Writing in the In-Between Moments
My writing process doesn’t arrive politely. It doesn’t wait for quiet rooms, fresh coffee, or neatly blocked out time on my calendar.
My writing process shows up while I’m folding laundry, working on something completely unrelated, or halfway through a task I absolutely NEED to finish.
Ideas tend to smack me in the head when my hands are busy and my mind is wandering because I’ve become bored with my tasks. A line of dialogue will sometimes tap me on the shoulder, sometimes a plot twist will threaten to take me to my knees. Most often than not, a character will show up and demand to be written down before they slip away, and when I don’t stop what I’m doing to give in to the constant creativity going on in my mind, I lose that idea entirely.
What usually starts off as a quick note will turn into a short brainstorming session. One of my ideas leads to another, then another, until I’ve listed out this small, interconnected constellation of thoughts that I want to revisit later. Writing is a distraction from living my life, but it’s never a burden. It’s freedom.
To me, writing is escaping. It’s spreading my wings and flying while my mind soars.
I like to look at my ideas as deposits that are being added to my creative savings account that I can pull from when it’s time to sit down and really get the creative juices flowing. The problem is, sometimes the time when my creativity is at an all time high, is when I should be taking care of my household. Oops!
There is sporadic inspiration I find in everyday life, and it has taught me something important: my creativity doesn’t run on command. It runs continuously in the background while I’m busy living, working, and caring for others. Even when I don’t realize that I’m daydreaming, I am. I will zone out completely and begin stitching together a story or a plot until that thread and needle come together and tug me to pen and paper, or a keyboard.
I used to get in trouble for this behavior in school, but now that I’m an adult, I’ve grown to accept this about myself. I always struggled to fight the process, and I think that is why my imagination was dormant for so long. It’s part of why I keep a notepad or my phone close by now. I give myself that pause I need for my hands to catch up with how fast my brain is fabricating stories and then go on about my day.
I trust myself that I will come back to these fragments of stories that litter my workspace, my phone, my home. These pieces of me that as scattered around will eventually become full scenes, chapters, and eventually, full stories and books.
Writing, for me, isn’t always about long uninterrupted hours. No matter how many people tell me to block out hours of my day to work on a rough draft, or polish up a manuscript. Sometimes, writing is about honoring my sparks when they appear.
And they always do… just at some of the worst moments lol
Stay Wylde out there
XoXo,
E.