by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig
I was reading a great psychological thriller on Thursday afternoon. It was broad daylight, 1:30 p.m., the cats were snoozing in a sunbeam, the dog was snoring, and I was convinced that there was an intruder upstairs.
Yes, it was Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson and it scared me silly. But it wasn’t just the book. It was my own imagination.
Too imaginative? In fact, for a mystery writer, I scare myself on a pretty regular basis. I remember as a kid I’d get up out of bed all night (lifelong insomniac) and would tell my mother I heard noises or that there were monsters in my room, or that I saw a strange and ominous light moving across my bedroom…and she would tell me it was my imagination.
And darn it, it was!
This isn’t the only hazard of being a writer. I find myself in a complete fog much of the day. This comes from thinking about my book throughout the day…driving, running errands. I’ve been known to look blankly at people who wave at me from cars. I tell people that I’m just very slow to react to faces, but the truth is that I was living in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, as Mr. Rogers would say.
Changing as a reader,viewer, and filmgoer: It’s also, as I mentioned the other day, that I take a very analytical approach to most of my reading and film-going/television watching. Actually, I’ve just about given up on TV altogether.
Clutter: As much as I do online and as much as I do my writing on computer, I still end up with paper everywhere. Notebooks, index cards, scraps of receipts with scribbled notes on them, Post-Its. My bedside table is full of cryptic scribbles that seem deranged if you read them. At the end of the day, I try to collect all my papers and put them in one place. This is tough.
How have you changed since becoming a writer?
Photo credit: Muffet
Well, I’ve never changed. But that’s because I’ve always been thinking. All the time. I sit in my classes and think. The classroom ceases to be there. I’m at lunch with my roommate. I suddenly realize she’s been saying something to me for the last five minutes.
All it takes is a second for me to end up inside my own head. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot more exciting in my head than in real life, but it can be an inconvenience sometimes. Especially when I struggle to explain just WHAT’s going on in my brain.
Which I became a writer. I hoped that through writing, I could better articulate what I imagine.
Other than that, though, I don’t have any odd writer habits. Most of my writing–notes, outlines, etc.–are done via computer because it’s faster than longhand (I honestly can’t slow my thoughts down fast enough to do it that way). So instead of a cluttered desk, I have a cluttered directory full of randomly named Word files.
Anyway, you get the idea. I’m just another odd writer person in the world. xD
I can really relate to the scattered papers, index cards, receipts etc. I have them all over my desk, bedside table, bathroom & just about everywhere else.
I love your blog
Hi Elizabeth .. the overworked imagination – yes .. thankfully not a scaring one. But everywhere I go I spend my time thinking this would make a good post etc etc .. and papers everywhere .. it’s terrible – I must get myself organised!
Cheers .. enjoy the weekend .. and probably read a good non-scary book, if pos .. Hilary
Elizabeth – Oh, I think all writers have the kind of imagination that can take us right out of what’s going on in the real world. But I think that’s part of what gives us our talent as writers. Without imagination, our writing certainly wouldn’t be any good, would it? I certainly spend much more time “in my head,” so to speak, than I did before I started really writing. Now there are always scenes playing out in the back of my mind…
Hi, ME, nice to meet you. Srsly, I LIVE in my head most of the time. Lost somewhere between my fictitious character world and what I’m actually doing. I find movies a bit of a relief. Books are different, I analyze and over-analyze… How would I have said that? Did the author need to say that here or could s/he have left it out? Great post, and one I can totally relate to!!!
I don’t think so, but I’ve almost always been a writer, so…
My meditation practice helps me declutter my mind – it gets cluttered up pretty quickly again but at least I can sleep. Dreaming is a cluttery place too. Sometimes I wish I didn’t pay my dreams so much attention. I dreamt I went to the south of France to work, last night. It was cool but I lost my wallet and had taken up smoking again. What is the point of that I ask you? I cannot watch scary movies and barely can read thrillers – they have to be really good. I just don’t want it in my brain!
I think I’ve just become more aware of what works and what doesn’t, both in books and movies.
I get scared all the time too – drives my family batty! But everything might be real! :)
I so relate to that writerly brain-fog. When I’m working on a new book, not only does the paper pile in my study reach terrifying heights, but my coffee cup will end up in the freezer instead of the microwave, and my keys will end up in the in the silverware drawer, and–even though I live alone–somebody always steals the scissors off my desk. It’s very hard to be present when your brain is living in an alternate universe.
Nick–It’s like we’re in a dream all the time, isn’t it?
I definitely do most of my writing on computer…but then I always get these random ideas at the oddest times. So that’s when the paper comes into play. And boy, there’s tons of it!
Melissa–Oh the mess! Yes. At least it’s paper mess, which always seems neater somehow! And thanks. :)
Hilary–I think I’m going to read something calming and gentle. :)
Margot–I love my imagination! But…yeah, sometimes it would be nice to cut it off!
Jessica–Yay! Another person like me! Sorry for you, though–it’s a foggy world we live in, isn’t it?
Jan–This one was very good. And it was a psychological thriller, Jan, so I think it might be up your alley!
Alex–I feel the same way…the recognition of what’s working and what’s not.
Anne–I’m SO glad I’m not the only one. I always think my family is about to commit me…
Jemi–It *might* be! That’s why I always think, too. :) So I have to go upstairs with a heavy object to check it out. Of course, the dog *sleeping* could be a tip-off that nothing’s wrong!
I can SO relate to clutter! I write on the computer mostly, but I always have notebooks lying around! Not to mention, in general, I don’t “see” mess like other people do! I can also seriously scare myself at night if I let myself! My philosophy? Dont start looking for ghosts! Cause you’ll find them! :)
Yes! Clutter definitely. And i think haveing an overactive imagination is obligatory for a writer aha. A whole train journey will go by without me noticing a thing.
As an editor, this is fascinating! I do end up pondering when I’m writing sales copy and brochures and blogs for people, but mainly I stick it on the back burner and go for a run, then it all forms in my head. I have one to do list, one folder of notes on clients …
It brings the difference between writers and editors into relief, doesn’t it! You need us, we need you, and it’s fascinating to get insights into each other’s worlds!
Oh – I did wake my partner up last night and explain my new model for e-book / Print on demand co-publishing, though …