Self-Inventory

[jarandhel]

I am intrigued by my own mental processes...

It fascinates me to learn more about how I think and feel and interact with the world around me. I had something of a revelation along those lines this morning. I've known for a while now that I do not really work well alone, because no matter how interested in a subject I happen to be I inevitably lose interest in it while working on it entirely by myself. Oddly enough, that trait is the reason that one of the worst relationships I have ever had with another living being was also the best working relationship I can remember... which has always confused me a bit.

In thinking back on the way I used to write, I've realized that even the writing process for me had a lot to do with other people. 99% of the things I used to write I wrote in school or on the bus in highschool, while surrounded by my friends and classmates. Even if they weren't paying any attention to me, or me to them, they were there... and for some reason that helped my creative process.

I've also been noticing that talking more with friends online about my writing is having a similar effect... I feel the most like writing when I'm talking with people about the things I'm thinking of writing about. Unfortunately, over the internet them just being there doesn't seem to have the same effect that just being there in person has, but I think I can learn to work around that...

Hmm... actually I just had an interesting thought... I wonder if I would write better in a public place... like the foodcourt at the mall, or the cafe at Borders or something. Surrounded by people, but not necessarily interacting with any of them. I don't know if it would have the same effect as being surrounded by people that I know, but it might be worth a try, if I ever have a couple hours of free time to test out the theory.

Does anyone else have a similar experience with writing, or other forms of creativity? I'd be interested in hearing about how you've learned to work with it or around it, if you do.

Comments

Hmm...

[yaoipornstar.livejournal.com]

Very intriguing. I myself tend to work both ways, depending on the situation. For instance, lately I've been suffering from a long partial writers block. Interesting and promising ideas do seep through to me, but lately I've had trouble turning them into something else. So, having had one particular shred of idea in hand, I go to my long-term writing partner of six years, whom I've written with in numerous writing clubs over the years, and presented her with the idea. Note that she too had said she was feeling "stagnant" as well. It exploded. Between the both of us, we managed to turn a single snowflake into an avalanche that is currently swamping our mind, and we've been frantically trying to get all the details of our currently overworked minds down so we can bring this to fruition.

Now, on the opposite side, when I am presented with a full idea that I can build on with little problem, I tend to withdraw from everyone around me to compose and bear fruit the idea, with the exception of few who I will likely relate my plan to. I seem to function alot better, in this case, being left alone, unless of course I choose to partner up with another person.

Hmm...its been thought dynamics like this that always intrigued me...gleaning a bigger insight into the inner mechanics of the writer.

Re: Hmm...

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

I've only worked on a written collaboration with someone else once... it was alright to begin with, but ended badly, though that may have been more due to personal issues than to our interaction as writers. I may have to think about attempting more collaborative works, though part of me rebels against that and desires complete control over my characters, at least for the duration of the story I am writing.

HeyHey!!! ^_^

[daelo.livejournal.com]

Want me to come over so you can write? ^_^ I live like 2 minutes away, butthead, why don't you just ask??

Re: HeyHey!!! ^_^

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I don't think it quite works that way... I think I'd have to be in an environment with several people... at least four or five, I figure, and yet still free to mostly concentrate on my own work... with the other people there mostly as a background atmosphere and maybe to talk with if I get bored and need a break or something. Talking with someone one-on-one only seems to work if we're talking about the story I'm thinking of writing, or at least about writing in general.

[queerintheburg.livejournal.com]

I've always had better luck in public places. More with like formal writings, like school papers and stuff, but I tend to do a lot better when I just go down to the coffeehouse with my laptop, sit with a mocha and just go. Don't necessarily need the interaction, but it seems to help... :-)

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I think the cafe in our Borders is the closest thing to a coffee house that I would really go to... at least around here, anyway. I kind of like the atmosphere of TDU from what I've seen of it, though... one of these days when I come down you and I have to play pool there together, I hardly ever get a chance to play and I actually enjoy it. (Don't know how good I am, though, I can count on one hand the number of opportunities I've had to play pool in the past few years...)

[ebonhost.livejournal.com]

I have that problem with my art sometimes. Some of the best work I've done has been at work, or at an airport, or whatever. I've written stories on the bus. Sometimes it helps to sit here and write while I'm surrounded by family. I think I like the distraction of a crowd, the same as how I -must- have the radio playing if I draw alone in my room. Background noise/presence makes the creative juices flow easier, perhaps?

Re:

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Noise alone doesn't always cut it for me... I've tried having music or the television on to make the house less quiet, and it might help make the atmosphere a little more pleasing, but it's just not as alive as someplace with a lot of people. And I think that aliveness is part of what I need. Maybe aliveness is a bad word for it, though, 'cause I don't think being outside and surrounded by trees and animals and stuff would do the same thing.

[zaecus.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of experience with the same sort of thing, but I'm not sure it's just my creativity that's affected, but possibly something deeper as well. I've learned that being around people, even if I'm not interacting with them, affects how my mind works.

I can be creative when out in the woods, but it is definitely a more passive, philosophical form of creative than if I'm in a building full of fraternity members.

There have been a few rare times when it's been annoying, though. I just want to kick back and enjoy myself, talk to people and have fun, but I'm so surrounded by highly creative types I find myself off to the side with a notebook and pen madly filling it with the overflow from my mind. :-}

Re:

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

*giggles* So how do you deal with it? Do you actively seek out people when you want to be actively creative or have you learned any ways to work around it?

[zaecus.livejournal.com]

Depending on the type of creativity I'm looking for, yes, I seek people out. I found I didn't need to know them, but I did have to be fairly aware of what kind of people they were. People with different reactions to the world inspire radically different types of creativity. thankfully, I get a blend and not a tug of war with different creative urges.

I have found one method that can be used in place of being surrounded by people, but you may not like it or want to use it. Basically, I 'save up' the inspiration. I spent a long time as a psi-vamp actively feeding on people. even though I now know that it's not necessary, it has left me with an interesting variety of tools. Whatever it is that helps me be creative, I found that I could collect it. Based on some experimentation, this seems to be one of those synergistic energies that builds the more people pass it back and forth, so it doesn't seem to be taking anything from anyone. At times, I've used jewelry and other small foci to store the energy, but these days, I just pack it away in some otherspace. It is a little disconcerting to do this with something I don't have a name for, but I've been dealing with nameless things for long enough that it's only a momentary problem. ;-)

Re:

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Hmm... now that's interesting... I might have to experiment with that. I know I do have a vampiric side, but I've never really thought much about how that side of me might affect my creativity. Thank you for that idea, it gives me a lot to think about. :)