Where the Real Magic Happens

Back in April, I wrote a blog called The Joy and Purpose of Solitude, for which I received some positive comments by readers who related to my preference for solitude, especially when it comes to the need to create. An article in Quartz, which I mentioned in that blog, focused on how creative people understand the importance of being alone.

Recently, a second article in Brain Pickings, emphasized how important solitude is to the creative process. To paraphrase a quote by Adam Phillips in the piece, if we don’t unburden ourselves of daily noise and social strain, we can’t fully inhabit our interior life, which is the source of all art.

But I’ve discovered something since I wrote that blog. While I’ve managed to carve out more solitude for myself, it’s been a much bigger struggle to free my mind to tap into the creative part of me.

Just because I’m sitting alone in my quiet basement office, hands on the keyboard, doesn’t mean that thoughts are completely on the work at hand. There’s a lot going on in my life, as there is in almost everyone’s life, and sometimes I find it to struggle to put some of those things aside. It can be done, but I have to work at it.

There are tricks, though, many of which I’ve been using for years. For example, if I need to free my mind to focus on a particular scene I’ve been struggling to write, I’ll go for a walk, preferably near water.

Mundane household chores also help. Doing dishes, weeding the garden, folding laundry, sweeping, and vacuuming all allow me to relax my brain. It’s the main reason I’ve never hired a housekeeper. Sure, thoughts can easily stray to family and work issues, but if I start a mundane task right after I’ve been writing, the ideas and connections keep on coming for many minutes after I’ve walked away from the keyboard.

The important thing is to give yourself sufficient time to be alone. In other words, step away from social networking, put the smartphone down, and go try some non-writing activity…sports, knitting, gardening, music; housework, anything that will allow your mind to relax sufficiently to tap into the creative part of your brain. For many writers, that’s where the real magic happens.

Debra

Do Ambition and Creativity Decline With Age?

I am of an age where many friends and colleagues have, or are close to retiring, from their day jobs. They’re also pondering downsizing their homes or undergoing some other major life transition. This has created interesting and insightful conversations in my life. It’s also raised some poignant issues for me as a writer.

For over fifteen years, my goal was to write and publish five novels. I achieved this in 2013, then went onto publish a sixth novel in 2014, plus a novella in 2015. As someone who’s been writing for 35 years, I still have goals and dreams, but they don’t involve writing a bunch more novels. The truth is, I don’t have a number in mind because I’ve been asking myself how many more years I want to spend tackling full-length books? I’ve been wondering if it would be simpler, not to mention easier, to stick with novellas, short fiction, blogging, and book reviewing. I’ve been wondering if my creativity is slowly diminishing, and along with it my ambition.

I happened to come across a piece in ScientificAmerican that discusses the issue of creative peaks and whether we lose our creative productivity as we age. You can read the piece for more details (it’s not long) but the bottom line is that studies show that an aging brain does not necessarily cause a creative decline. Having said that, there are other factors that do cause creative peaks and declines in one’s life, depending on the type of creative pursuit and the age at which one started. If you think about it, though, there are plenty of creative folks whose best work occurred well into their 60’s and 70’s.

Although ambition is related to creative output for writers, and presumably other creative occupations, it is a different topic. It’s also part of those conversations I’ve had. Many colleagues who’ve published at least one book, no longer feel a burning desire to publish more. Sure, many of them do, but the question often becomes, now what?

It’s a good question. I’ve asked myself that a few times, and the answer is to keep writing because this is what I still love to do after all these years. Writing has kept me grounded, helped me through tough times, given me a purpose, enormous challenges, a reasonably sharp brain, and introduced me to lots of terrific people. So, is my ambition and creative output declining? Truthfully, it’s always come and gone in waves. The unambitious phases may grow longer, but one way or another, my writing will continue. It feels right, like how it was supposed to be, how it was meant to be.

Debra

Creativity and Mental Illness

The tragic death of Robin Williams has triggered a wide range of discussions, articles, and blogs about depression. PBS quoted a neuroscientist named Dr. Nancy Andreason who is currently studying creativity and the brain. One of her quotes in the short pbs article indicates that “Persisting in the face of doubt or rejection, for artists or for scientists, can be a lonely path—one that may also partially explain why some of these people experience mental illness”.

Dr. Andreason has made studying the brain and creativity her life’s work. Her interesting article “Secrets of the Creative Brain” appeared in June’s Atlantic Monthly, which reveals some pretty interesting insights on potential links between genius, IQ, and creativity. Her current thirteen subjects include George Lucas, novelist Jane Smiley and six Nobel laureates in the fields of chemistry, physics, medicine, and physiology. In an earlier study, she also worked with Kurt Vonnegut for years while examining the link between creativity and mental illness.

One of the things she discovered is that "Creative people are better at recognizing relationships, making associations and connections, and seeing things in an original way—seeing things that others cannot see.” She also writes that so far, the links between mental illness and creativity, which she did with Vonnegut and others, have been borne out in this study. Apparently a high percentage of her subjects come from creative families who also have mental illness issues. Both nature and nurture seem to play significant roles. Much more is revealed in her interesting article, which you can find at http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/06/secrets-of-the-creative-brain/372299/

It’s so sad that these issues only come to the forefront through the untimely deaths of creative people, but with the work of Dr. Andreason and others, maybe we'll learn, one day, how to prevent more tragedies from happening.

Debra

A Closer Look at the Writing Process

A few days ago, I was asked by mystery writing colleague, David Russell, to take part in a blog tour that focuses on the writing process. The arrangement is that I answer four questions about writing, then introduce you to three other writers who will do the same. Unfortunately, I found only two who were available this week, but they’re terrific people. So, here we go:

#1) What Am I Currently Working on?

Right now, I’m editing a mystery novella and the sixth installment in my Casey Holland series. I’ve been writing the series for years and while I enjoy spending time with Casey, I’m also becoming eager to work on other things. I’ve been making notes for a fantasy novel which I hope to start writing this year. It has the potential to turn into a series but making time for it is my biggest challenge.

#2) How Does My Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?

Like most writers, I weave my background and experiences into my stories, so in that sense everyone’s story is unique. I have a college diploma in criminology, which might not be terribly unusual for a mystery writer. But what is different is that I became a security officer at age 53, for a couple of years, partly because I wanted to do something different but also because my protagonist works in this field. The training Casey would need is the same type of training I took with the Justice Institute of British Columbia. I worked on a  post-secondary campus but all of the courses, including conflict resolution and supervisory skills, proved to be useful research for the novels.

#3) Why Do I Write What I Do?

This is a tough question and I wound up with two answers. I write what I do because I’ve loved reading mysteries since my Nancy Drew days starting at around age ten. Mysteries make me rapidly turn the pages to find out what happens next, and justice is always served. The second reason evolves out of my studies of crime and criminal behavior. For a long time, I’ve tried to understand why people do the things they do, to try to make sense of senseless behavior. Writing about criminal behavior allows me to explore the question that matters most to me….Why?

#4) How Does My Writing Process Work?

Since returning to full-time employment (now clerical work at a university) eight months ago, my writing process has changed drastically. Although I still write (most of it is editing) every day, I write much less than I was a year ago. I get ready for work as fast as possible, to arrive early enough to write for a half hour before I start my day job. I spent another half hour during my lunch break. By the end of my work week, I’ve put in a solid five hours of writing. At night, I’m often too tired to edit, so I work on a blog or book review. By Saturday morning, I’m up early and bouncing back and forth between more editing and errands, and housework. For the moment, it works although I’m usually exhausted by Friday nights. 

Now, I’d like to introduce you to the two great authors who'll be exploring these same questions. Please visit their blogs!

First is Leanne Dyck, a truly nice person I’ve had to privilege of meeting at writing events over the years. Within the last five years, Leanne has been published in Island Writer, Kaleidoscope, Canadian Stories, Icelandic Connection and Island Gals magazines. Leanne's self-named blog (Leanne Dyck's blog), which she created on October 10, 2010, currently has over 220,000 page views. Leanne is one of the finalists in the Women On Writing Winter 2014 Flash Fiction Contest. Leanne lives with her husband on a remote island off British Columbia's mainland. To follow Leanne's author journey and meet other publishing industry professionals, please visit her blog (http://sweatercursed.blogspot.ca)

Second is my co-contributor on our Writetype blog, Pat Bertram. Pat is the author of the suspense novels Light Bringer, More Deaths Than One, A Spark of Heavenly Fire, and Daughter Am I. Bertram is also the author of Grief: The Great Yearning, “an exquisite book, wrenching to read, and at the same time full of profound truths.” All Pat's books are published by Second Wind Publishing. Connect with Pat on Google+. Like Pat on Facebook. Her blog is http://ptbertram.wordpress.com

Have fun!

Lousy Sleeps Aren't All Bad for Writers

A few years back, about twelve of us from the mid-morning writers’ group had gathered together when one of us began yawning. She’d had insomnia the night before, which wasn’t uncommon for her. Another writer said that she hadn’t slept well either, as did another. I’ve always been a light sleeper accustomed to interrupted sleep, so I asked the group how many of them also had sleeping difficulties. Just about everyone raised their hand. Now admittedly, no one in that particular class was under forty and more than half of us were well beyond that, but I found it interesting that, despite chronic sleep problems, all of were still writing regularly.

This week, I came across a blog by a writer named Claire Simpson, who wrote about creativity and insomnia. Claire has had insomnia issues off and on since childhood. She maintains that after three hours of sleep, she often feels good enough to write, pointing out that insomnia is not the same as a restless night’s sleep.

Claire writes that studies have shown that sleep deprivation can actually help with creativity. Apparently it’s to do with the way our brains are wired. A poor night’s sleep might not be good for analytical thinking, but it can be good for letting ideas come forward. It’s a left brain-right brain thing. Sleepiness lets the right brain bring random, outside-the-box thoughts forward, which often connect with other ideas.

This was exciting to read because I’ve experienced this for years, but didn’t realize how common it was in others. After a really bad night, I stay away from heavy editing as I can’t concentrate long enough to make much progress; however, if I let my mind wander and do something mundane like washing dishes, ideas start jumping forth and connecting with current WIPs. For this reason, I don’t really stress anymore after a bad night’s sleep. After thirty years of writing, I can pretty well tell what kind of a writing day I’m going to have based on the previous night’s sleep.

This blog is a classic example. I often do my reading and come up with ideas for the next entry on Saturday evening, after a day of errands, chores, and editing. The ideas gel, I make a few notes, and start to write the opening paragraph. But on Sunday mornings, the analytical part of my brain kicks in and the words flow quickly in the order I want them to, most of the time.

Incidentally, all you chronic insomniacs should take heart. As Claire points out, Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, Mark Twain, and Frank Kafka, along with many other famous writers, were also insomniacs.

Debra