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

[Michael Monello]

Didn't you just tweet that you are under deadline for an article?

;)

Mike
http://www.campfirenyc.com/
Sent from a smart(-ish) phone.

On Sep 15, 2009, at 6:05 PM, "Burcu Bakioglu" <bbakiogl at gmail.com>  
wrote:


> 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."

> _______________________________________________

> ARG_Discuss mailing list

> ARG_Discuss at igda.org

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