The Paradigm of Process (Mine)

[akirlu]

Pretty much how my writing brain works: I have a major revelation. About the metaphysics of vampires. And how they relate to demons, angels, and gods. And how all of this is just an instantiation of Thomist metaphysics, and accounts for the problem of vampire souls and disappearing gods in my story.

Inevitably, this occurs in a location where I am totally out of contact with the means to write stuff down as I think of it. Sometimes I'm in the shower. Sometimes I'm on an elevator. Or a very bumpy bus ride. This time, I was on the toilet. Okay, I guess there was paper. But no.

I would start carrying pen and paper everywhere I go, but my fear is, then I would stop having ideas altogether.

Comments

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I understand those feelings very well. I never see so many pictures as when I don't have a camera with me.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

This is weird, but I had a similar sort of a thing occur to me yesterday during the middle of the night...weird.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

It's your brain's way of training your memory. Brains is weird.

MKK

[urlgirl.livejournal.com]

I used to carry around one of those mini cassette recorders, and would speak into it whenever I had a jolt of inspiration like this. I never transcribed most of those notes, but it did make me feel better to have the tool at hand. The anxiety of having to hold something in my head for fear of losing it before I could "get it down" would dissipate, letting me get on with the rest of my day.

Also for me, much like taking notes with pen or keyboard, the act of recording a thought has the effect of simultaneously committing it to memory. It's like it needs to leave my brain and transfer to another medium before I can memorize it - so that along with the original thought, I now also have a memory of recording that thought. The medium doesn't seem to matter.