Embrace Life's Noise, Let Your Ideas Marinate & Fill Up Your Eco Meter
In an ideal world, we’d have a brain blast, pop a squat in front of our computers, and have the "right" words pouring out of us faster than peanut butter melting on hot toast. But let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? Writing a first draft is nothing short of a grind. And for most of us mere mortals, life is rarely conducive to getting that first draft down. Between our job(s), kids, pets, skeleton clowns, bills, Netflix, #NotMyAriel trending on Twitter (-_-), global warming, Amazon, and the 99 other problems and obstacles weighing down on us there’s always some kind of noise working to derail our momentum. But there’s power in this noise. If you give yourself space and time to wade through it.
During a recent interview, with Brandon Melendez (if you haven’t read his debut collection Gold That Frames the Mirror, stop reading this and go buy it right now) he offered two crucial tips:
Know thyself.
Freewrite liberally and frequently.
To avoid getting super philosophical, I’ll leave number one to you. But let’s chat some more about number two. “No matter how big or small,” Melendez explains, “all those ideas start to become synaptic connections over time.” With all the noise surrounding us, it’s easy for even the best ideas to get drowned out. Writing these ideas down solidifies their existence and gives you a reference point to gravitate around in the midst of all the noise.
But the key is to give the idea enough time to develop.
The idea of being patient once you've had an idea might feel counterintuitive. Especially since our brains are flooded with dopamine when that eureka moment hits and leaves us feeling higher than a kite—talk about motivating. But letting the idea marinate (or incubate) will pay dividends in the long run.
Let's look at it another way...
Growing up, I was a huge fan of Naughty Dog’s Jak and Daxter trilogy (sorry guys, not counting Jak X), particularly Jak II. Not only because I could square off with Haven City’s less-than-ethical law enforcement, but also because I got to play as Dark Jak—Jak’s destruction-crazed, dark eco-wielding alter ego.
But I couldn’t turn into Dark Jak whenever I wanted. Instead, I had to dive into the thick of the game. I needed to wade through sewers and solve hidden temple puzzles. I had to win hovercraft races and hunt down metalheads. I had to problem solve and be an active participant in the world to collect eco and fill up my meter. And even when the meter was full I saved it until the moment I needed that wonderful little darkling the most.
The same strategic approach can be used in writing.
Of course, this begs the question of how much time are we're talking about? Well, it depends on your writing process, your schedule, and other factors. The main thing is to make sure you keep working on the idea. Write random scenes, snippets of dialogue, crappy openings, imagine the same scenario playing out 15 different ways, seek and destroy plot holes, hell maybe even write the ending. Using the incubation phase of your creative process will help you make stronger connections, as well as new ones.
And all the while embracing that noise.
Let it fuel you with a sense of urgency. When we aren’t writing, we need to be absorbing. We need to dive into the thick of things, gain experience, talk to people, and collect some eco. Bit-by-bit the meter will fill until finally the tank’s full, and the idea you’ve been puzzling out and the details you’ve been absorbing will reach a tipping point where momentum is imminent. The rough draft still may not pour out so easily. But the main thing is that you’ll have a direction to go and the motivation you need to get that first draft rolling.
