Some of my best writing, I have done
while listening to music. If you take a look at one of my writing playlists on Youtube, you can find that I draw a lot of inspiration
from very cinematic music. It has been said that listening to Mozart
helps one to concentrate and be productive in the mental arena.
Honestly, I don't think it has to be Mozart, but I think that music
does help 'grease the wheels' and make it easier to be creative.
It is like surrounding yourself with
artwork that inspires you, regardless of any talent you might have
for the medium you are drawn to (ie. Photography, painting, etc.).
The artwork or music serves as a starting point for the growth of
your ideas. It is possible to argue the same about what we read.
(Though there you must be careful to maintain your own perspective
upon matters.)
The creative process is, in some
respects, like growing a crystal. Can it occur on its own at any
place with out external influence? Yes, as well as being begotten by
earlier work we have done. (Think of this as crystals growing upon
other crystals.) In many cases, however, our work is started by the
germ of an idea. This is the 'base' from which our crystalline
structures develop.
It is important to note that the 'base'
for crystals will be different with respect to what type of crystal
develops. Emerald is found in the same location as beryl (being a
related stone). It is also found where there is calcite and pegmite.
In terms of our storycraft, our crystal may be a fantasy story. It
may develop from our reading fantasy, including genres of fantasy
that don't exactly match our work (high fantasy influencing urban
fantasy, for example). This could be described as an emerald growing
upon beryl.
It could also arise from listening to
music that inspires you or other 'unrelated' sources of inspiration.
Our proverbial emerald growing upon calcite. And our story could
arise from previous work we have written, though not in the same
genre. The proverbial emerald growing upon pegmite. Lastly, our story
could develop from ideas that were inspired by work we had written
previously in the same genre. This would be our fictional emerald
growing upon another fictional emerald.
Some people will argue that the
differences in how our 'emerald' is grown makes huge differences in
the work we produce. This type of arrogance is an insult to other
creative minds and spits upon their work. The differences in our
'emerald' come from what we do with it. The raw stuff of stories is
the fruit of inspiration and hard work. This 'raw material' is the
emerald. Our creation of the story (or any other form of art,
honestly) is our mining that emerald. The editing process is the
cutting and polishing of the stone.
All parts of the process are labor
intensive. When mining our emeralds, it is good to get help in the
process. This is where sources of inspiration come into play. They
are not only the matrix from which the emerald emerges but also the
tools that we use to free it from said matrix. It is my opinion that
the hardest part is the beginning, is finding that emerald. After
that it is just a matter of persistence and refinement.
Embrace your sources of inspiration.
Create your writing soundtrack and surround yourself with art that
fills your mind with ideas. Disregard the opinions of people who tell
you that your choices are not tasteful or otherwise criticize your
mining technique. They wouldn't recognize that emerald you are
looking for and shaping. Most people don't recognize the value of our
work until it is finished, sadly, and have a great deal of
assumptions about the labor that goes into it.
Don't let their assumptions and
attitudes stop you. With patience and dogged determination, you can
craft something wonderful out of just about anything you find in your
path. That's the beauty of being an artist (and authors are artists
too). Go out there and be your gloriously creative, brilliant self.
The world needs your emeralds.
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