Monday 7 January 2013

How annoying is this?


Driving helps me to come up with new writing ideas. That is to say that I come up with new ideas when on a long trip, not that I drive specifically to brainstorm. The notepad sits beside me when we go on holiday in the car. DH is now used to me suddenly plunging into the notepad, scribbling for a few minutes and then putting it away again without a word.  (Maybe I’m actually grading his driving. Or maybe I’m just being mysterious to keep him on his toes.  He’ll never know...)

Obviously holiday driving isn’t very regular, but there have been additions on the mulling and inspiration fronts. Recently I cracked a plot block on my MG thing while ironing. Blog entry ideas, like this one have started appearing during ironing sessions.

And last night an alternative plot structure revealed itself to me while I was.... *drum roll* washing the dishes.
Can anyone see a theme here? Yes, domestic tasks seem to help me write.

!!!!!

 Why can’t it be scoffing chocolate that gives me new ideas? Or necking a glass of wine that shifts the plot-block? Lounging in bed in the mornings does bring me new sentences, but staying in bed all day -appealing as that sounds- doesn’t really work with school-runs and family. All this strikes me as a very underhand way that the Universe has of getting me to face the domesticity.

So I’d like to hear what things get your creative juices flowing and if you have the same predicament. (That includes you lurkers out there who I would LOVE to get to know this year. Come on the Russian contingent, make yourself known!)



Am now eyeing the toilet brush with the hope that it will pay me back with a bestseller....

4 comments:

  1. Hi Pernille
    Happy New Year!

    Mindless domestic tasks do give us space to think.

    Hmm...

    When I'm immersed in a story, one of my favourite places for working things out is the bath. Or walking.

    I'm fortunate to be able to 'lounge' in bed every morning if I choose. I find reading (which I do every morning - in bed!) often acts as a prompt. Some mornings I dip in & out of my current book & my notebook like a demented bird.

    Hope your writing is going well.

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    Replies
    1. appy New Year Carol. i can see from Twitter that you word count is riding the new year wave. And in spite of your new neighbour's habits too.

      I wish walking did it for me, the school run would be more beneficial then.
      I have to be really careful with other books though. I have to pick carefully as A book can either consume me when I'm trying to write new words of my own, or if the plot is similar I find it stifling. I feel I suddenly have to write everything opposite, in fear of copying.

      I hope 2013 is a fruitful and successful one for you!

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    2. There should of course have been an H on that appy New Year....

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  2. I sit in bed, early in the morning, in the dark, with a cup of coffee and mind-roll. Love it.

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