| Creative Rambling and Writer's Block Issues |
| by AJ Brown |
Hey. Come here for a second. A little closer. Yeah, are you as close to the screen
as possible? Well, sit back, I don't want you to hurt your eyes. Relax. Drink a cup
of Joe or water or whatever you fancy.
I don't know how long this is going to take, but I want you to be comfortable while
I ramble like I tend to do. Okay, are you comfortable? Good. Today, I would like
to talk about something I get asked about constantly: Creativity.
Creativity is the most important part of creative writing. At least, in my opinion.
Without it you don't actually have 'creative' writing, you just have writing. That can
be boring and tiresome, yah know? And we don't want that. Not in the writing
world. Not in the real world, either.
I believe everyone can be creative. Whether in writing, painting, telling a joke or
figuring out a new way to do something. Creativity is all around us, inside us—you,
me, your neighbor down the street who feeds all the cats and then doesn't clean
the poop they leave behind. It's in everyone. The key, though, is tapping that
creativity and that is what I am going to run off at the mouth . . . err . . . keyboard
about today.
as possible? Well, sit back, I don't want you to hurt your eyes. Relax. Drink a cup
of Joe or water or whatever you fancy.
I don't know how long this is going to take, but I want you to be comfortable while
I ramble like I tend to do. Okay, are you comfortable? Good. Today, I would like
to talk about something I get asked about constantly: Creativity.
Creativity is the most important part of creative writing. At least, in my opinion.
Without it you don't actually have 'creative' writing, you just have writing. That can
be boring and tiresome, yah know? And we don't want that. Not in the writing
world. Not in the real world, either.
I believe everyone can be creative. Whether in writing, painting, telling a joke or
figuring out a new way to do something. Creativity is all around us, inside us—you,
me, your neighbor down the street who feeds all the cats and then doesn't clean
the poop they leave behind. It's in everyone. The key, though, is tapping that
creativity and that is what I am going to run off at the mouth . . . err . . . keyboard
about today.
Danger lurks in every mind, in every soul, but AJ Brown likes to release it onto the world. With a never slowing, never
ending Train of Thought, he writes until his fingers bleed, his back hurts, his eyes are blurry and his body is stiff.
Then he meticulously releases those dangers onto the world in story form. Cringe now for the Underwriter is coming.
He is currently a member of RJ Cavendar's Terrible Twelve with the Horror Library. His publications include HUB
Magazine, Our Shadows Speak I, The Taj Mahal Review and many others. You can find his stories online at The
Horror Library.net and Bewildering Stories. His story The Woodshed can be found in the first installment of Dark
Distortions Anthology. He writes a blog for The Horror Library Blog-O-Rama and occasionally puts out an article for
other publications.
AJ is currently trying to gather all of the voices in his head into one room and lock them up so he can lead a normal
life. He fears, however, that this will never happen.
He has a belief that real creativity comes from opening your mind, relaxing and letting it flow with no limitations. If
that doesn't work... an axe, a wicked laugh and fake blood usually does.
ending Train of Thought, he writes until his fingers bleed, his back hurts, his eyes are blurry and his body is stiff.
Then he meticulously releases those dangers onto the world in story form. Cringe now for the Underwriter is coming.
He is currently a member of RJ Cavendar's Terrible Twelve with the Horror Library. His publications include HUB
Magazine, Our Shadows Speak I, The Taj Mahal Review and many others. You can find his stories online at The
Horror Library.net and Bewildering Stories. His story The Woodshed can be found in the first installment of Dark
Distortions Anthology. He writes a blog for The Horror Library Blog-O-Rama and occasionally puts out an article for
other publications.
AJ is currently trying to gather all of the voices in his head into one room and lock them up so he can lead a normal
life. He fears, however, that this will never happen.
He has a belief that real creativity comes from opening your mind, relaxing and letting it flow with no limitations. If
that doesn't work... an axe, a wicked laugh and fake blood usually does.
SURROUNDINGS
I am one of those very few folks that
don’t have writer's block—ever. There
may be a day or two once in a while that
my mind and I don't agree on what to
write, but it's not because I can't think of
anything. On the contrary, I think too
much. It seems my mind doesn't like to
slow down, which can be both good and
bad. Like right now. I am working on
THIS piece while a story is begging to
leap from my fingertips—literally. The
story is about a woman who hates the
sounds of fingernails on chalkboards—or
anything for that matter—but she keeps
raking her own nails along every surface
she finds to try to get over it.
I am one of those very few folks that
don’t have writer's block—ever. There
may be a day or two once in a while that
my mind and I don't agree on what to
write, but it's not because I can't think of
anything. On the contrary, I think too
much. It seems my mind doesn't like to
slow down, which can be both good and
bad. Like right now. I am working on
THIS piece while a story is begging to
leap from my fingertips—literally. The
story is about a woman who hates the
sounds of fingernails on chalkboards—or
anything for that matter—but she keeps
raking her own nails along every surface
she finds to try to get over it.
Do you see what I just did? That, my friends, is a segue or lead into, setting up this
next part. That story idea above about the girl and the fingernails came to me
yesterday afternoon when my wife and I took our two children to a park down the
road. My daughter, who hates the sound of nails on anything, raked her fingers
across a metal sign on the fence. She cringed, her little shoulders shrugged, her
eyes closed and a grimace stretched across her face.
"I don't know why she does that," my wife said.
I smiled and made notes in my mental notebook. An idea formed and it grew to
the point of jotting down thoughts in my real notebook that sits next to my
computer. I started experimenting while my wife was absent. I raked my
fingernails on glass, my desk, on the wall, the floor, the couch, the refrigerator,
the bathroom mirror, the television (don't do that with the tube on—nice bit of
static buildup there). The story formulated even more. I raked my fingernails
along my arm, shirt and pants. No, I'm not weird—it was a form of research for
the story.
At any rate, the creative part of my mind took over and created a story from the
simple act of my daughter raking her nails on a sign at the park. It's not the first
time this has happened and hopefully it won't be the last. I told you that for a
segue into this: If you pay attention to your surroundings and open your mind to
the possibilities, you can get a story from just about anything.
I'll give you another example:
next part. That story idea above about the girl and the fingernails came to me
yesterday afternoon when my wife and I took our two children to a park down the
road. My daughter, who hates the sound of nails on anything, raked her fingers
across a metal sign on the fence. She cringed, her little shoulders shrugged, her
eyes closed and a grimace stretched across her face.
"I don't know why she does that," my wife said.
I smiled and made notes in my mental notebook. An idea formed and it grew to
the point of jotting down thoughts in my real notebook that sits next to my
computer. I started experimenting while my wife was absent. I raked my
fingernails on glass, my desk, on the wall, the floor, the couch, the refrigerator,
the bathroom mirror, the television (don't do that with the tube on—nice bit of
static buildup there). The story formulated even more. I raked my fingernails
along my arm, shirt and pants. No, I'm not weird—it was a form of research for
the story.
At any rate, the creative part of my mind took over and created a story from the
simple act of my daughter raking her nails on a sign at the park. It's not the first
time this has happened and hopefully it won't be the last. I told you that for a
segue into this: If you pay attention to your surroundings and open your mind to
the possibilities, you can get a story from just about anything.
I'll give you another example:
COMMENTS
I finished a novella last week based on a
comment made in an online forum. I
can't remember what the conversation
was about, but the comment was how
when one person was a kid they would
have funerals for road kill. I thought
about that image for a while. Picture
this: Three kids standing around a small
hole. One of them holds a small
shoebox, a dead squirrel inside. The one
holding the box makes a brief speech
about the squirrel with the flattened
head. One of the other kids says a small
prayer and they bury the animal and
I finished a novella last week based on a
comment made in an online forum. I
can't remember what the conversation
was about, but the comment was how
when one person was a kid they would
have funerals for road kill. I thought
about that image for a while. Picture
this: Three kids standing around a small
hole. One of them holds a small
shoebox, a dead squirrel inside. The one
holding the box makes a brief speech
about the squirrel with the flattened
head. One of the other kids says a small
prayer and they bury the animal and
place a makeshift cross (made of sticks and rubber bands) on the grave. Now,
picture just one kid, his mind slightly skewed, bruises on his body from beatings he
received. In his hand is a dead animal—a cat that he loved. Anger builds up in the
kid and he snaps.
Now that you've pictured that, you have a small glimpse into the novella. There is
much more to it, but the point is that the idea came from a comment—one simple
comment about burying dead animals.
I smile when I think about this story. Hopefully, after a serious editing, I can find a
home for it.
Onward we go, pushing past this and forward into the realm of creativity.
SONG LYRICS
Many writers, myself included, get ideas from song lyrics or titles. I've written an
entire collection of stories based on songs by the band The Cranberries. I call it A
Bowl of Cranberry Sauce. I haven't published it simply because since I used some
of their lyrics in a few of the stories, and every story is titled after a song by The
Cranberries—I need to get permission first. However, my attempts at getting
permission have proven futile thus far. So, hey, if you know anyone associated
with The Cranberries, would you mind having them look me up?
Lyrics can be vital to creativity. What may just be a song to someone else could be
a story to a writer. Take for example a song by a local band here in Columbia,
South Carolina. The band is American Gun. The song is Man Verses Machine. A set
of lyrics from this song inspired a short story I wrote titled, Summer Jumpers. The
story is kind of gritty and a little on the messed up side, but would never have
happened if Todd Mathis would have never wrote the lyrics to the song.
I've written three stories based on songs by American Gun. One of them, Drowning
Ship, was published in the HELP Anthology. A good thing about knowing the band
members is it was easy to get permission to use lyrics if I needed to. Though I
didn't use the lyrics of the song, just the title, it still inspired a great pirate story.
picture just one kid, his mind slightly skewed, bruises on his body from beatings he
received. In his hand is a dead animal—a cat that he loved. Anger builds up in the
kid and he snaps.
Now that you've pictured that, you have a small glimpse into the novella. There is
much more to it, but the point is that the idea came from a comment—one simple
comment about burying dead animals.
I smile when I think about this story. Hopefully, after a serious editing, I can find a
home for it.
Onward we go, pushing past this and forward into the realm of creativity.
SONG LYRICS
Many writers, myself included, get ideas from song lyrics or titles. I've written an
entire collection of stories based on songs by the band The Cranberries. I call it A
Bowl of Cranberry Sauce. I haven't published it simply because since I used some
of their lyrics in a few of the stories, and every story is titled after a song by The
Cranberries—I need to get permission first. However, my attempts at getting
permission have proven futile thus far. So, hey, if you know anyone associated
with The Cranberries, would you mind having them look me up?
Lyrics can be vital to creativity. What may just be a song to someone else could be
a story to a writer. Take for example a song by a local band here in Columbia,
South Carolina. The band is American Gun. The song is Man Verses Machine. A set
of lyrics from this song inspired a short story I wrote titled, Summer Jumpers. The
story is kind of gritty and a little on the messed up side, but would never have
happened if Todd Mathis would have never wrote the lyrics to the song.
I've written three stories based on songs by American Gun. One of them, Drowning
Ship, was published in the HELP Anthology. A good thing about knowing the band
members is it was easy to get permission to use lyrics if I needed to. Though I
didn't use the lyrics of the song, just the title, it still inspired a great pirate story.
DREAMS
Some people write stories based on dreams. I
must admit, I have done that several times.
The first short story I ever wrote was based on
a nightmare. It's a cool story but one that I
don't plan on getting published—ever.
EXPERIENCES
Many folks use real life experiences. I use
them frequently—in most stories I write, there
is a piece of me inside it. It makes the stories
lively and sometimes they jump right off the
page. It's a great way to give your story a
more realistic feel to it.
Those are just a few examples of where creativity can come from. But, it's not just
about being creative. It's getting the story from your mind onto the paper or
computer screen. Most people struggle with this the most. It's putting what they
see in their heads onto paper. Sure, I see the dark house with the black shutters,
warped steps and broken windows. Sure, there is a woman in the window and she
is naked and split open from neck to navel. Yeah, she's waving at me, her dark
eyes boring holes into my soul. But, just because I can see it while I am writing it,
doesn't mean the reader can see it. The trick is helping the reader picture these
things without going into pages of descriptions.
about being creative. It's getting the story from your mind onto the paper or
computer screen. Most people struggle with this the most. It's putting what they
see in their heads onto paper. Sure, I see the dark house with the black shutters,
warped steps and broken windows. Sure, there is a woman in the window and she
is naked and split open from neck to navel. Yeah, she's waving at me, her dark
eyes boring holes into my soul. But, just because I can see it while I am writing it,
doesn't mean the reader can see it. The trick is helping the reader picture these
things without going into pages of descriptions.
Sometimes that can be a daunting task.
Though some stories may call for a
great deal of descriptions, most of them
don't. When I write I don't give all the
details of the surroundings and the
characters within the scene. I try to give
just enough information to make the
reader visualize things.
I would like to add one very important
thing. First off, you must understand
that these ideas are my own opinions.
This is what works for me. Someone
may disagree. Loads of folks may
disagree. Not my concern. This is what
works for me. Having said that, read on
a little further:
STORIES TELL THEMSELVES (if
you let them)
Though some stories may call for a
great deal of descriptions, most of them
don't. When I write I don't give all the
details of the surroundings and the
characters within the scene. I try to give
just enough information to make the
reader visualize things.
I would like to add one very important
thing. First off, you must understand
that these ideas are my own opinions.
This is what works for me. Someone
may disagree. Loads of folks may
disagree. Not my concern. This is what
works for me. Having said that, read on
a little further:
STORIES TELL THEMSELVES (if
you let them)
Many writers overdo it. They do. They try to get too cute or artsy with a story and
it ruins it. They try to get too technical with a story and it becomes boring. They
try to outsmart the reader and keep them guessing and they only end up
outsmarting themselves and making the readers feel as if they were robbed. They
try to use words like extralopigate (no such word, by the way) and readers are left
wondering what the words mean. Instead of doing all that, why don't you just keep
it simple?
Seriously.
it ruins it. They try to get too technical with a story and it becomes boring. They
try to outsmart the reader and keep them guessing and they only end up
outsmarting themselves and making the readers feel as if they were robbed. They
try to use words like extralopigate (no such word, by the way) and readers are left
wondering what the words mean. Instead of doing all that, why don't you just keep
it simple?
Seriously.
I ascribe to the old acronym K.I.S.S. It
stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. As a writer,
it isn't your job to complicate things to keep a
reader involved. It is your job to tell an
engaging story that a reader will want to
keep reading. If you want to get cute or artsy
or use big words then that is your choice, but
before you do that, just write the story. Then
go back and get all cute and artsy and use big
words. You see, I have found that when I try
to do too much with a story, the story itself
ends up lacking.
So, what do I do? I just write. I write what I
see in my head and hope that I've conveyed
enough to the readers so they understand it.
stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. As a writer,
it isn't your job to complicate things to keep a
reader involved. It is your job to tell an
engaging story that a reader will want to
keep reading. If you want to get cute or artsy
or use big words then that is your choice, but
before you do that, just write the story. Then
go back and get all cute and artsy and use big
words. You see, I have found that when I try
to do too much with a story, the story itself
ends up lacking.
So, what do I do? I just write. I write what I
see in my head and hope that I've conveyed
enough to the readers so they understand it.
I believe stories want to be told, but they want to tell themselves. The problem is
we get in the way, ruining the story and our creative juices. Sometimes that leads
to that good old phenomenon known as Writer's Block. Yeah, nothing like killing
the old creativity by getting in the way of the story being told.
Oh, and another thing: Stop worrying about word count—so what if the story turns
out to be ten-thousand words longer than you wanted it to be. Let the story ramble
if you must. At least the story is told the way the story wants to be told.
One more thing before I go and I shut my trap (or stop typing, in this case): If you
ever have an occasion where you have Writer's Block, get up and walk away. Go
outside or for a drive. Clear your mind for a moment, but take a pen and pad with
you. There is a reason.
When you get to your destination, open your pad and look around. After looking
around, take a moment to write what you see. By doing that, you create a scene.
Then add yourself into the scene. You just created a character. Next, think of why
the character is there? If you are there because you and your loved one got in an
argument, add that into the mix. You just created a problem. Now, think about
how to resolve that problem. Did you and the loved one argue because you forgot
to get her a birthday present? If so, put that in there. You've just expanded on the
problem. How do you solve the situation? Think about it for a minute. Do you go
and buy that loved one a gift or take them out to eat or write a sappy love song or
poem? If so, add that and you are well on your way to a resolution.
Finally, think about how you would like the problem to end. Maybe you want the
loved one to forgive you and ya'll make up with a kiss. Well, write that in there as
well. There is your ending.
Do you see what you just did? You just created a story. It's simple, really. But, it is
so difficult. Creativity is important—the most important thing, in my opinion—but
you still must move it from your head to the paper. That's the trick.
Can you do it? Certainly. I think everyone can. Can you be good at it? That is up to
you. It takes practice and enthusiasm and a very thick layer of skin. Just make
sure you get out of the way and let the story tell itself, and ALWAYS be open to the
things around you. Who knows where inspiration will strike next?
For now, I'm AJ and I'm out.
we get in the way, ruining the story and our creative juices. Sometimes that leads
to that good old phenomenon known as Writer's Block. Yeah, nothing like killing
the old creativity by getting in the way of the story being told.
Oh, and another thing: Stop worrying about word count—so what if the story turns
out to be ten-thousand words longer than you wanted it to be. Let the story ramble
if you must. At least the story is told the way the story wants to be told.
One more thing before I go and I shut my trap (or stop typing, in this case): If you
ever have an occasion where you have Writer's Block, get up and walk away. Go
outside or for a drive. Clear your mind for a moment, but take a pen and pad with
you. There is a reason.
When you get to your destination, open your pad and look around. After looking
around, take a moment to write what you see. By doing that, you create a scene.
Then add yourself into the scene. You just created a character. Next, think of why
the character is there? If you are there because you and your loved one got in an
argument, add that into the mix. You just created a problem. Now, think about
how to resolve that problem. Did you and the loved one argue because you forgot
to get her a birthday present? If so, put that in there. You've just expanded on the
problem. How do you solve the situation? Think about it for a minute. Do you go
and buy that loved one a gift or take them out to eat or write a sappy love song or
poem? If so, add that and you are well on your way to a resolution.
Finally, think about how you would like the problem to end. Maybe you want the
loved one to forgive you and ya'll make up with a kiss. Well, write that in there as
well. There is your ending.
Do you see what you just did? You just created a story. It's simple, really. But, it is
so difficult. Creativity is important—the most important thing, in my opinion—but
you still must move it from your head to the paper. That's the trick.
Can you do it? Certainly. I think everyone can. Can you be good at it? That is up to
you. It takes practice and enthusiasm and a very thick layer of skin. Just make
sure you get out of the way and let the story tell itself, and ALWAYS be open to the
things around you. Who knows where inspiration will strike next?
For now, I'm AJ and I'm out.
| Click on the link below to visit: The Horror Library |