... Rules ...
This is stolen from this month's Writers' News.
'There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are.' Somerset Maugham
And in my notebook where I scribble my waking up/half asleep thoughts:
'Turtles snapping on the path.'
'My people go before me.'
I think I may have to file those under unusable - along with 'Malcolm's Mind Experiment'.
Perhaps my writing rule should be not to bother writing down random thoughts as I will never have the slightest idea what any of them mean.
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17 comments:
Ha! I know what you mean. Check out this fantastic idea for a short story I scribbled into my note book one night:
"some kind of reality tv programme where they're stuck with a bunch of other people. The affairs that go on, the phone calls home etc"
Oh, it sounds scintillating! Just like...ehr...reality TV!
Doh!
The majority of the ideas that pop into my head while I'm in bed are awful, but at the time I think they are facinating. But it's still worth it I think, in case something does work!
Keep jotting them down Helen, you just never know. I've kept loads of odd bits and pieces over the years and some of them (admittedly not many) have found their way into stories and have even provided opening lines.
My people go before me
That's a great line and well worth waking up for and scribbling down.
Keep them all Helen:-)
x
Cal - yes I know exactly what you mean!
Yvonne - I think there's something about the sleepy state that makes everything seem fascinating!
Sarah - sometimes the only way to get them out of my head is to write them down - so doubtless I will carry on doing it.
Lane - yes - but what on earth did I mean by it?
...and then there's the dream where you've stumbled on the killer plot of all time, but, er what was it now?
Perhaps you could combine the lines in a nonsense rhyme, and that might trigger something
I find them rather intriguing thoughts/ideas so please don't stop writing them down (they even seem connected something - a short poem even!). You never know when these sentences may come in handy!
The real question is do you have to understand what you write? Let the others try to make sense of it all, I say! (and they will - that is what literature is all about, I think/believe)
I'e got various random thoughts scribbled down, that seemed like good ideas at the time. My favourite - 'pregnant with best friend's husband's child - leaves her the baby' God knows where that came from!!
Actually, it's not a bad idea...
You might not know what to do with them but at least they were interesting words. Mine are usually complete garbage.
Aliqot - yes, I think nonsense is the right word here ...
Pacha - maybe you're right. And maybe that's what Malcolm's Mind Experiment is all about!
Karen - that does sound like a tangled web. You should write that one!
Debs - I do find the snapping turtles interesting - but not quite sure where I'd put them!
Oh, half-asleep thoughts are hardly ever hooks for stories but they can make great prompts...
My best (ie worst) ever?
"She was dark-skinned but with freckles - half black and half white like a Starsky and Hutch concentrate”
Gawd.
The turtles sound intriguing, Helen! Worth keeping all those weird and wonderful thoughts, you never know where they might lead.
No, no! You must always write down even your maddest ideas. Otherwise, what are you going to auction off when you've spent your millions on wine, and notebooks, and nice pencils, and men?
I definitely have those weird middle-of-the-night thoughts, except I often can't face turning on the light, so I do this awful thing of trying to create associations with things I'll do in the morning, i.e. imagining myself brushing my teeth and the idea coming back to me in a lightbulb moment.
Never works.
Jen - hmmm, like the Starsky and Hutch reference!
Maddie - the funny thing is I even saw the turtles in a dream!
Leigh - good point!
Amy - but that soooo sounds like it should work!
Amy - I do the same. Nope. Never works for me either!
I love the little gems of randomness that flit into your mind just before you drop off to sleep. Trouble is, I can never remember them when I wake up!
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