Every time we pick up a pen or lay our fingers on the keys to write, we engage in a process of which much is written, but I wonder how much is really known? We know there is a process… even the most prosaic business letter will have a certain amount of thought and consideration poured into the words in order to elicit the desired effect. How much more so with creative writing?
Thinking it through it seems, like so many other things, to be based on a threefold foundation. There has to be the inspiration that leads to the spark of an idea, then a discussion, either with another person or an internal debate that takes that naked spark and clothes it in imagination; then finally we take action… and from that combination, a phrase is born, taking the insubstantial realm of mind and bringing something new into the world.
You might say that before the words become a concrete reality on the page, their essence has to be conceived, brooded and nurtured in the fastness of the mind in order to become the coherent ideas that emerge as phrases. They come from the formless well of imagination and filter through the muddy layers of mundane thought before they reach the light of day where, if we are lucky, they flower.
We may glean the raw material of an idea whilst watching TV or in conversation, but it is seldom that we can bring them to the page directly and without giving them chance to percolate through the layers of consciousness and emotion, adding something unique and personal, the final ingredient that makes an idea our own.
It is more often in the quiet times, when thought is allowed to roam, that we hear that first little spark of an idea. It may be while our bodies are engaged in some routine task… like ironing or walking… or for many it is the night when ideas flit like ghosts around the landscape of the mind. Either way, it seems that some form of inner stillness is required for us to be best able to listen to the promptings of the imagination. An almost meditative state.
In a world that constantly clamours for our attention, where even our homes are full of beeps and whirrs at an almost subliminal level, there is a greater need than ever to simply switch off for a while and just listen to the wonders born of a seemingly quiet mind and heart.
Colleen’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday and Ronovan’s BeWow
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Truer words were never written.
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Thanks, Colin.
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We, writers are like that – all of us has a mind that never stop like clockwork.
Even in sleep we think. 🙂
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Sometimes slowing that thinking helps the ideas to grow 🙂
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slow down, let the silence speak .. lovely post Sue thank you ..
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Thanks Susan… We don’t take enough time out really.
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I think it was Beethoven, not sure though, who said that on the days on which he decided to do nothing , think of nothing and stay in bed, he would jump up with a great composition in his head and would write it down in his nightgown. The absence of though is sometimes an instant filled with inspiration and might fuel productivity. I think the longing to produce something, is actually what can make us stall.
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I’d agree with that last statement, Solveig. We put ourselves under stress and pressure by that desire.
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YES!!!!!
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😀
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I seek this silence constantly, the only time my mind feels like my own…
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…and it doesn’t matter how busy the hands are either, does it?
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Lovely, Sue, and so true.
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Thanks Mary
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As a poet, I can so relate to this, Sue. You captured the essence of it; the evolution of the inspiration, the words, the phrases and, if all falls into place, the completed piece.
Nicely done.
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Thanks Darren
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Inner stillness…the goal. Such an inspired piece of writing, Sue. ❤️ Thank you.
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Thank you, Van.
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So true, it’s one of the reasons I love sitting silently watching the sunrise over the ocean.
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I haven’t been able to do that for a long time.
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Lovely post, Sue – that quote at the end is exactly how I’m feeling at the moment…
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Those are special moments 🙂
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Sue, I love the words you write and how they flow. I am a slow writer. I have to mull the words over and reread a few times before I know that is what I want to say, Other times, the words just pour out of me with no rhyme or reason. I love your quote! Well done! ❤
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Sometimes I take time, others the words are there… I think that is probably the same for most of us.
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Gorgeous prose. 🙂
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Thanks Debby.
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Lovely quote, Sue, and for me, your words ring true. The spark of inspiration and the time to percolate through the layers needs space, stillness and silence to grow.
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Rather like putting all the ingredients together and waiting for a cake to rise… it needs quiet patience.
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Indeed, “stillness speaks.”
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Always.
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I completely agree, although Ironing (which is where most my short stories come to life) is not what I am thinking of. I believe that for us writers it is difficult to completely turn off. Even when having a conversation there is always that little thought at the back of my mind that is looking for a writing idea.
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I don’t think we need to ‘turn off’ so much as allow the mind to relax and listen.
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In which case I’m just about to go and relax ,with a glass of wine, and listen to the new Kylie Christmas CD. 🙂
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Then that is the writerly thing to do 😉
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