Found my Muse! I knew she was lurking here somewhere…
After two days with hardly any sleep (trying to do too much as usual), I finally hit the sack at 6 am this morning, just as normal people were heading off to work, and woke up nine hours later from a dream in which I had the whole book sorted out, including my character’s journey through other centuries, the people he has to meet, and why.
I keep my laptop next to me when I sleep, so I opened a document and wrote for I don’t know how long. Didn’t care if the dog peed on the carpet. Just had to get everything down. Twelve pages later I stopped and took Ivy for a walk but the ideas kept coming at me.
I had no paper, and it was getting dark anyway, but I did have my iPhone with me so I recorded the ideas on a digital recorder app as I wandered along the bluffs above the ocean. A group of local surfers called out a “hey” of greeting as I passed, still muttering into my phone. I usually shoot the breeze with them a while but today I didn’t want to break the spell. I returned the “hey” with a distracted smile and kept walking.
I was having so much fun that even half way through the process I was already mourning the time when my vision of the story’s world would fade and normal life would come back into focus. I was suspended in some twilight place of the imagination – between worlds, taking dictation.
I hope that when I read it tomorrow it will still make sense, but tonight I don’t want to look at it. I just want to wallow in the afterglow.
19 Comments
AWESOME LIA! GO GO GO!
Gosh, that was a quick response, Eric! By the way, you do know that none of that would have happened if it hadn't been for you, don't you? For readers of this blog who don't know, Eric mentors a fabulous critique group I'm in with talented writers Meg Medina and Veronica Rossi. Click on his name, which links to his website, for more info.
Lia…It will make sense with all the images your imagination drew. The magic moments.
I hope so, Nanette! It felt absolutely right at the time.
Brilliant, Lia! I love hearing anecdotes like yours – so positive and exciting! 😛
It was a red letter day, Sheryl! Last prayer before I go to bed: Please let me still be excited by the pages I wrote when I reread them in the morning!
Your excitment is contagious, Lia. So very happy for you.
xo …julie
Thank you, Julie! I'll update once I've had the reality check. Should be good for a laugh.
Wow, sounds like a wonderful day! May there be many more…for both you & me 🙂
Amen, sister! Though I find those inspired days are rare gifts. For the most part, writing is a matter of showing up every day, expecting to do all the work yourself. 🙂
I am thrilled, delighted and inspired
Fun when it happens, isn't it? 🙂
What a great post, Lia. My fingers are crossed that the inspiration works for the long term!
What a fabulous experience. I've been inspired by dreams, but never on such a scale. Good luck with the re-read. May it be as wonderful as you felt it was when writing it down.
What a blessing! Seize it while you’ve got it! 😀
This is wonderfully inspirational, which is followed by perspirational … I am encouraged to get back to work. Glad you are sharing such positivity.
smiles . . .
Yes, keep at it, Rob! I've been frustrated and dried up creatively for a while – very motivated but no inspiration – but if you wait long enough it always comes back, all the more welcome for having been gone a while. 🙂
I'm reading this now on April 10. So, what happened when you reread your pages? You left me with a cliffhanger.
Life interrupted the next day with drama from my daughter, and the inspiration was left without water to nurture it. When I returned to the story a week later the thing had withered like a neglected rose. Such is life. We have to enjoy those moments when they come, but not expect them to sustain us.
Writing is work, like any other. Sometimes we have to sit down and MAKE it happen, without divine inspiration. As women, with families to nurture and support, sacrifices of that ilk are made more often. But it just makes the triumph when we reach the finish line that much sweeter.