Where you could be going wrong with your creative process.

What I learned about ideas and plot development at 1:38am — A guide for beginner writers.

27 June, 2020

Last night there were sparks in the bedroom deep into the night, my girlfriend could barely sleep. Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on who you ask) this was due to my phone light switching on and off constantly. I use my notes page on my phone as a ideas dump for when that “spark” of inspiration comes to me and I don’t have my ‘oh so indie’ moleskin in arms reach, but last night was different, I was really on a roll. I couldn’t sleep, I just had to get my laptop out and start getting it all down. This is when I had that fatal thought that has gone through every writer’s head one time or another:

As I said, I’m sure this is a milestone that many of you reading can claim to have ticked off your bucket list before. and then again… and again. For me it is regular phenomenon. It starts with one proudly patting one’s self on the back, walking away to make a “well done you clever man” — cup of tea, getting distracted and then taking a look two and a half weeks later before crossing everything out and then promptly crumpling it up and throwing it across the room into an overflowing waste paper basket. And, of course, starting again. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I have had so much time over the Covid-19 Lockdown to get going with my new project but I think it was the looming threat of returning to work that finally gave me the kick up the bum I needed. Very typical of me I’m afraid. Something just captured my imagination at 1:38am this morning that woke me up quicker than a bucket of cold water to the face and got me typing, and that Something was Soviets in space. We are talking Retro futurism and alternative history and the cold war and all sorts of great stuff. It has always been a setting that captures me but I’ve never once thought of exploring it more seriously. But why? My story idea Isn’t going to break the internet or bust the genre wide open, in-fact its actually beautifully simplistic in its premise. I think the answer is equally as simplistic and I know there are so many new writers out there who commit the same sins as me.

For too long I was trying to direct my creativity towards the genres I thought I wanted to write about rather than having an idea first and then bending and moulding it after. Rather than having the idea that really excited me and then expanding upon it I was trying so hard to come up with “A good horror story”, that the spark never happened. If you sit there and stare at a piece of paper actively trying to think of an idea as brilliant as a Stephen King storyline, you could be waiting a while is all I'm trying to say.

My entire Ideas and plot development process really limited me to the point where I really fell out of love with writing for a while. It’s frustrating as hell when you haven’t had a fresh idea in months, and it can be scary too. What if you’re just not very good? What I have learned today is to sit back, and just let your brain do the rest. It’ll happen and it will be at some stupid time, mostly likely in public, and you will no doubt make a scene trying to get it all on paper before you forget it.

You’re always most creative at the times that are most inconvenient, but that’s good because it means subconsciously you must be inspired by things around you. This is only going to lead to more believable characters or that perfect balance between the absurd and the mundane that gives a story the “reality is stranger than fiction” vibe that people really buy into.

That brings me to another point, I always listen to music or an audio book when I sleep. It’s a bad/good habit from when I was younger. It’s good because I get through a lot more books than I usually would, however, it does mean I never switch off. Finding those Eureka! moments are hard enough as it is, but when your brain is working 24/7, you’re going to burn out. Sit in silence with that morning cup of coffee and just watch life go past the window, or take a few minutes before bed with no light or technology, and just sit alone, in silence, close your eyes, and think of nothing. I’ve started calling this my “Brain dump time”. I hate not having background noise and doing nothing makes me feel stressed if I do it for too long as I’m naturally fidgety and uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to be for ages. About 10–15 minutes a day works for me. I think that’s what sparked my explosion last night. Thinking of nothing just gives time for all the monotony of life to get processed and dumped so that spark can get to the front, otherwise It’s like a super-fan of a band trying fight their way to the front of the mainstage to get noticed by the lead guitarist who they have had a crush on since secondary school.

But alas I have a theme that inspires me now. Not only that, but it’s a concept that I am not embarrassed to share with loved ones. If you can tell someone who’s opinion is genuinely important to you about an idea you are excited about that's a huge first step; Its the step I was missing the other 999 times I tried this story writing thing out.

I hope this helps anyone else who is a complete novice like me, after all there is no exact science to this stuff, especially if It’s your hobby not your job.

Wishing you all a spark in your bedroom tonight…

Ben

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