Creativity Follows No Timetable

Creative Commons photo by Pimthida I think all creatives have this fantasy of how we wished inspiration would come to us. For me, I'd like to be sitting at a beach house with a slight breeze coming off the ocean. And, with my laptop ready to go, I would look wistfully into the distance and plot out a three-book series by lunchtime, which would involve a nice fish and chips platter.

Instead, my inspiration comes in spurts, often when my mind is on autopilot. It’s easy to laugh at people who have a waterproof recorder for the ideas that come when they are in the shower but, truth be told, I could use one myself.

When I get that burst of genius, it’s always a question of whether I can hold onto the idea long enough until I can get to a computing device to write it down (Note to self: check out voice recorders at Amazon).

And, as much as I love the pastor at my church, I’ve been known to get ideas for my books during the service. I feel totally guilty plotting a character’s story arc when I should be paying attention to the theology of the Apostles. I’m torn between filing the idea away, hoping it will come back afterwards or continuing down the rabbit hole until the entire thing spools out.

Some of you are probably saying I should take notes and get it out, which sounds fine until you realize that would mean I’m writing “He needs to die a gruesome death” next to a Bible verse about loving your neighbor.

I would like to tell the Muses to only give me inspiration on the weekends between 3 and 5 p.m., but unfortunately creativity seems to be a bit more spontaneous than that.