[arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Sept. 14: Perspiration or Inspiration?

[Burcu Bakioglu]

Inspiration comes to me in odd occasions... like when I am hiking, swimming,
taking a shower, shopping... But executing that inspiration is a hell of a
lot of work and requires much hair pulling and discomfort. When I get an
idea I am always under the false impression that it is going to be easy to
execute/write, when I start the writing process I wonder what the hell I was
thinking earlier. And I don't really believe in anyone who says this is an
easy process, seriously, I've been writing for over a decade and it ain't
getting any easier.

burcu

On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 5:35 PM, Judy Tyrer <judy.tyrer at redstorm.com> wrote:


> I'm a programmer.  The solution to the problem ALWAYS happens on the drive

> home after beating my head against the proverbial brick wall for hours at a

> time.  It's inevitable.

>

> As a writer (which I am only rarely paid for) the inspiration comes in the

> morning upon first waking up.

>

> I think it's a left brain/right brain thing.  I can't write at night.  I

> can't code in the morning.

>

> Judy

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org [mailto:arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org]

> On Behalf Of Naomi Alderman

> Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 4:57 PM

> To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG

> Subject: Re: [arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Sept. 14: Perspiration or

> Inspiration?

>

> I actually had a conversation about this recently with Andrea and was

> *jealous as hell* when she told me that she can work on a problem and

> know that she can then just 'leave things to [her] subconscious' and

> reliably wake up the next morning with an idea. (Andrea, is this

> roughly what you said?)

>

> It is never like this for me :-(. If I'm not at my desk working, very

> little happens. The really great ideas, the ones that make all the

> difference to the project, those end up coming at random times (on a

> walk, in the pool, in the shower), but for the day-to-day 'what shall

> I do with this next scene?' questions it is graft all the way. Sit and

> type and type and hope that something comes out.

>

> Dorothea Brande, if you don't know her book 'Becoming a Writer' is

> very good on the topic of 'activities that engender ideas'. She

> recommends setting yourself a writing (or other creative) problem,

> musing on it for a while, and then going off to do something which is

> fairly mindless, body-not-brain, perhaps something rhythmic and

> peaceful like walking, rocking in a rocking chair, knitting, washing

> up or whittling. Sometimes it's worked for me, but more often it's

> just banging my forehead with my fist until something falls out.

>

> - Naomi

>

>

>

> On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 8:02 PM, David Flor <dflor71 at gmail.com> wrote:

> > I'm a programmer by trade: I do things first, then think about them

> later.

> > If it takes six complete rewrites to get it right (even if some of those

> > rewrites are done for no reason), so be it.

> >

> > I have a hard time sitting down and coming up with ideas on the spot.

> Most

> > of my ideas come out of the blue at inconvenient times: on the bus, at

> 3am

> > while asleep, watching a movie in the theater, in the shower... I pretty

> > much go everywhere with a pen and paper at this point, and also have a

> set

> > on my nightstand (drives the wife crazy).

> >

> > Judy Tyrer wrote:

> >>

> >> I don't know about "waiting for an idea to come" as I think you have to

> be

> >> actively involved in DOING and then the idea comes.  It is in the doing

> of

> >> the project that one opens oneself up for ideas to flow.  You can't just

> >> watch TV all day waiting for inspiration.  You have to be actively

> involved

> >> in what you are wanting to achieve, regardless of the media in which you

> are

> >> working.  Inspiration comes through perspiration, I guess.  At least,

> that's

> >> been my experience.

> >> Judy

> >> -----Original Message-----

> >> From: arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org [mailto:arg_discuss-bounces at igda.org

> ]

> >> On Behalf Of Andrea Phillips

> >> Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 1:50 PM

> >> To: Discussion list of the IGDA ARG SIG

> >> Subject: [arg_discuss] Topic of the Week Sept. 14: Perspiration or

> >> Inspiration?

> >>

> >> This is a question that came up on IRC a few weeks ago. There are a

> >> few ways that creative work happens. On the one hand, there's the

> >> Stevie Wonder model, perspiration: You work and work and work (writing

> >> dozens of songs a fay, and then, by the numbers, some of the work will

> >> be chart-toppers. Then there's the inspiration model, the apocryphal

> >> Voltaire writing Candide in three days: You wait until an idea comes

> >> to you, and then you execute it in one dizzying whirlwind until it's

> >> done.

> >>

> >> So you: Where do you fall? Skew hard one way or the other? Someplace

> >> in the middle? On one end and wish you were on the other?

> >>

> >>

> >

> > _______________________________________________

> > ARG_Discuss mailing list

> > ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> > http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

> >

> _______________________________________________

> ARG_Discuss mailing list

> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

> _______________________________________________

> ARG_Discuss mailing list

> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>




-- 
Thanks,</burcu>

Burcu S. Bakioglu, Ph.D.

http://www.palefirer.com
http://palefirer.com/blog/
Skype: PaleFireR
AIM: PaleFireR

--
"Congratulations! You're the first human to fail the Turing test."