Seeds, "germs," and other ideas
On bursts of creative inspiration
I don't know if it's just me, but I've noticed that many of my creative ideas seem to fly out of nowhere when I least expect it.
Often, when I'm trying to drift off to sleep (or return to sleep after being interrupted by having to go to the bathroom, or night nursing) words will dance across my mind, seemingly materializing from nothing.
One line, or two, sometimes a handful, will pop into my head. Or just a concept, a blurry outline of an idea.
Once in a while, I'll wake up from a dream, and from that dream a concept for a story will come to life that I feel the need to write down immediately - this happened to me last week, and I ended up starting a short story in my notes app at 6 AM.
I like to call these little idea seeds snippets, or unfinished thoughts. After reading the Roald Dahl issue of
in which dove into Dahl's notes, I've also adopted the term “germs."I love to think of my ideas as something that will grow, even if the “planting” is an unceremonious dumping of words into my phone or a small notebook, to revisit later.
I have often found that these wisps of creative energy seem to find me at some of the least convenient moments. In particular, I've struggled in the past with welcoming them when I'm trying to sleep. I am not a person who functions very well without enough sleep, but my creative brain seems to think that the perfect time to dream up a compelling idea is when I am trying to rest.
I used to be really resentful of this process. I would quickly scribble down whatever had popped into my head and then proceed to toss and turn, frustrated at not being able to turn my brain off and immediately fall asleep.
My brain doesn't like being interrupted when my mind has been set on something - like sleeping - yet it will frequently interrupt its own rhythms, and I'm stuck here for the train-of-thought ride whether I like it or not.
Once I realized I was simply not going to be able to fall asleep for a while after being struck by an idea, I started trying to relax into it; if I'm not going to sleep either way, rather than trying to fight against the current, I can at least try to follow the flow and stay in a better mood.
Obviously, this doesn't always work, because sleep deprivation, but I have largely come to appreciate those quiet moments when everyone else is asleep and I'm alone with my ideas, feeling that restless, creative energy and allowing it to do its thing.
Sometimes, when I'm patient, I'm rewarded by a more complete expression of the initial idea. That morning last week, for example, after I woke up from my dream, the first few hundred words of a short story I otherwise wouldn't have even dreamed of writing practically poured out of me. And a few months ago, I used one of these idea germs to carve out an exciting, elaborate knitting pattern idea (that will hopefully be making its way into the beginning stages of writing very soon) and a subsequent collection of pattern ideas within the same vein.
For a long time, I thought I couldn't do much of anything creative and original without one of these random bursts of inspiration - which, thankfully, I have learned is far from the truth - but by appreciating them for what they are, I'm able to make the most of them and enjoy the process more along the way.
What is your creative process like? How/when are you struck by inspiration? Do you ever find it inconvenient or frustrating? How are you leaning into your own creative rhythms? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments!
As always, you're welcome to share if this post resonated with you.
Ups, wasn't finished yet:)
...into this one idea out if fear that my motivation will seep away.
This is really interesting! I also have these bursts of inspiration and with it usually comes motivation, I want to focus all my energy onto this one idea