Im 30yrs old and Ive been writing short stories, novels, poetry, song lyrics ect but now since I'm a new mommy, Ive lost all creativity, my husband think I will start getting ideas and brainstorming from my daughter.... but I don't see.... This is so tough. I have so much to write but don't know where to start especially character wise. How do I do it???? Thanks in advance for any help given
Some possible ideas to get you started: just sit down at your writing desk and write about the day's events and if anything in particular about the day's events stick out to you, try to expand on that. You may also try taking a paragraph or two from a book you haven't read and try to expand on that material with your own thoughts. These are a couple (of many) methods to just get the creative juices flowing; once you have them flowing, try to attack what you want to write about and see if that helps.
I will have to agree with Raki, that you should sit down and take a seat. Think of some ideas that comes into your mind, and then find ways to put those ideas together. Don't worry about spelling and grammar, because this is only the planning stage of your writing. When your ideas are put together, you may be thrilled that you have more ideas than ever before. I was struggling to come up with ideas of my own, when I was writing my novel, and now I am in the planning stage of my writing. Once you come up with enough ideas, your story will do the rest for you. In other words, the story will come up with ideas itself. All you have to do is put the plot together. It can be hard at first, but it will get easier once you type a few sentences or paragraph of ideas.
How new a Mommy ? Part of it will be new Mum brain - it does happen competent intelligent women start forgetting where they left keys, who the prime minister is etc Aside from that type seventh sanctum into google - it has plot and character generators you just get a few lines but I find it helps spark things my new novel has sort of come from one. It was very vague involved an automaton, set at the seaside, with a child, main theme was fear. I didn't succeed in everything it asked for but I got a new story.
I agree with the others Remembering back to when I was a new mum - babies are demanding - they cry and you are expected to jump. As well as being bundles of joy they are also, a huge responsibility, time consuming and demanding. You will be multitasking like mad. With so much on your mind and the extra work load, maybe your subconscious as kicked in and decided to put your creative juices on a back-burner for a while. At this stage I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you have been creative in the past then you have the ability to be creative, and when the time is right you will be creative again. For the time being, just relax and enjoy every precious moment with your new daughter. One day you'll turn around and she will be fully grown - then you will treasured the memories of her childhood, don't waste one more second of this unique relationship and special time worrying about creative writing. Edit - p.s. My baby daughter is 27 years old - and to think she was only born yesterday! I love her to bits. She lives in London and I only see her when we visit each other- we spend hours on the phone. Elg. forgetting the keys is one thing, but forgetting who the prime minister is -may be a problem?
LOl but entirely normal when you have 3 of them in 5 years especially when middle one thinks an hour is a long sleep. Google is wonderful for filling in memory gaps. Also personally not being able to find my keys when going out the door is waaay more important than the prime minister
och I know its David Cameron now youngest is nearly two and I am getting sleep on a semi regular basis six hours joined up sleep now happens unless someone is sick or middle one is overly wriggly (he spends half the night in the middle of the bed). However had you asked me when middle one was still sleeping around 1-2 hours at a time and birth control failed I couldn't have cared less lol When someone did ask I nearly said Mrs T i knew that wasn't quite right somehow - then couldn't remember To OP like Trilby says enjoy little one - if she is creative stories will come my daughter is constantly writing (she is seven), current project is about Rosie the granddaughter of Swift Wind/Spirit (flying unicorn in the cartoon She-Ra (female He-Man) ). We have written loads together. My middle one tells about how everything missing goes to the moon and he has a serious speech delay lol
I know, been there. I had 4 children over 16 years. Maybe it is better to have your children closer together and get it over with. p.s. I think we've gone off thread
We'll have to wait for the OP to come back - not sure if we have gone off on a tangent. If her little one is under two, she is still breastfeeding maybe, possibly still up at night etc New mummy brain is possibly more relevant than loss of creativity - mine actually not only returned whenmy third was about ten months old it exploded. That was when i started writing at a great rate of knots and couldn't get stories out quick enough.
For me, it was the sleep deprivation after babies that made concentrating hard. I still get dumb when I'm working too hard, and my writing gets wooden. The trouble for me is, I need a nice empty day ahead of me and no interruptions (like right now, my youngest's sleepover friends are wandering around in pyjamas taking photos of each other and dropping toast crumbs everywhere, so can't write this morning!). But the heightened emotions and funny stories you eventually get from the children will make up for the break in creativity--your husband is right. Oh, and creativity doesn't 'die', it's always lurking there somewhere waiting for the right conditions, like those Kalahari plants that can only blossom once a year when it rains...
I have read an interview where award winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri said that for at least some hours she shuts herself in a room and write everyday.
I personally agree with the importance of having that routine of a place and time to write. My self-published novel was mostly written when I was still in my first marriage, and our son was on the cusp of his teenage years. Then I tended to write on a word processor in my bedroom, and always at weekends and in the late afternoon. However, I am now in a very different domestic situation, with a new partner and three kids who are five or under, so the writing of my current novel now takes place on my laptop, in my living-room late at night, although again still mostly on weekends. Individual circumstances will dictate where and when, but I do think that such a routine is vital in order to get the best results from your efforts.
I think we did just a tad LOL. My daughter is 6 months old.... One the plus side I've gotten character names down but I'm still lost... I use to write ALOT and now I'd be happy if I got anything for my stories
Give it until she is between nine and twelve months - that is usually when things in the brain department begin to improve, they start to be a tad more independent, are more engaging start to babble and talk more etc
I don't think you should be too hard on yourself, and you certainly shouldn't panic. I've had several stretches of time, some of which went on for several years, where I had neither the creativity nor the energy for writing. I also thought I might have lost the capability permanently, and I was wrong. Right now, it's all flowing out of me as if I'd pierced an overpressurized tank. If you don't feel like writing right now, just don't. If you do, just write and see where your fingers take you. Never mind if you feel what you're writing isn't good, not creative enough or what have you, you can always go over it again later and revise.
