. Maybe it has negative connotations, but my life revolves around my inner world.
However, the creative process starts with an itch, to write!
My creative process revolves around a central idea that generally grabs me by surprise. From there, I what-if and the characters tend to grow from that. In this pre-writing stage, I take lots of notes as ideas come at me and I do most of my research. Unfortunately, I generally need assistance with my plots from about the half-way point of my mental outline. Plotting is something I'm always working on. |
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