Blogger: Wendy Lawton
I’m feeling inspired and ready to creatively tackle a complex project I’ve needed to tackle for a long time. My muse, you ask? Why I spent the weekend cleaning out storage units, reorganizing the pantry and cleaning toilets. Glamorous, right?
I spent my whole before-agenting life making my living off art and creativity. For thirty years I was a sculptor, doll designer and later, an author of middle grade and YA novels. I received dozens of awards over the years including the Dolls magazine Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 and an honorary doctorate from Wilmington University in 2004. Pretty heady stuff.
Over those thirty years I created more 300 different porcelain doll editions comprising more than 100,000 dolls now residing in collections and museums all over the world. People used to ask how I could keep coming up with fresh new ideas. The answer was simple. Doing dishes, mopping floors and cleaning toilets.
When one lives a creative life– like writing books– the best antidote to the muscles used in creativity are the ones used to do rote, brainless tasks. Are you stuck on a plot issue? Start sorting the wash. You’ll sort out the issue at the same time.
Can’t think up a new idea for another book? Spend the day spring cleaning your whole house. Or tackle that garage or workshop. The ideas will come, fast and furious.
Need to do more interviews for a book and can’t figure out any new ways to approach the subject? Take a long, hot bath. I used to call my clawfoot bathtub “The Think Tank.”
I know it sounds simplistic but mindless work is a powerful muse– creativity & cleaning toilets go together.
So how about you? ‘Fess up. What mundane tasks get your juices flowing? Why do you suppose that taking a break from creating to spend time working our hands refocuses our minds?
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Insomnia works for me. When I can’t sleep, I work out plot and character details, and especially the “apologetic” arc for both the story as a whole, and for the characters’ individual faith paths.
I don’t think about my stories when I’m doing mundane tasks because WE are above having to DO such things as might be considered mundane. Ugh. Sniff. That’s what servants are for.
Always wanted to use a Royal WE. That was fun.
Actually, I’m a long-time Zen practitioner (which is not inconsistent with being a devout Christian), and one of the first precepts is to consider everything you do worthy of full attention, and full care. Doing otherwise is a disservice to the moment one has been granted, and is thus a disservice to God. (Ecclesiates 9:10, if you’re interested)
Hand in hand with that is the implicit faith that God will provide the needed creative information when it’s time to write. (Philippians 4:19, among others)
My faith isn’t perfect, so I use the hours of sleeplessness to back up the creative input.
But perhaps, as with severe pain, I need to meet insomnia on its own terms. Facing and living with pain, and eschewing pharmaceutical avenues of escape has brought a measure of compassion and faith. At cost, yes, but what price the clarity of caritas?
Perhaps living in the moment of insomnia, and trusting God with the creative toolbox, would accrue similar benefits.
Most of us see pain and insomnia as negatives, something to avoid. Kudos to you, Andrew, for embracing them, transforming them into creative moments. It’s no surprise that your midnight thoughts posted here are so deep.
I agree, Wendy, that my most creative ideas come when I am not trying to be creative. I spend the equivalent of a work day each week commuting to and from work, and ideas come to me in the car. Which explains the notepad between the front seats. I’m the gal at the traffic light scribbling, trying to preserve a great idea for future reference.
Thank you so much, Shirlee.
I ran across a new word at today at work: pathography, per the Oxford Dictionary, “the study of the life of an individual or the history of a community with regard to the influence of a particular disease or psychological disorder.”
Andrew, you are a master of pathography.
Shirlee, I am honored.
It’s hard to write about being in death’s vortex, but I will say this – for whomever it may be important –
First, if this fate had to be dumped somewhere, better on me. Spare someone else. It’s not altruism. I just enjoy a good, brutal fight. God gave me a burden to match my back. Cool. Bring it.
Second, this has become something of a witness. There IS always something you can do for the good, no matter how onerous the externals. There IS always hope.
Right now, writing this, smiling hurts. Literally.
But every genuine smile is a victory, and puts paid to the devil’s hopes.
And I will fight my way to shore, and to life again.
Andrew, what you’re describing as Zen reminds me of Brother Lawrence and his classic Practicing the Presence of God. Have you read it? I definitely recommend it.
It’s now on my list, Sondra – thanks!
Sondra, Like minds and all that. I hadn’t read your comment when I commented.
Andrew, your walk through the valley of pain is a witness to us all. I’m praying you come out on the other side and can testify what it means to live pain free and sleep well.
Your Zen approach reminds me of Brother Lawrence and his practice of the presence of God– he said,”Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.”
Wendy – What a great post! Mundane tasks do spark creative thinking. I have to laugh because I checked the blog as my last writing task of the morning. (A little extra company cleaning for Thanksgiving is happening each day.) What a fun reminder that I will be accomplishing two things at once. Thanks for the post!
Oh, yes, Thanksgiving. Every woman reading this is groaning and smiling.
Umm, if anyone needs help cleaning for Thanksgiving, I’d be happy to help.
I just need a plane ticket. 😉
Wow, Wendy! Just, WOW! You are one impressive lady!
Each Fall, I do a refinishing project for a charity auction. It takes me away from writing, BUT it’s for a good cause and my sons’ (yes, plural) hockey teams benefit from my work.
Stripping old paint or finish from very old furniture is hard, monotonous work. It cannot be rushed, because one MUST be patient or have fun fixing that permanent damage you just inflicted on that irreplaceable 100 year old sapele from Africa.
For me, the act of sanding can almost become a meditative experience.
Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Eyes continuously focused one on spot. All effort concentrated on one specific movement. No room for distractions. And never ever go against the grain. EVER.
While trapped in my garage with my power tools, my characters have had time to work out their issues and even decided what to wear on certain occasions.
As for tubs? Ohhhh, yeah, definitely a Think Tank!! My plot twist for book 2 came in my Think Tank and I still get goose bumps thinking abut that “Ah ha!” moment.
Monotony frees the brain to leave the room and go for a walk.
I did think of you and refinishing when I wrote this. I wish I could carve out the time to do a piece of furniture.
I’ve worked out many a plot or character issue while hiking a mountain trail.
Good reminder, Lori. It’s not just mundane work. Exercise works the same. And when you are walking through God’s country, well it’s that much better.
There is nothing I hate more on this planet than exercising (well, except fried liver)but I get on the treadmill or Zumba daily. I’m not sure if it frees my mind or if I am just so desperate to escape the reality of weighty limbs and wheezing breath that my thoughts drift to a happier place. All I know is it works-as a kick start or to break a moment of stalemate.
There are many studies that show the link between exercise and creativity. You’re inspiring, Rose.
Monotony is precious white space that’s getting harder to come by these day. I like what Jennifer said, about freeing the brain up to go for a walk. A little auto-pilot is a healthy now and then!
I get my best ideas in the shower (I joke that my conditioner penetrates so deep, it even detangles my ideas). Epiphanies can also occur while: blowdrying my hair, riding my bike, or driving familiar routes (not that I’m a mindless driver…). 😉
Becky, I’ve read a few articles about creativity and the shower. I can’t recall the scientific explanation– brain dead today– but there is a reason why the movement of water molecules stimulates the brain.
Jennifer, you’re so right: Monotony frees the brain to leave the room and go for a walk.
I do my best thinking when my body is engaged in a repetitive or familiar task—-driving, cleaning, walking down our dirt road. For some reason, this type of “mindless” physical activity relaxes the logical, sensible part of my brain and releases my imagination and creativity.
Hmmm…I guess this means that I could have an immaculate house, be in great shape, and write a fabulous novel! 🙂
Immaculate house, great toned body and novels– yep, you do write fiction.
I think our minds must be made for balance. An overload of creativity needs the rest of the monotony, and yet, even in the everyday tasks, the creative mind can’t completely shut off, right? Sometimes I feel like I’m stalling by cleaning the house when I should be writing–and I’m sure that’s part of it–but maybe my mind is just refueling.
I definitely believe this. Refueling. Those people who sit for hours staring at a blank screen need to get up and tackle the mundane, right?
Just waiting to fall asleep at night … or sometimes during my sleep. I keep a spiral notebook, tiny light, and working pencil by the bed. 🙂
I used to do that when I was actively writing. In the morning I could barely make out the words and I had lost the context too often. So glad it works for you.
I, too get ideas just before feeling asleep and keep a pad and pencil by my bed. I can write in the dark, but sometimes things I write don’t make sense the next morning. I also get lots of ideas while driving, but can’t write while doing that, but do remember some of them when I stop.
Janet,
My husband bought me a digital recorder. They’re not that expensive and, at the click of a button, you can talk away wherever (or whenever) you are and then transcribe later. An added bonus is that you don’t need to turn on a light in the middle of the night. Although, I’m not sure my whispering is any less disruptive. :0)
Janet Ann, in the car, my daughter takes dictation! 🙂
Wendy, years ago, before the death of my first wife, we had some acreage several miles away on which we planned to build a retirement home. Once a week I’d go out there, climb aboard our John Deere riding mower, put on my radio-headphones, and spend several hours mowing and thinking. It was wonderful relaxation.
Now I get the same kind of relaxation/thinking/planning/plotting time with my daily walks. I agree with you that mindless activity is good for the gray cells (and, in some cases, the cardiac muscle). Thanks for sharing.
I hear you. Back when we had an almond ranch, the tractor in the orchard was the perfect place. The buzz of the motor and the smell of the earth, well, if I could go back for a little while. . .
When you talk of your life in the area where you live, you so often remind me of my dad, who grew up there. He picked almonds on one of those ranches as a teenager. And he insisted almond is pronounced like salmon.
This isn’t a method I use, but I thought I’d pass it along – it’s from Arthur Haarmeyer’s “Into The Land Of Darkness”, his memoir of flying in the Korean War.
Fifty years after the war, Haarmeyter was suffering from the effects of PTSD, and a psychologist suggested that when the nightmares came, he write them down immediately – and in the morning, first thing, goto the computer and write them down in smooth copy. Delaying would allow misinterpretation of what he’d written in the night, and also give the opportunity for content editing.
While this was suggested as therapy for PTSD, it formed the basis for Haarmeyer’s book. It’s self-published, but a high-quality production, and one of the very few testimonies from a forgotten war.
I hope I will be excused for plugging the book – I’m really impressed, and believe we should honor Korean veterans. They stand in the shadow of the Greatest Generation, but they cast along one themselves…if we’ll only listen to them.
http://smile.amazon.com/Into-Land-Darkness-Bombardier-Navigators-Story/dp/0988674912/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416321836&sr=1-1&keywords=into+the+land+of+darkness
You’re excused. It sounds like a fascinating exercise.
I remember Robert Benson saying something like, “When I first walk up, before I even lift my head, I go for a walk along the beach of my mind, picking up whatever washed ashore during my sleep.”
This summer I was in the middle of a writing project about how I had to unpack my emotional baggage in the spotlight of leadership. Writing this was intense and left me incredibly vulnerable. Needless to say, I felt stuck and needed a major break. I decided to repurpose some old furniture and felt so much inspiration from seeing something broken restored. I felt like that old piece of furniture was me and just needed a little love and a lot of paint.
I needed a creative outlet where I could see a finished project. It fueled my creativity by finishing something else. Painting and using power tools is therapeutic. 🙂
Isn’t it funny that the task you ended up choosing paralleled the arc of your book?
Wow, Wendy. I knew you had done a number of noteworthy things, but . . . wow. 🙂 It’s fun to hear where your creativity has spilled out over the years. 🙂
For me, taking a shower seems to be one of the best times for story creativity to show up. I find myself rushing through the cleaning to get out and write down the great ideas before they dissipate with the steam.
The other time ideas seem to come is in that place between wakefulness and sleep. Just as I’m dropping off. I’ve learned to get up and write them down ASAP so I don’t lose them. 🙂 And sometimes while I’m chopping vegetables for dinner, a great idea comes to mind. 🙂
I love that you get GOOD ideas in that twilight of sleep. Seems like the ideas I get then only SEEM good until they hit the full light of day. Then I wonder if it was something I ate . . .
Laughing out loud, Sarah. 🙂
I’ve always been thankful that I don’t have a twilight of sleep. My head hits the pillow and I am gone until morning. Maybe I should rethink this. I seem to be missing out on a time of creativity.
My husband has this too, Wendy. I call it the gift of sleep, since I tend to be on the opposite extreme. Falling asleep right away truly IS a gift. 🙂
Wendy, I love the creative life you have lived and still live. As I sit here in our den, there’s a collectible doll watching me from across the room. My lifelong girlfriend gave it to me and said I was not to give it to my daughter (a toddler at the time). Her dress matches an antique miniature tea-set she stands beside.
My friend did me a favor by insisting I keep it, since I can now enjoy her all to myself guilt-free.
My muse seems to be stimulated by mundane or repetitive tasks such as washing dishes and taking a shower. Poetry comes to me when I’m out in nature.
Blessings ~ Wendy Mac ❀
Poetry. We don’t talk much about that these days. What a blessing that images/ words come in the midst of nature.
Walking the dog is my muse! But I also love to take a break and organize or rearrange something. Last weekend I got wire baskets for the top shelf of my closet. Now my jeans, yoga pants, and sweaters are neatly folded and stacked in baskets. This makes me a lot happier than anyone knows. Somehow putting some bit of my life into order makes me feel more orderly in other places–including my writing.
Thistle– your beloved dog– is the perfect muse. And yes! That’s exactly me. If I accomplish one thing of order, it makes me feel that much closer to the orderly life that spurs creativity.
Oh, Sarah, I so get the need for order. Maybe that’s why I’m having trouble sitting down and writing lately! I have piles everywhere. 🙂
Great post, Wendy. For some reason, just like Jeanne, my best creative ideas come whenever I’m in the shower. I now keep a pen and paper nearby and as soon as I’ve dried off, I’m jotting down ideas or solutions to problems with my manuscript.
I need to look up those shower=creativity scientific studies. There is something about running water– waterfalls, streams, showers. I think it is negative ions or some such.
Wendy, I think you’re right, it definitely has to do with the water falling and the sound of water that calms the body and frees the mind.
Lynn…there is a fun product called Aqua Notes that I recently found on Amazon. It’s a waterproof notepad/pencil combo that suctions to the shower wall. Only about $8. I hinted to my in-law that it would be a fab Christmas gift. 😉
The product’s tagline? “No more great ideas down the drain!”
http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Notes-Waterproof-Notepad-Mountable/dp/B003W09LTQ
Becky, I have used these. They are great, unless your shower walls are grooved. Then they don’t stick very well. I loved having them in my shower when they stayed on the wall though. 🙂
Love that, Becky!
Thanks, Becky! I knew there had to be some sort of waterproof notepad for people like me, but I never found the time to look into it. With Christmas just around the corner, this is the perfect gift for me.
Wow, Wendy! Impressive accomplishments! I remember Robin Lee Hatcher posting on FB quite a while ago that she was stuck in a manuscript but then figured it all out while emptying the dishwasher. For me, it’s driving. Assuming the children are asleep or reading, I can watch the cornfields breeze by and clear my mind.
I’ve always been a driver as well. Some of my most memorable ideas came on long drives into San Francisco.
This reminds me of one of my favorite authors, Essie Summers (a Kiwi who wrote for Harlequin years & years ago), who said she plotted all her novels while doing the dishes. 🙂
I find activities that are rhythmic help me think best: knitting, walking, folding laundry, that kind of thing.
Jessica, you’d be surprised to learn how many writers are knitters or needleworkers of some kind.
Like several others have mentioned, I also get some of my best ideas in the shower. Another hot spot for me is church. I’m glad they hand me a bulletin on the way in, because even though I’m not a fill-in-the-blank kind of girl, I love to use it for scribbling down plot ideas, or verses and songs that might “speak” to my characters. Sometimes I wonder if I should list my pastor and worship director as co-authors. 🙂
Yes! I have bulletins that are covered in writing and they are not sermon notes. Wise words or lyrics often spur us toward fresh ideas.
I’ve gotten some great ideas while listening to sermons too. 🙂 I even had two characters carry on an argument in the middle of one Sunday sermon. My husband couldn’t understand why I was writing so furiously until I explained afterwards. 🙂
Yes and amen. In fact I just wrote a blog post about that very thing, sitting in church and scribbling plot notes…
I find my best inspiration during worship at church. Perhaps it is annoying to others (but we are at the kids table with all the coloring books and puzzles so perhaps I am far enough away to annoy) but during those gorgeous songs I’ll have ideas for character wounds and development and plot twists and…stuff. So I am often scribbling on my bulletin like a mad woman while listening to the beautiful praise music.
I’ve found an idea from music more than once.
This past summer I could not get my story flowing. Finally I shut down my laptop and went for a bike ride. Back home again, the story took off. It took a slight detour, but was so much better than I’d been trying to work it before. With the weather now in the teens, I’ll have to rely on the exercise bike.
If only the exercise bike could see the same terrain as your summer bike rides.
Wendy,
We are toilet-scrubbing kindred spirits! I also get creative ideas (and stress reduction) while swimming laps at my local pool. Toilets. Dish water. Washing machine. Pool. It must be a water thing.
Yep. Water. There’s something about water.
Agree! Agree! Agree! I have a clawfoot tub too. The think tank. I love it. I should start putting pen and paper on my little table beside my tub. 🙂
And the weirdest thing–sometimes I’ll dream answers to my plotting issues. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and know exactly how to fix something.
Neat post, Wendy!
I miss my old claw foot but in this new house I have a gigantic garden tub which I adore. Still my think tank.
My mindless task is pretty simple–go take a long walk! The ticket is this: no ipod, no phone, nothing with earphones allowed!
Love that, Brenda. I need a media fast more often (she says while typing away on her computer).
Wendy, I bet you know my friend Londie Phillips, who is still in that doll design world. She and I went to high school together and are still friends. 🙂
I don’t think I’ve met Londie but I have been out for a long time.
Mucking stalls has always inspired my creativity. Definitely a mindless routine activity, and actually not as bad as it sounds.
And the horses love you.
Wendy, I never knew your past work history! How exciting! I too have found cleaning to be great creative exercise. Running has also been a great creative release. I come home with several new ideas, and once outlined my whole book during a 7 mile run! But now that we are under a foot of snow, I will probably have to resort to cleaning toilets…
Running would not be good for me for creativity. I’d be too busy trying to get enough air to breathe.
“I thought of that while riding my bicycle.”
― Albert Einstein
Perfect quote, Jenni!
Yes!! I just spent a good part of a snowy afternoon organizing my files. What therapy! Not only did it get the creative juices flowing, but I also found great articles I had saved and snippets of story ideas that I’d forgotten about.
I clean toilets daily for 3 able adult men, so I get rather cranky about toilet cleaning. In the midst, I often waste my creativity composing bold speeches that begin with, “Just because you were born a man..,” and end with general remarks about entitlement issues.
After reading your fun and wise post, Wendy, I realize I’m adding to my angst instead of developing my creativity.
Thank you for the smile and for the wisdom!
He delicately said, “Scooping up what comes out of the south end of my hound.”
I’m so late to the party tonight, but just had to say– what a great post! It’s so true. Something about cleaning something out physically seems to also sweep the cobwebs from my mind. And I love that you called the tub the “think tank”– it’s where I read manifold writing craft books earlier in my writing journey. It’s where I learned how to write fiction. Well, that and within dissected pages of edited drafts, haha! Thanks for being wonderful, Wendy.
Love this humorous and insightful post! For me, simply the act of going to sleep at night causes my creativity juices to begin flowing, and just when I need my sleep the most.
Idle minds begin to wander and I guess they wander back to where you wanted them to be. When we focus too hard, the juices stop flowing. When we relax, they come forth on their own. At least, that is my humble opinion.
Regards, S.J. Francis
Creativity sparks for me when I’m vacuuming. Something about the movement inspires me. I also like brainstorming in the shower. Or I pray. Nothing like being bare before the Lord!
I totally agree, brainless work certainly helps the creativity in a person. Something about doing mindless work frees the creativity part of our brains, allowing the ideas to flow.