Comments on: Staying Creative

By: Ian Hocking

Ian Hocking — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:49:05 +0000

Interesting post, Richard. It's difficult to know what things drive the creative side of us. Have you ever read Stephen King's thoughts on this? His book 'On writing' is full of great observations.

By: Eliza

Eliza — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:06:50 +0000

Hear, hear. There's nothing worse than telling someone that you've been having trouble writing and having them nod knowingly and saying, "Ah. Writer's Block." I always feel compelled to correct that, or explain that no, actually, it's that I'm having difficultly accurately describing a scene with so much tension, or I'm unsure if I'm heading in the right direction, or that I think I missed something earlier in the story that I need to move on.

By: Richard Galbraith

Richard Galbraith — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:13:49 +0000

i agree wordvixen, i do all of my writing in a local cafe surrounded by people, i just cant write at home.

lolly, thanks for the link, you're now in my blogroll as well :)

By: Lolly

Lolly — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:11:29 +0000

I try to consume as much art / literature / music / movies when I feel uninspired... it usually works for me.

By: wordvixen

wordvixen — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:41:53 +0000

Ye gods, I hope I'm not contagious! Better grab the disinfectant just in case. I know exactly what you mean about being content. For me, loathing the day job was sort of what pushed me. I want to work from home, and still be comfortable. But lately, the day job hasn't been irritating me so much (maybe because it's slow and I've been building my websites instead of doing job stuff?). I don't mind my life so much now as I did, and that could be it. Maybe it won't help, and maybe it will, but I took my laptop to a local cafe yesterday and got 7 pages typed. I'm not happy with what's on the screen, but it's a first draft and to be expected. But still, negating the distractions of home (and not looking like a sad person sitting alone at a cafe) can be a great impetus. Or, maybe it was the 4 shots of espresso?

By: Richard Galbraith

Richard Galbraith — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:05:00 +0000

Mark, i like the idea of trying to remain as open to inspiration as you possibly can, in order not to miss it, thanks for the comment.

and of course, would be great to exchange links, i've already added you to my blogroll :)

By: Mark David Gerson

Mark David Gerson — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:57:36 +0000

I agree with you about writer's block. In fact a section of my book about writing is called "The Myth of Writer's Block."

How do I stay inspired? By not always having to *be* inspired and by remaining open to the inspiration when it surfaces. Most important, I think, is by trusting the story to be wiser, smarter and more creative than I am, by turning the whole process over to my muse. It's when I resist that wiser story/muse that the blocks set in. It's when I insist on being control that the creative process shuts down.

And, yes, there is hope. I also learned how to write a novel by doing it. That novel, now published, is out in the world, doing whatever it is novels out in the world do!

- Mark David
author of The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call To Write and The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy

P.S. Thanks for your recent comment on my blog. Do you want to exchange blog links?