Bones is so good. So, so good. A brilliant, socially inept forensic anthropologist teams up with a streetwise FBI agent to solve murders. Action, suspense, a little anatomical gore, a lot of tension and a little romance ensue. It’s perfect. It’s like reading a mystery. A really compelling, really long mystery. Bones has been my constant companion these last two and half months. I have been watching Bones since Halloween night until today, at least one episode daily. Today I will finish Season Four.
So what’s the big deal? I’ll tell you what the big deal is. I have not written a word—a word—of fiction since I started watching Bones. I have written a few blog posts, but hey! They haven’t been very literary either. When I started Pear in a Partridge Tree, my original intent was to write down my experiences in story-like fashion. To report factual events in an interesting, literary way. Practice, basically. And a type of journal. For the most part, I’ve done that. And I do allow myself the indulgence of introspection every now and then…
But I digress. I want to be an author. I want to write fiction. To stir up people’s imaginations and explore all kinds of What Ifs. How can I do that if nothing I’m doing is stirring up any ideas? Ideas, believe it or not, do NOT generate themselves.
A week ago, I was at work editing a 79 page document that will soon be a new, extensive Library booklist. As I read over the hundreds of annotations under each title my mind began to race. Story ideas I’d had in the past—one in particular—began to come alive in my head. Characters I had formed only conceptually in my mind became real people with goals and desires. It was actually difficult for me to concentrate on the task at hand. I was excited! I was motivated to begin writing anew. I’ve been working on some other story for years now that has sort of stonewalled me, but this other idea…it was fresh! It was all I could do to keep from jotting down notes then and there.
I should have. I really should. But I’ve stopped carrying a notebook around with me—which I need to remedy immediately.
After two full days of editing, of reading the synopses to hundreds of books, my life went back to its normal routine. I thought about writing down my ideas, but…the moment, really, had passed. It was too hard for me to sit down and try to regain that flash of creativity. It was a moment that had come and gone. After a long day of hard work, or unfulfilled expectations, or a little bit of tedium, it was easier to just sit, kick back, and let…well…Bones take over that part of my brain… Mental anesthesia.
I have a theory: I think the part of the brain that creates is one of the most complex and developed parts. I have no scientific evidence at hand to back up this claim. But my own personal experiences seem to point to this truth. It takes effort to create. I feel that it takes GREAT effort to decide to do something new—and that, by the way, is my definition of creativity: doing something new. Nothing more nothing less. It doesn’t have to be new to the world necessarily. Just new to me. Make a new food. Learn a new song. Write a new story.
Etc.
So here’s my big new goal. Now that my stint with Bones is coming to an end, I’m going to start reading again. A Neil Gaiman book that should have taken me two or three days to read has now been stretched out for over two weeks. That’s pathetic! So my first order of business will be to finish that, then pick a book from a different genre and move into that. And then once that is done, I’ll start into a different genre.
To what point? Is this all just a different way of anesthetizing my brain after months of Bones? Nope! Just trying to kick my creativity back into gear and get some real writing done.
3 comments:
I like your idea of picking books from different genres. It is so easy to find a thing you like and stick with it. Like I do at restaurants. If they have a taco salad, or something like it, that's what I get. I'm trying to be creative in the kitchen and it is rather good for me. As hard as it is sometimes, it is good.
Also, I read somewhere that you actually burn less calories while watching TV than you do sitting doing absolutely nothing. It has to do with brain activity. So I believe it when you say that creativity has been on hold while Bones was in charge. That said, I should watch less mind-numbing television (which is to say all television). Thanks for the reminder!
Oh, I love bones too - though my sensibilities have been offended a few times and I've taken to closing my eyes in the "discovery of the body" scene.
I think TV obstructs our creativity because we are not trying to do anything. I also think those with the interest in writing can learn from successful writers just as artists can learn from other artists... The trick is to "do" the learning.
I'll look forward to your writing
Here's a tip I picked up from Isaac Azimov, one of the most prolific authors of fiction and non-fiction EVER:
Isaac would write until he got stumped. At that point, he'd go out to the movies. He preferred action movies, but in my experience almost anything works. After spending over an hour in an entertained stupor, he'd return to his typewriter and, as if by magic, he would no longer be stumped.
I don't know what this says about TV and creativity. All I know is I enjoy watching characters struggle, and the experience of watching other people's characters struggle gets me excited to drop a nice fat reality-bomb on my own.
I look forward to reading more of your writing too. I'm sure it will be classy and tasteful, which will give my family something to read in lieu of my raunchy stories.
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