Please join me in welcoming Clara Bowman-Jahn to the writercize guest spot! Clara is a published children's book author and she posts about life, family and writing, from using digital media to support your writing to finding inspiration through writing groups and a schedule. Today Clara's writercize focuses on your inner writer, and giving yourself the time and space to create.
I invite you to try out the writercize, comment and visit her blog!
Without further ado, I pass the mic to Clar!!
Hi Readers! Glad to meet you. My name is Clar, short for Clara, you can read all about it on my about page on my blog. I write about my experiences in marketing and writing picture books. I also write about how I’m constructing my life now that I have this second career of writing. My picture book, “Annie’s Special Day” will be published in early winter 2012 and I write about my experiences in publishing and getting it illustrated. I have really been all over the place in my blog and have had a hard time finding a niche, unless you want to *narrow* life down into a blog.
Thank you, Alana for the honor of being your guest today. As a picture book author and in the spirit of Picture Book Idea Month, the children’s literature equivalent of National Novel Writing Month, I am going to post an exercise on how to get an idea.
There are many venues for ideas in writing. People get creative in all kinds of places and doing all kinds of things from meditating in nature to taking a shower. Bloggers have been known to doodle, put up photo prompts and take walks to get ideas.
writercize: Think about when are you most creative. How can you adjust your schedule to nurture your creative side? What are you doing when the creative juices hit? What else could you do? Think of something else that makes you creative. Share in the comments.
Clara's sample response:
My favorite time for getting an idea is letting my mind float over the previous day’s activities while slowly waking up from a good night’s sleep. That is when I’m most creative. I have to go to bed early enough so I don’t need an alarm to wake me. An alarm would totally destroy all the creativity.
This morning, I realized I might be better to write in the morning vs. jumping on the Internet. I realized I'm using blog comments as my "morning pages" of sorts. I guess it's good I finally realized this. During PiBoIdMo, I've been making sure I have my "notepad" next to the bed, so I can jot down early morning ideas. I should do this year-round not just in November. Thanks for the thoughts Clara and Alana.
ReplyDeleteI have problems sleeping and have found that my creative juices usually start to flow within the wee hours of the night into early morning....after I've been up about an hour or two longer than I should be. Sometimes, my creative juices flow at random in the middle of the day, while I'm doing something else and not even focused on writing.
ReplyDeleteThe Madlab Post
The middle of the night is my muse, along with the car, NPR and the shower. My muse's silencer is the early morning, when I can edit but not create for the life of me.
ReplyDeleteI like the quiet to write, but action and sound to inspire.
Sadly, my inspiration comes as a bolt from the blue. No changes to my schedule will make it happen unless it wants to. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy muse likes to drop in as I drift off to sleep...unfortunately, I'm too lazy to rise and capture him!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the comments clar and Alana. My most creative time used to be in the early morning hours, following my meditative work. Now, it's become late at night.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your thoughts and comments. They are valuable to me.
ReplyDelete@Stacy- Yes, In the early morning is when I have most of my ideas,also. I am glad you found out to jot down those down all the time. Not just during PiBoIdMo. I have always found early morning to be my best time.
@Nichole- It's funny how our subconscious mind works. It seems it sneaks up on you.
@Alana- You seem to be the contradiction of when your muse works. I'm glad you find it functioning well enough to edit in the early morning.
@Misha- I hope you are prepared to write down the ideas as they happen so you won't forget your ideas. Maybe have a tape recorder ready to talk into so when it does strike, you'll be ready.
@Suzicate- Knowing you like I do, you have no problem with losing your ideas. Your muse is an ever flowing one from what I can see. As long as you can be in nature, it seems you can create.
I has been a real honor being here with you on this blog talking about creativity. Thanks again for all your comments and input.
Hi Patricia,
ReplyDeleteI wonder as we become too busy to have an early morning muse if late at night is the next best thing. It seems the subconscious mind must find the best time to sneak up on us. I am glad you find the time to create no matter when it hits. Are you now meditating late at night?
I'm the opposite. I get all my best ideas when I lay down to go to sleep!
ReplyDeleteMy best stuff comes to me late, when the house is quiet and the day has settled around me. I'm a night person living a day person's life, and because of my refusal to hush the muse, I'm often more than a little sleep deprived.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like my muse always strikes when I'm trying to go to sleep at night! Other times are when I am walking in our 4-acre garden or sometimes when I first wake up in the morning. In other words, when I least expect it.
ReplyDelete