This TED video isn't new, but it was exactly what I needed this week. If you have a little while, it's worth watching.
I don't talk about inspiration on here often, because I worry that someone who hasn't experienced it will think I'm being weird. When I write poems or picture books, they tend to come all at once; if I don't write the idea as a whole, I can't go back and capture the unfinished part. That doesn't mean that I'll never have a chance to capture that idea again, but if I'm to get it right, I'll have to start over; it won't be the same.
But when you have children and friends, you get interrupted. And I love my husband, but he is more likely to interrupt my work-in-progress than to protect me from interruptions. *waves to husband* And this is okay. It just makes capturing those fleeting ideas more challenging.
Writing a novel is a more forgiving process for me. I can stop in the middle of scene and come back to it, though it's still easier for me to write from the beginning of a scene to the end. I know that not all writers are like this, though. Some leave scenes unfinished so that they'll have something to work on when they come back. And in theory, that's a great idea. It just doesn't work as well for me.
What about you? Do you have something that's hard to finish once it's been interrupted?
I don't talk about inspiration on here often, because I worry that someone who hasn't experienced it will think I'm being weird. When I write poems or picture books, they tend to come all at once; if I don't write the idea as a whole, I can't go back and capture the unfinished part. That doesn't mean that I'll never have a chance to capture that idea again, but if I'm to get it right, I'll have to start over; it won't be the same.
But when you have children and friends, you get interrupted. And I love my husband, but he is more likely to interrupt my work-in-progress than to protect me from interruptions. *waves to husband* And this is okay. It just makes capturing those fleeting ideas more challenging.
Writing a novel is a more forgiving process for me. I can stop in the middle of scene and come back to it, though it's still easier for me to write from the beginning of a scene to the end. I know that not all writers are like this, though. Some leave scenes unfinished so that they'll have something to work on when they come back. And in theory, that's a great idea. It just doesn't work as well for me.
What about you? Do you have something that's hard to finish once it's been interrupted?
It's true. We all work so differently. I love leaving my writing in the middle of action.
ReplyDeleteYes! I hate doing that. But the most important thing is that we work, not how we work. :o)
DeleteHousework. Of any kind. But that's not nearly as exciting as writing. :)
ReplyDeleteHousework is never ending, and you have one-year-old twins. I don't know how you get anything done.
DeleteI don't. I just pretend I do. :)
DeleteI'm okay with interruptions, getting back into the rhythm of the manuscript no matter where I stopped at, but I would rather not be interrupted. That's why I love writing at night and early in the morning. Fewest interruptions then.
ReplyDeleteThat is why my blog title is Night Writer. :o)
DeleteI don't like being interrupted because I sort of lose the flow. But I can usually come back to it and finish by just reading what I've already written over and over again until I recapture the feeling.
ReplyDeleteFor me, writing is a matter of getting into what I call my "writing mood." My family usually respects that and leaves me alone, and I'm glad of that.
=)
I'm hoping mine will learn to respect mine as they get older, but they're younger than yours. :o)
Delete