Like anyone who has ever written anything that has ever been read by anyone the question that always comes up is as old as creative writing itself.
Where do you get your ideas from?
I don't know what other writers will say, but I will say this. I have, like all writers, struggled with writers block. Once I am done with what I think is a good idea, once the idea has grown to a story and found its way on paper, there is a let down. At first it is a good let down, knowing that I can turn the mind off for a little bit. As anyone knows who writes, it is not so easy to write a story. It is a little draining. It is good to turn off for a moment.
Then, when the realization hits that there has not been a new idea in a certain amount of time, a small panic takes over. What if that is the last idea I will ever have? What if I have really written all there is for me to say?
When that feeling rushes over, it is time to start for me what is a very futile process. I start trying to create an idea. To me it is a waste of time. I can create a story from an idea but I have yet to take an idea that I manufactured and turn it into a workable story. If the idea is not a work of inspiration to me, then the story will die before its completion.
So if I do not create or invent them, then where do they come from?
They are gifts from God. Nothing more. What I tell people all the time when asked is very simple...
I do not question the thunderbolts from God, I just write them down.
Let me know what you think.
After Hours by Tim Keen (Amazon Kindle)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Brain Drain
I am writing this to anyone who is busy raising kids, holding down a full time job, and oh yeah, trying to write that book that is going to put you on easy street.
Now before I begin my tale, I want to qualify a couple of things. I have on one thing in print for sale. I will shamelessly plug that at the end of this offering. I have sold very little as well which is why I will be shamelessly plugging at the end of this offering. What I do have a great deal of experience in, however, is writing. I have written thousands upon thousands of pages over the course of three and a half decades behind a notebook, or typewrtier, or computer. So what I am getting ready to say should mean something to the writers out there in the world.
I was working with a young man ten years ago who was enrolled in college to be an engineer. He was finishing up his time in Kentucky and moving on to finish his degree elsewhere. He was contemplating what kind of job to get. My advice to him what simple. Being a full time student, who was going to spend a huge amount of his time away from work studying and thinking very complex thoughts while supporting a family, I advised him to become a security guard.
For any of you out there who is aspring to write and must work the mean time (nearly all of us who don't still live with our parents) my advice would be the same. When I say that I do not mean it in a literal sense. It doesn't have to be a security guard job, but the more mundane in thought your job is, the more mental energy you will have to pour into your work. If you are in a field (as I have chosen to be) where your job in more than fifty percent mental then it will take away from your ability to concentrate on your writing task once you are done working. Some of the best work I have ever done was when I was assembly line working with very little thought required to do my job. Number one, my mind was in neutral during the day and rested when I got home and, number two, when it was not in neutral a lot of the time I spent thinking about what I was going to write when I got home. Now that I am someone whose job requires a great deal of mental thought during the day, the complete opposite is true. I never think about a story when I am at work which means a lot of my time at home is taken up in brainstorming and organizing. Also my brain is far from rested when I get home. A great many times I do not get the amount of quality work out simply because my mind needs some down time.
Of course there are reasons (all of them are economic in nature) why I chose to do the job that I do. By and large it is a good and exhilirating job. But I sure do miss the days when I got home with my mind on fire for my pen and paper, or typewriter or computer.
Does any one else have any thoughts on the subject. Please let me know.
The book is After Hours by Tim Keen and it is on sale at Amazon - Kindle books.
Now before I begin my tale, I want to qualify a couple of things. I have on one thing in print for sale. I will shamelessly plug that at the end of this offering. I have sold very little as well which is why I will be shamelessly plugging at the end of this offering. What I do have a great deal of experience in, however, is writing. I have written thousands upon thousands of pages over the course of three and a half decades behind a notebook, or typewrtier, or computer. So what I am getting ready to say should mean something to the writers out there in the world.
I was working with a young man ten years ago who was enrolled in college to be an engineer. He was finishing up his time in Kentucky and moving on to finish his degree elsewhere. He was contemplating what kind of job to get. My advice to him what simple. Being a full time student, who was going to spend a huge amount of his time away from work studying and thinking very complex thoughts while supporting a family, I advised him to become a security guard.
For any of you out there who is aspring to write and must work the mean time (nearly all of us who don't still live with our parents) my advice would be the same. When I say that I do not mean it in a literal sense. It doesn't have to be a security guard job, but the more mundane in thought your job is, the more mental energy you will have to pour into your work. If you are in a field (as I have chosen to be) where your job in more than fifty percent mental then it will take away from your ability to concentrate on your writing task once you are done working. Some of the best work I have ever done was when I was assembly line working with very little thought required to do my job. Number one, my mind was in neutral during the day and rested when I got home and, number two, when it was not in neutral a lot of the time I spent thinking about what I was going to write when I got home. Now that I am someone whose job requires a great deal of mental thought during the day, the complete opposite is true. I never think about a story when I am at work which means a lot of my time at home is taken up in brainstorming and organizing. Also my brain is far from rested when I get home. A great many times I do not get the amount of quality work out simply because my mind needs some down time.
Of course there are reasons (all of them are economic in nature) why I chose to do the job that I do. By and large it is a good and exhilirating job. But I sure do miss the days when I got home with my mind on fire for my pen and paper, or typewriter or computer.
Does any one else have any thoughts on the subject. Please let me know.
The book is After Hours by Tim Keen and it is on sale at Amazon - Kindle books.
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