I've already decided that I need a machine that takes a snapshot of my brain at a selected moment when I have an idea (which is usually just before falling asleep, or while walking, or in the shower) and recreate it later when I sit at a computer. Anyone cares to invent that?
If only someone could idle. This sums me up so well. Weeks to months of little to nothing and then five hours of solid inspiration at one in the morning.
I wonder if the sleeping state of the brain is more creative or something. I mean, I fall asleep talking to myself because I'm running a conversation between two characters in my brain that I'm too tired to write down and ends up lost by morning When I'm sitting at the PC? My brain is just a big empty balloon.
My brain rarely has nothing when I'm trying to write, but taking now for instance I'm at a very dull yet necessary scene. My brain is whirring with ideas about the book. Conversations to happen after I get this scene down and even the logistics of what will happen years down the track in terms of my plot but nothing relevant. Also I find I tend to take it for granted when I write when I'm supposed to be writing, any inspiration outside of that time is different and noticeable because my mind is on other things.
I hate hate hate it when I'm just on the brink of sleep, some new way to express a thing x or a piece of dialogue or a comeback that I really like pops in my head, but I'm too damn tired to write it down. Sometimes I do grab my phone and type it down, but usually I just can't be arsed and of course in the morning it has vanished. Stoopid brain.
This is why I sleep with my iPad in my bed. I used to keep a notepad and pen by the bed, but I'd need to turn the lamp on to use it - and once the light goes on that's it, I'm awake for hours.
I also used to keep a notepad and pen by my bed, but nowadays jot down my ideas into my phone since notepads tend to get lost. And yeah, this happens all the time to me although more often than story ideas, it's song ideas, riffs, melodies, chord progressions. The sucky thing is, sometimes I can write them out without a guitar, but sometimes they're too complex for my primitive brain to put into actual notes (usually when it's something else than just a simple major/minor harmony), so I have to get up, go to another room, pick up the axe, figure out how to play it, and then record it on my phone's recorder (although they aren't my favorite band, I write like the main guy from Satyricon does: all the riffs are ready, then I just need to put them in some order to make songs). It's easier with story ideas because those I can just write down. Anyway, I noticed years ago that yeah, some of my best ideas come either when I'm about to go to sleep or when I'm still up during the small hours. It just seems that my mind is at its most creative come night time. Perhaps that reflects my personality since I've always preferred to sleep late and stay up late whereas my dad and sister are morning people, can't stay up too late, and are usually at their most creative in the morning. I envy them because societies work around their internal clocks whereas people like myself will always have trouble getting up early enough to get to work/school at eight in the morning. Perhaps that's a part of the reason why I chose translation as my profession: it allows the me luxury of choosing when to work and so far I've done quite a few of my translations at night.
I keep a clean sheet of paper by my bed instead. I know I can write a line or two almost blindly by the faint light from the outside - not seeing the individual letters, just the general direction so that I don't write at the same spot again. It doesn't wake me up as much as the phone.
I hear the brain is more active during sleep than awake. I also hear that if you drink apple juice just before bed, a chemical compound in the juice will help you have super vivid dreams, haven't tried it though. One thing I read recently that kicked me into gear was a quote from Stephen King. "Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work." - Stephen King and he's right. I've found when I sit down to work, even when I'm not in the "mood", after a while the momentum picks up and the words just start flowing.
wolfenburg, I absolutely agree with King's quote. That's what we usually do with my writing partner, KaTrian: we sit down and write, treat it like... I dunno, practicing any other skill, be it playing the guitar, target practice, or exercise. Heck, even work, except that writing is fun. When you start typing, even if it's kinda stiff at first, the flow will come. As far as the apple juice trick goes: I'm not sure if there's something specific about it, but I do know that consuming large quantities of sugar before going to sleep give you very vivid and weird dreams. The same goes for some meds although I've noted that a few give me lucid dreams which totally fucking suck.
I find this, too. Even if I'm not in the mood, if I force myself to get one sentence down, it gets me in the mood. About two sentences into a session and I don't want to stop.
It's called a pen and note pad. The problem for me though, is then I have all these little notes all over the place.
That would seem to defeat the physiological purpose for sleep. One thing brain research has found, however, is during sleep the brain is converting short term memories into long term ones. It's probably why recent memories are lost when one is sleep deprived. I don't know about AJ but melatonin definitely increases either my dreams, or my memories of them after I wake up.
Not exacly. I am never able to put on paper (or computer) all that goes through my mind at the moment. There are always bits and pieces dangling. And reading the note later doesn't always pick them up.
I'm normally fine with chucking ideas into my ipod when I get them and am awake but I generally get my best ideas when I'm half awake which I generally forget before I'm conscious enough to write them down. Dreams I can use I have a tough time remembering.
