(Feel free to swap the word wife for husband, kids, parents, boyfriend, friends, or what have you.)
"What no wife of a writer understands is that a writer is working when he's staring out the window." ~Burton RascoeThis quote couldn't be more true for me, especially when I'm riding in a car. My mind drifts to places non-writers wouldn't understand. I try to think of unique ways to describe the color of the sky, the swaying palm trees, or any of the other landscape my eyes sweep across. I pass houses, businesses, or people and create a skeleton plot and character summary based on any combination of random factors.
My mind never shuts up. It's always been like that. That's probably why writing makes me happy. My crazy mishmash of never-ending thoughts have somewhere to go. I don't feel so crazy if I can pluck some thoughts from the garden of my brain and turn them into an actual story.
A blank page (or Word doc) is my open window. Through that window anything is possible--and my imagination produces some spectacular views.
What about you? Are you a window gazer? Does your tale-weaving mind work overtime?
PS: Is anyone going to the World Fantasy Convention
in Ohio at the end of the month?
I'll be there with Sara McClung and Carolina Valdez Miller. And I recently found out the infamous Simon C. Larter will be there too. Needless to say, we're all getting a tad excited.
Lovely! Yes, my husband finds me staring at nothing while my mind is somewhere else. I've always been like this, ever since I was a child - I should have recognized the signs. It would have saved me a lot of career angst!
ReplyDeleteI am forever woolgathering. It used to get me in trouble, too, because I'd zone out in school, lost in my own world. But little did they know I was CREATING.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for WFC! Livia Blackburne will be there, too. And Blake Charlton. But I especially can't wait to see you!
Absolutely. The best time for me is when I'm walking. It gets the blood pumping and seems to stimulate ideas.
ReplyDeleteMy best ideas come to me in the morning while I am washing my hair, cleaning the house or driving to work. If one part of my mental self is happily occupied fighting with the stain on the carpet or dodging traffic, my other creative mind likes to take over and play with ideas. I do like peace and quiet when I write and that is something that Funny Man is slowly starting to grasp ;) after 17 years! - G
ReplyDeleteI love that quote, it's absolutely perfect. The best ideas come to me while I'm outside, filling up the cows' water tank, taking a walk, fishing; I love it all. I wish i could go to the conference! I bet it'll be a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I did more gazing but I am starting to get back to that childlike innocence and curiosity. Great quote! :O)
ReplyDeleteI love that quote! This post makes me feel at home. I've always been like that, too, gazing and musing. In that talk by Susan Straight I went to she mentioned it, also. Like she said, Just be in it.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely a window gazer. Pretty much a gazer in general, actually. That quote is so true. Onlookers have no idea how much is actually going on in those moments.
ReplyDeleteI stare out of windows or into space all the time! I just need to start doing it with a notepad and pen in hand so when people ask if I'm okay I can say, "Don't worry, I'm a writer." ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little I used to stare out of the car window and imagine that unicorns were running through the trees we were driving past. Actually, I still do it. It's something I never really grew out of, and I'm glad! I hope I always see unicorns in the trees. =)
I've gotten some great ideas while driving.
ReplyDeleteYou totally get it. No one understands what is going on in my rock box and there is no easy way to really explain it. I am known to stare, to gaze, hell I have even dozed if I thought I would get some mental payback from it.
ReplyDeleteYES! This describes the way I work PERFECTLY! I may look like I'm staring off into space at nothing. But my mind is far away, telling a story I will someday put to paper. Beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteSide Note: MAN I wish I was going with all of you. Have fun, take lots of pictures and I want to hear ALLLLLLLLLLLLL about it when you get back. #jealous
Love the quote! Where in Ohio are you going to be?
ReplyDeleteMy brain does that at bed time - when it's time to sleep, I just can't turn it off! LOL. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat quote! Yes, I'm totally a window-gazer! A people-watcher, too. :)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I found you and this! I got in a conversation with my sisters this weekend and they were analyzing why I can be a successful writer and never know where my keys are and always be absent minded. I said, my mind is not absent, it is just otherwise employeed all of the time!!
ReplyDeleteI do this nonstop. My brain never stops. I'm always imagining things. I wouldn't have it any other way though.
ReplyDeleteI'm infamous now? Huh. I like it. Finally my life of crime is earning me the respect I deserve.... :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to WFC!
One of the best quotes evah. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI was a window gazer as a child and nothing has changed since then.
ReplyDeleteAdore this quote! So true!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I do the exact same thing. And those windows can occur anywhere. I even make up backgrounds for the interesting people I encounter while grocery shopping. Our imaginations are amazing things, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteI have to say I get a lot of ideas from people watching or just sitting outside.
ReplyDeleteOMG it's crazy you posted this today, cause Sunday night I was driving home from somewhere, and I looked in the sky about an hour after the sun set, and I was thinking, those dark clouds look like ink blots... then I just went with it... I totally do this. In fact, some of my best ideas come in the car ;o)
ReplyDeleteFantastic quote ;o)
Oh, I totally do this too. And then I get mad if people interrupt my thoughts, which they don't understand since I'm just staring "blankly" out the window...
ReplyDeleteHave fun at the fantasy convention! I wish I was going!
dude I'm TOTALLY a window gazer too!! For me, instead of palm trees, today I was driving home and thought "the trees, changing for fall, curved over the road creating a red and golden canopy". Okay, maybe lame because it's unedited but I'm so gonna clean it up and use it :)
ReplyDeleteI can't WAIT to see you!!!
Um yes. I think I have ADD. I can't ever focus on just one thing at a time. Whether I'm making dinner, or mowing the lawn, or even playing with my kids (yes, bad mommy), I'm solving plot problems in my head. I think it's the writer's curse.
ReplyDeleteYAY for WFC. I hope it's amazing. And, as always I want all the details when you get back.
World Fantasy Convention? That sounds awesome! Especially since you're going with Sara and Carolina. That should be fun!
ReplyDeleteEvery writer knows it! ;)
ReplyDeleteSilver
Miss you. That is all.
ReplyDeleteI need to be more in the loop with these conventions! Eventually I'll make my way to one, though this one sounds like one I'd hate to miss!
ReplyDeleteHow funny and true is this post? Just last night I was staring out at traffic and my husband asked "How's the story coming along?" i looked at him with a blank stare and he continued "You're playing a movie in your head, I can tell"
And that's why I married him... he's sweet even when he doesn't realize it.
Hi! I'm a new follower, fellow writer and Floridian. Love your blog! I have about a 50 minute drive to work (one-way), so I agree that driving is a great time to work on writing. I think about plot, characters, edits, all sorts of stuff. It's kind of my quiet time to get everything lined up in my head, so then it comes out easily on paper. Anyways, great to connect with you, and feel free to stop by my blog sometime!
ReplyDeleteOh, World Fantasy Convention, I wish! Please post and tell us about it! My ideas mostly show up when I'm in the shower or out for a long walk. The former leaves me shouting out words for my husband to remember for me, the latter's slightly less inconvenient, as at least I can fit a notebook in my pocket!
ReplyDeleteLove the quote.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness yes. Staring out of windows, down long streets, at walls with interesting scratches, ocationally at people. That creeps them out for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI love staring out the window, especially while listening to music, such vivid images come to me.
ReplyDeleteYea is a very beutiful..:))) (((:
ReplyDeleteI Love You So Much
satta king you want to make sure that your advertisements are being viewed by the correct target audience. If your company Play Bazar sells women's purses, it would not be very beneficial or profitable to market your product on a men's health site.
ReplyDelete