Where were you when you had your "A-HA!" moment?

My last a-ha moment came at work. To make things worse, I actually jumped out of my seat and cried, "Woooooohooooo!!!" in front of my colleagues. To further complicate things, I then had to rush off to a meeting, during which I had to concentrate on boring work stuff, when my mind was a million miles away and accelarating.

You're right - a-ha's always strike at the worst possible time!

It happens when someone I don't like is talking at me or when I am obliged to listen to a person in authority. Either way, the other person thinks they are making progress!

My last ah-ha moment happened in bed. I know that sounds dirty but it's not. I'd been struggling with where to take a story from where I'd got it to and decided to just... have a rest. I woke up and bam, there it was.

It's usually while I'm in bed too! Half asleep, something hits and I have to stumble about looking for that pen and paper I'm sure I left by my bed. In the morning I find scraps of paper with nonsense written down on them.

Otherwise it's just whenever, wherever. Sometimes when I'm making notes, trying to find an answer to something or other times when I'm doing the least writing related thing.

Clare

Clarec said:

It's usually while I'm in bed too! Half asleep, something hits and I have to stumble about looking for that pen and paper I'm sure I left by my bed. In the morning I find scraps of paper with nonsense written down on them.

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I know that feeling. Always mean to leave my Ernest Hemingway notebook next to the bed but when I need it, it's always somewhere else. It does keep my beautiful EH leather bound notebook in pristine condition though.

I have A HA moments doing dishes, walking the dog, seems to happen anytime. I'm definitely one those who can't think about the problem or plot it just has to pop in my head and hopefully not get lost in the fog.

Once, while I was studying abroad in London, my computer decided to be a butt and it lost a scene that I really loved. Thing was, I couldn't remember the part off the scene I liked most. I kept thinking, "What the hell did I write last night? What WAS it? There was some wonderful witty piece of dialogue, and WHAT IS IT?"

Then, as I was working out, it came to me. Vomit! I remembered that one character rather rudely told the other to stop talking because she was making her nauseous.

That's my best aha! story. And it makes me miss London desperately.

My most recent one happened in the middle of the day at work. I'd been stuck in the middle of chapter 3 on my rewrite for a long time, and I'd also had this recurring thought regarding one supporting character's dead cat. I knew the cat was significant somehow, but I just couldn't figure out how.

That day at work, I realized the character had to tell a nihilism-infused story about her cat to the main character before I could ever get out of that chapter. I might have even said, "The cat!" out loud.

Fortunately my officemate was out of town that day, so I took a few minutes to draft out the cat scene. The next day was Saturday, and I had a total writing binge where the whole rest of chapter 3, plus chapters 4 and 5, just flowed on to the page.

I could really use another a-ha! moment right about now.

Every one of the posts above show that, if you were'nt daydreaming, your mind was wandering and not focused on any particular analytical or learning task. When this happens, the right half of your brain takes over, the half where all the creativity comes from. Your left brain is the one you're aware of, and the one where you are using when you think you're thinking or solving problems. You can actually hear a little voice talking you through the problem, etc.
Your right half is the quiet one. It has no vocabulary, therefore, no voice that you can listen to. But it's there, nonetheless, working away. The Ah-ha is the result of what your right brain has come up with and somehow got across the border to the left side, where it got put into words.
Look at all the activities you mentioned above and repeat them if you want to have more of those great experiences. Driving a car is another one. I think those activities put the left brain's border guards to sleep, allowing the right brain's ideas to get through.

I've had a couple recently because my book is getting to the good parts and I'm working without an outline. The best was a couple nights ago when my husband and I were arguing. He was saying something that I'm sure was very important, when I realized the friendly bartender was really an informant for the FBI! Who knew?

I don't have "Aha!" moments that much because I generally have to really think things through a long time!

That being said, I recently had sort of an "Aha!" moment, or more like, an "OH! Is THAT what I meant??" moment. I halted work on a long story of mine to take notes and this took over a year so the stuff I was taking notes on, I didn't remember what was going through my mind when I wrote much of it. In one scene the protagonist asks her old mentor, a medicine man, why he wanted to become so powerful in the past, who or what did he want to be powerful against? He reacts by getting very upset, snapping at her, and leaving. When she sees him again his eyes are even wet (he is NOT the crying type). I puzzled over this greatly. He's done some nasty things but he admitted most of them to her already, so what the heck had him so upset? I obviously had something in mind when I wrote the scene, but since then I'd completely forgotten what it was!

Then recently I got to mulling over his past and started thinking about his childhood and some ideas started falling into place...then came an obvious one and I sat up and thought, "OH! Is THAT what I was thinking when I wrote that??" I can't be sure, but it fits his reaction and his personality, at least. And it made for the start of an interesting sidestory. At least now I can get rid of the "Possible plot point!" notice I put in my notes when I came across that scene and wondered what it meant.

Maybe if I kept track of the stuff I'm thinking when I'm writing, this wouldn't happen.

I could definitely use some "Aha!" moments for other things, though.

Every book I've written has had at least a few dozen AHA! moments.

My most memoriable one is the time my ex & I were getting really hot and heavy after depositing the offspring at Gramma's for the night.

Yep, the lightbulb fix to the story tangle came to me moments after his brain went totally off-line. That was the longest "15 minutes" of my life.

Come to think of it, the fact that he didn't understand my eagerness to talk about the book post (and on a collab between the two of us, mind you) probably was a signal that the marriage (and the collab) was pretty much over. We didn't last a year after that incident.

Usually very late at night, when I'm trying to fall asleep. The thought will just intrude on my lovely daydreams that help me sleep and I'll have to get up and start pounding away on the keyboard to get it down, regardless of the hour.

I just had one in the shower this morning! That sounds more fun that it was...although untwisting a particularly tangled plot is also pretty fun.

I figure these bursts of brilliance happen for a lot of us when we either let go of the book entirely and think about something else, or let go of everything else entirely and think about just the book. In summation, multitasking is not a writer's friend.

Toilet.

Usually in bed, over an hour after I should have fell asleep.

in bed

Just before going to sleep.........it never fails! But i cant pretend sleep, you know, trick "it". I have to really be on the point of going to sleep. I try my very best to remember by the next day!

Renfaery said:

lol

Without fail my ah-ha! moments come in one of two places:

1)The shower

2)A public restroom

My theory on this is that those are the two most inconvenient places to suddenly need a notebook. Plus, I sort of have this thing where in a public restroom I can't go unless I know there is no one else in there, so sometimes I'm hanging out a while doing the "gotta go right now" dance.

XD

T.m.i yes?

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Just don't shout ah-ha out loud in the public toilet. People look at you wierd when you walk out.

I was watching a kid's show, and "Take On Me" came on. And Morten winked. Man, that wink ...

Sorry, you didn't mean THAT A-ha.

We will now return to normal programming ...

I get them at completely random times...sitting at my desk at work, driving around in my car, and sometimes right before I go to bed. The ideas just randomly pop into my head.

I love it when it happens Especially when I figure out something that really makes my story work so much better.

My last a-ha! moment came yesterday when I was making cookies. I was dropping cookies onto the sheet and had other cookies in the oven. This happens often when I cook or bake, I go into a trance and have vivid scenes go on in my head. Its very hard to explain. For me cooking, baking and writing go hand in hand.
When I woodburn its the same thing. I wish I had four hands...

My A-HA moments mostly came at shower or at biking, at buss. Sometimes in movie teathre.

My last aha moment came last week when I was at work and couldn't do any writing. Luckily I was able to make some notes. I was very excited too as the brainwave strengthened virtually every part of my book.
I often get them in the shower too.