I’d posted last week on my need for a little downtime to fire up my creativity.
I think a lot of us are in the same boat, juggling family and job responsibilities while trying to write at the same time.
And don’t even get us started on social media and internet distractions, right?
Funnily enough, an article with some suggestions for handling this problem was posted on Wow—Women on Writing a couple of days ago—and I was quoted in the article! So apparently I’ve forgotten some of my own advice. :) The author of the article had written to me in early June and interviewed me for the story. One of the things I mentioned doing was getting out of the house and away from the distractions of home.
For a psychological standpoint, the author interviewed Dr. Shelley Carson, an adjunct at Harvard who wrote a book on creativity.
She explained that while distractions (especially of the online variety) can cause stress and prevent creativity, that writers and other creative people are actually naturally attracted to distractions because:
highly creative people are biologically rewarded when they discover something new. It may be subtle, but it is enough to encourage us to seek out novelty.
I also found it interesting that Dr. Carson mentioned that creatives are “mentally disinhibited:”
In short, our ability to make connections where others may not is part of what makes us good writers.
I’ve always thought it was interesting to hear writers’ observations. It’s because we can have the same exact experience as other people, but get insights that others don’t.
What I take from these different statements about being creative?
That I should get out more. :)
Lately, I’ve been out only while taking the children somewhere, or while running brief errands. Other than that, I’ve been spending more time at home trying to catch up.
Instead, it sounds like I should be returning to my familiar writing haunts—discovering new people (which is a “good” form of distraction for writers), getting new ideas, and making those connections that we “mentally disinhibited” are supposed to be making.
So I think I may divide up my writing time this week—spend half of it at home and half at either the coffeehouse or the library.
Have you needed to change up your writing routine a little lately? Do you usually write at home or while you’re out?
Oddly enough I had this same thought today as I was walking across the parking lot from the car to the grocery store. I only had to get a couple things, but I was enjoying the sunshine, my shoes flipping and flopping, thinking how nice to have another hot end of summer day, and wishing I COULD GET OUT MORE! It’s not that I don’t get out, but sometimes I’m so distracted and in a rush, that I don’t appreciate the moments of clarity that come when I’m away from my usual circle of routine.
Elizabeth – Thanks for sharing this. I’m not surprised at all about the research on creative people and being attracted to distractions. Creativity needs to be stimulated, and distractions stimulate. I do find that I need a change of scenery sometimes. When I do, I try to write at our local library or even in another room of our home. I find that even a different room gives me a different perspective. I also find that I am more creative after I’ve done errands or something else that breaks my routine – as long as it’s not a blown tire or something ;-).
I, quite possibly, need to get out less. I work in town – I’m always running about here and there. I love my not so secret writing life when I can hunker down and NOT go anywhere. But that’s just me!
I’m going to print out the quote from Dr. Carson. I’m going to print it and keep it where I can see it. I mostly write at home, by that I mean “write” write. But I’m always thinking and storing things away or jotting them down when I’m out.
I am fortunate that my days are for me and DH. Sometimes we jump in the car and go to another village. We sit with coffee and watch the world go by. I of course sit and people watch. ;0
Other days I shut the world out and edit/write for hours.
I “head write” when I’m out (and now that we’re in a remote rural area, that’s not often) but do all my actual writing at home. Unless you count “out” as writing in another room.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Maybe I need to get outside of the house. I’ve never tried writing in the library or a coffee shop. I think I will, Elizabeth. Thanks.
Karen
I tend to be a homebody – maybe I should get out more.
I definitely need to get out more! Usually my out-of-the-house time is going to the grocery store or running other errands. Dull, but necessary since my family insists on eating every day. Perhaps it’s time to go rediscover that there are other people in the world…
I write best sitting in one spot but if I don’t have that time, I write everywhere. I think the comment about creative people noticing everything around them is true. I’m tweeting this.
CD
I can totally relate about the need to get out more. I write whenever I can. I need a new laptop. A small notebook would work too. I love writing from a Starbucks. Its a refreshing change of pace.
Stephen Tremp
I get too distracted when I’m out. I’m too self-conscious in coffee shops, and whenever I’m in the library I just want to browse the bookshelves. So I have to write at home!
Usually I handwrite at my secretary desk in the living room and type on my laptop in my office. When I need to switch it up, I write laying on my belly on my bed, sitting at the dining room table, or sitting on the couch with my lapdesk. I’ve also written sitting on the kitchen floor or standing at the counter when I’m cooking or baking. I get a whole new perspective when I switch up where I write in my own home. :)
So the answer to the perennial question “Where do you get your ideas?” is:
We’re mentally disinhibited!
Glad to hear that one cleared up….
(But seriously yes, we’re like obsessive compulsives with a need to find something new.)
Gorgeous picture!
I have really needed a kick in a certain part of my anatomy for a few days. After a nasty cold I have had trouble getting into writing mode again, but yesterday I reminded myself of one of YOUR ideas: write whichever scene you feel like writing right now.
So today I put my male protagonist in a fix between his daunting old aunt and his stubborn fiancé – and suddenly MY life was so much funnier. Plus the old hag was goaded into revealing a good old gossip story!
Wonderful advice. Now if this darn job didn’t eat up all of my day I COULD get out more!
When I am able to get out, I love going to a cafe to write. A different perspective is the best cure for my writer’s block. I just wish there were more outdoor places to go close by to where I am. I do my best writing outside!
At least now I know I’m “supposed” to be distracted :)
Jen
And here I thought I did that strange connection thing because I was twisted… (or maybe we are all twisted).
Great advice! (and how fun to find yourself unexpectedly quoted!) Sadly, I tend to mostly get out when I HAVE to, so my attitude is all wrong… I should try the other kind…
PS: Thanks for pointing me to WOW-Women on Writing. That website is AWESOME!
Jen
I love the term “disinhibited.” I’ll have to remember that! Coincidentally, I’ve been looking at the same issue from a different angle, in terms of how writers take the creative process with them wherever they go. If anyone’s interested, check out my blog entry:
http://kbowenmysteries.blogspot.com/2010/09/multi-tasking-and-writer.html
Hope you return to your keyboard refreshed and reinvigorated, Elizabeth!
When I’m doing something interesting, I sometimes feel that its impossible to stop because I’m “almost there”. It happens when I’m writing, when I work on a math problem, or a computer code. Maybe that’s a natural part of a creative process. It can be very exhausting, if I’m not as close as I think
Cold As Heaven
I often think I’ll write while I’m out (on vacation or traveling), but I seldom do. Maybe it’s my Virgoness, but I like my desk, my chair, my computer, all the little things around me in the office. And I like being close to my BFFs, the refrigerator and microwave.
Karen–Yes! I’m distracted when I’m out. I get in this mental fog. Maybe, if I went out more to observe people *on purpose* then I wouldn’t be quite as out of it.
Jan–I think you’ve got plenty of “out” time! You’re in a good place.
Glynis–Sounds like the perfect mix to me!
Alex–You and me both.
Margot–It’s funny–I’ve never thought about distractions being stimulating until I read this article. But I can see that they are…maybe that’s why we’re all so addicted to the internet and the people on there.
Clarissa–I think it’s one of the coolest things about being a writer…looking at life through the creative lens.
Stephen–I like it, too. I haven’t done it for a couple of months and I’ve really missed it. I think it was the kids’ summer vacation that just sent me on a different trajectory.
Carol–It’s good to know we’re *supposed* to have all these ideas rushing through our heads all day. Mentally disinhibited!
Terry–I was counting “out” as writing in another room before today! Ha! I do need to get out more. I’ve got a New Year’s resolution a few months early.
Karen–Hope it’ll help! :)
Laura–I used to be self-conscious, too. Now I think I’m TOO UNself-conscious. When I catch myself talking to myself then I know it’s time to go home.
Now that’s interesting! I haven’t tried to write while standing up…I’ll have to give that a go. I think I need to trick my brain sometimes into getting jump started.
Hart–I think we ARE all twisted. :)
That’s my attitude, too. :) But I’m trying to change it. Yes, I’d totally forgotten that this article was going to run! And forgotten I’d been interviewed for it. My memory, of course, is completely shot, which could explain it.
Elspeth –You sound a LOT like me. I must go to the grocery store every single day…
Kathy–Thanks for sharing the link! It’s an interesting topic, isn’t it?
Cold As Heaven–It IS exhilerating, isn’t it? I worked on longer today with my writing than I’d planned on because it went unusually well.
The Daring Novelist–Yes! Which sounds better than we’re a little nutty, which is also probably true. Ha!
I honestly get this mental twitchy thing that happens with distractions. I swore for a while that I had adult ADHD, but it seems to be just a creative live wire thing happening. :)
Dorte–I liked it, too. :) “The Gate in the Rocks.”
Glad the trick worked. :) I do that a LOT. One time I wrote a whole book out of order. That was taking it a little too much to an extreme, though!
I love it! What a great idea that is! When I have a breakthrough like that, I think about it all day long.
Carolyn–I like those things, too. :) I think it’s nice to be a creature of habit sometimes, too–then we have our little rituals all set up to signal that it’s time to write! But I think, for me, I need to get out a little more now…I’m feeling kind of stale. Not a good thing!
Jen–Hope you can find some time or a good place to get out a little!
It is a great website, isn’t it? Lots of good stuff there.
I remember that post when you said to get out and experience. I admit I spend way too much time in the house. Or, in the case of today, in a hotel room.
I might get ideas while I’m out, but if I’m doing serious writing, I need to be home in my writing nook.
Helen–Hope you get home soon. :) Have a great trip!
Jane–You know, funny thing. I got a GREAT idea for my WIP today when I was *out*, but I hurried home to write about it. So maybe we need both things?