Creative triggers?

Honestly, I don't really have a good system. The only thing that seems to work for me as far as removing that mental block of over-thinking is make-believe competition. It's just funny, because (you know), I'm not really very competitive. But if I decide that I must win/must get the most words in this sprint, the creative lojack comes off and the words spill out.

So yeah. That's the only thing that seems to take me from "hmm, what should happen next?" and just MAKE next happen.

Co-ML-IN-TRAINING: United States::Michigan::Flint
Twitter: @leianajade

I find fun things to latch on to -- I wrote 800 words yesterday in no time by having my characters talk about West Wing, because that's what kids in college do, especially if they're poli sci students and they're freshman just getting to know each other.

Today, I realized that all of my novel has taken place inside of the dorms or a classroom thus far, so I am thinking of other exotic locales to send my characters -- perhaps basements of libraries, or on mission trips/alternative spring breaks, or maybe even the Planetarium. Okay, those aren't such exotic locales, but you get the idea.

I think the idea is to spice it up. A novel reveals who we are as people, and so I find a lot of fun in putting my views out there, even if they're not strictly in the narrative. My novel has a bit of meta commentary at the moment.

2009: In the Name

Twitter: @astraev
Excerpts: writexchange.livejournal.com
LJ NaNo Home: nanoinflames.livejournal.com

I don't think you can really make it happen, so much as allow it to come to you itself.
It could be anything really. From something as common as hearing a song or being sung to. Or it could jump out at you from out of the blue like Quacking Kittens and Were-Duck viruses!

"3K a day keeps Chris Baty at bay!" ~MidWestPrincess

Hm, creative triggers.

It could be as simple as a comment someone makes that triggers my imagination. Or as was the case for NaNo, a comment that i was able to pass along to another fellow writer for her to figure out. haha

A scene in a movie that makes me wonder, what if the main character was this instead of that, and they did this and then that happened. hm. lets try it.

For the most part though, most of my best writing happens between midnight and six am. and i have found that if i go to bed before six am, i end up having very vivid dreams, sometimes of my current novel's characters, and most of the time i do end up remembering the dream when i wake up. so then i jot down notes real quick about the dream. then later that day or evening, i write the scene or chapter.

Shell Lee http://shellsletters.blogspot.com/

2009: "Hide Me (Hideaway Inn)" - In progress
2009: "Just Five More (and You'll Be Perfect)" - In progress

2008: "Dragon Eye" - 50,126 words on November 30th, 2008

Creative Triggers huh?

For me the word wars were really helpful because of the competition aspect. I tried to do a sprint or two the other night, but it just was not the same. So I'd recommend finding someone else to write with that will challenge you. Music is also a big help for me, it helps if it is music that I feel my character's would be into, so I can picture them listening to it or whatever. Movies also help me a lot. Garden State, Adaptation and Being John Malcovich, though those last two can feel long, I always feel the need to write when they are over.

So, in summary, find someone, some music, or a movie, and write. A lot. Then kick in a door

"I like your crayon"

2009: Six Seconds

Actually, I do think that there are some of us that have trained our minds to be able to turn on creativity. I used to have a job as a political advisor for a company that dealt with the Big Three and the UAW. There were many times in which I was called and told to ahve a press release in a matter of minutes. There were other times in which I needed to come up with a creative, "excuse," for something. I had to train my mind to work fast.

I do a lot of writing online. Many of the articles that I write are news articles. I found out very early that if I wanted to be competitive, I needed to be able to interpret news while writing. There are tons of news, "opponents," that I have out there. I have to make sure that I can pop off an article that people are going to want to read instead of all of the others out there.

Ian Flemming (the writer of the James Bond stories) used to say that an idea for a story twist could happen to him anywhere. he would carry a little pad with him (like many of us do) so that he could write down his inspiration. He would only write for a matter of about three hours in the morning when he was on vacation. He was able to train himself to turn on and off the creative process.

Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan) once wrote that he did not think about writing unless he was sitting down getting ready to write. He stated that he would start typing and the story would present itself in front of him. He used to believe that the story was in our a small, hidden, part of our minds. He believed that there were other parts of the mind that would try to conflict with that little part of the brain so that the story never came out. Granted, you can take his ideas with a grain of salt since he ended up going nuts after his mother (who never uct his perverbial cord) and blowing his brains out.

I know that I might be rambling (think about who my brother is - it is family trait) but the fact does remain that there are some of us taht have been able to train our minds to work in a certain way. I can sit down and write seven or eight 400-500 word articles without any prior prep (with the exception about think about what I might write about). When I want to write fiction, I just sit down and see where the story takes me. As you can see by my current totals, the story has taken me pretty far in a short amount of time.

L. Vincent Poupard

L. Vincent Poupard

Okay, yes, you can TRAIN yourself for that. But I was talking just in general without such training.
Sorry if I made it sound like training yourself for it was impossible. That definitely wasn't my intention.

"3K a day keeps Chris Baty at bay!" ~MidWestPrincess

Great suggestions on this thread! I'd also like to add my 2 cents (well, $12.57 with inflation...)

Just prior to starting this project, I had just finished a final revision on my first novel. At 170,000 words, I feel pretty comfortable discussing the writing process and what worked for me.

My daily goal was to write one scene per day--sometimes that would be 3-4 pages and for major scenes 7-10. There were many, MANY days when I didn't *feel* like writing, but still forced myself to do so. At first, forced writing was difficult--the creative juices didn't seem to be flowing, I couldn't connect with with my storyline, and the words seems stiff and unyielding. But there was satisfaction in knowing that the scene was finished and I could always go back and edit, edit, edit!

But something amazing happened...when I went back to revise those scenes, some of them ended up being among the best scenes I wrote! I would read a section and think, "Isn't this that crappy scene I forced myself to write? It actually works really well and sets up future plot points beautifully!"

The great thing about participating in NaNoWriMo is that it gives you the practice AND discipline needed to force those scenes...after all...there's a deadline looming just around the corner.

I still find myself forcing scenes...moments when I don't *feel* like writing but it needs to get done in order to make my daily word count goal. But I'm comfortable knowing that when the red pen comes out, I will be able to make those scenes work or I can just delete them.

So for those who are waiting for inspiration, for your muse to sit beside you, for the elusive spark that will jumpstart your creativity....don't wait! Force the writing! Who knows--those may end up being your best scenes!

May the *force* be with us all when we don't *feel* like writing!

Kathy
Genre: Fantasy
Title: TBD
Blog: Questforapprenticeship.blogspot.com

Daily I sit down and try to force out at least a hour's worth of writing with nothing but Motörhead blaring in my ears and offering me inspiration. ...I have yet to make it past 5 minutes of forced writing though.

Word Sprints now, those make me write. I got just under 1,500 from the Virtual Write-In. I was proud of it. I don't think I've ever written so much, that was actually good I mean, in such a short time. Now I just have to get Anubis to start doing Sprints with me regularly. I'd hit 50k before next week and still be full of ideas. (Have I mentioned to anyone outside Shell and Anubis that I've come to realize that this years project is just the FIRST book to a series? Because it is. I don't yet know how many books there will be though. Enough to cover at least 2 or 3 NaNo's though. That thought makes me excited, and want to blow the minimum 50k out of the water along with Chris Baty.)

My point being, forced writing doesn't work for me like it seems to for some of you. Fear of failing in front of you guys...that's some major inspiration right there. With only 15 minutes to a Sprint, I don't have the TIME to sit and think each line, heck each WORD, out. I just have to write it as it comes to me and accept it as it is.

"3K a day keeps Chris Baty at bay!" ~MidWestPrincess