tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post7946900567787612492..comments2024-02-05T10:41:31.777-05:00Comments on I Saw Lightning Fall: What Do We Need for Inspiration?Loren Eatonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-68936344524861276912011-09-28T08:37:21.925-04:002011-09-28T08:37:21.925-04:00Absolutely, at least as far as the whole "ins...Absolutely, at least as far as the whole "inspiration needs input" axiom goes. We gain inspiration by exposure, not by sequestering ourselves in some tower and waiting for it to fall from heaven.<br /><br />I'm not particularly sympathetic, though, to those who use chemical substances to achieve altered creative states, mainly because the brain/mind dichotomy seems strong to me. I'm not convinced the mind is solely the result of matter in motion. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116915058061980596.html" rel="nofollow">The Dalai Lama's research on neuroplasticity</a> -- very roughly the idea on how the non-corporeal mind changes the physical brain -- gels with my experience of a family member who had a brain injury.<br /><br />But, yeah, no matter what one thinks on that topic, straight-edge writers tend to be more coherent and flame out less than pill poppers or hop heads. Just look at what happened to poor Robert Sheckley!Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-68750978436258902882011-09-27T15:06:57.485-04:002011-09-27T15:06:57.485-04:00I do find that if I spend too long without some ki...I do find that if I spend too long without some kind of new input, whether it be travel or reading outside of my usual habits or whatnot, then I have a harder time writing in general. Inspiration needs input, needs grist for the mill and bones to make bread. Some people find that in chemical alterations of the brain, and frankly, given that *everything* is functionally just chemical alterations in the brain, I can't really gainsay them. I refrain more because I don't enjoy the effects and because I have concerns about health impact than because of some specific issue with outside stimulation. It doesn't matter to me whether you boosted your dopamine by riding a wild stallion or snorting two grams of coke so long as you can harness it and turn it into art.<br /><br />I do find I tend to prefer the less chemically dependent authors in broad terms, however, if only because they tend to be a bit more coherent. :-PScattercathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00302815654553659644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-83528500024330031492011-09-23T10:15:59.712-04:002011-09-23T10:15:59.712-04:00Well, I don't know if I'd consider theolog...Well, I don't know if I'd consider theological, philosophical or scientific works to be "aids." They're just grist for the mill, the good stuff of life, topics worthy of being incarnated into stories. <br /><br />The caffeine, well, at least it's not meth.<br /><br />But as far as Kvothe goes, we can probably both agree that his romantic fixation is bad for his art. And his health. And his life in general. Poor guy.Loren Eatonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12488412683340389286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4025264318423694875.post-59050337390817868812011-09-22T12:08:10.202-04:002011-09-22T12:08:10.202-04:00Honestly, I would fall under the category of someo...Honestly, I would fall under the category of someone who needs certain aids to write.<br /><br />So would Kvothe, though. (For him, the inspiration just wasn't chemical so much as romantic.)<br /><br />My best writing comes under the influence of two different things--sermons and caffeine. Sermons probably just fall under the category of "research," since my stories tend to have at their heart some question at least vaguely related to theology/ethics/political philosophy. But the situation itself is important; the emotional state of engaging my mind with a sermon after and before engaging my heart with song, the aesthetic beauty of a good preacher's voice and speech-rythms, the memory of a lifetime of being convicted, angered, frustrated, uplifted, &c. by sermons. All these things seem to stir the cauldron of story, if you will, so that I end up often inspired to write where I otherwise wasn't.<br /><br />The effects of caffeine are simpler, but no less important. Caffeine makes me a bit more energetic, a bit "overclocked," and (most importantly) a bit less inhibited. This is important, as one of the prime difficulties of writing for me is my compulsive desire to edit and self-critique rather than just *creating.* If I'm less inhibited, I am able to save this editing for the later stages. The result is some horrible moments in rough drafts, but also actual stories rather than single perfect sentences or paragraphs.<br /><br />I also tried alcohol, and determined that all it does is dull my mind. That's probably a good thing, all considered.<br /><br />After all, we all know the results of Neil Gaiman's "Being an Experiment Upon Strictly Scientific Lines."Chestertonian Ramblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01550643992523840950noreply@blogger.com