Gathering Snow

I take my daughter dancing (of the ‘non-costume-sewing, slightly-more-earthy -than-me’ variety) every Tuesday. The yoga teacher chooses a different theme and the children create, express and laugh along. They could be painters, snowmen, frogs, flowers or shapes. A few simple props open up their little minds. All the while, a calm envelops the room (not to mention Mum, who gets one hour uninterrupted reading/writing time.)

This dancing could be used as an analogy to describe my thought process for writing. I get little bursts of creative ideas that can be inspired by meeting a quirky dog or waking up from a dream (apparently this happened to Stephanie Meyer for her Twilight series). These themes and storylines become ‘gathering snow’ and as I connect brain to pen, begin to form into something tangible. Resembling a story. Something exciting!

Where does a famous writer go to release this cataclysm of ideas? What inspires them?

Jane Austen

Jane Austen produced her works with a fine brush and a fragile 12-sided piece of walnut on a single tripod.

She was allowed writing time, but having no room of her own, she established herself near the ‘unfrequented’ front door, and here "she wrote upon small sheets of paper which could easily be put away, or covered with a piece of blotting paper".

Cited by Tomalin, Clare, The Guardian, UK, Saturday 12 July 2008

Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl turned his private shed into his realm. It was set up to be as comfortable and private as possible for his writing with: an old wing-back chair; a sleeping bag for the cooler weather; a footstool; and a writing table with a bar across the arms of the chair and a cardboard tube that altered the angle of the board on which he wrote. His stories were written on yellow paper with his favourite pencils.

Dahl kept the curtains closed so that nothing could interfere with his imagination. He wrote until lunchtime but only did editing in the afternoon.

Source: guardian.co.uk Friday 23 May 2008

Tim Winton

Tim Winton gets his main inspiration from landscapes and coastal Western Australia: "The place comes first. If the place isn't interesting to me then I can't feel it. I can't feel any people in it. I can't feel what the people are on about or likely to get up to".

Cited by Steger, Jason (2008) "It's a risky business" in The Sydney Morning Herald, 25–27 April 2008, Books p. 29

Dan Brown

Dan Brown writes in his loft and spends hours researching and being meticulous. He keeps a sand timer on his desk and stops for pushups and stretches by the hour.

Source: Brown, Dan,Witness statement; Pages 6 & 7.

 Me

I love to be warm and snug with cosy socks, definitely shoeless (perhaps this is the ‘inner hippie’ in me). I pump the heater up to 22 C (when hubby isn’t looking) and just get those ideas down. Call me old fashioned but I feel more creative and authentic when I write and watch the words flow onto the page instead of just electronically popping up. I have three or four ‘jot books’. When I write a story I leave it and come back to it weeks or months later with a new perspective and fresh eyes.

You

So what are you creative at? Where do you like to be creative? Get out that pen and paper or paint brush today and let that snow gather…