'Twas like a lightening blot, it 'twas!

megan_d · Oct 15, 2007

I was having the worst day at work. Every customer was in a bad mood, I kept getting orders wrong, I dropped a plate; it was just one of those what can go wrong will kind of days.

And then, it happened. I was leaning down to pick up a napkin when it hit me. See, there's this plot point that I had been unclear on ever since I started my MS, 75 thousand words ago. Well, there were a lot of unclear points when I started. But as I progressed they worked themselves out, except this one. And as I got closer to the scene where this unclear point came into play I started dragging my feet. What flowed before came in fits and spurts. I despaired!

And when I bent down to pick up that napkin, the answer appeared in my brain, fully formed. Out of no where, it came to me. It was a glorious moment, it really was.

If had to go through all the drama of that shift just for that one moment, then it was all worth it!

swvaughn · Oct 15, 2007

Oh, ick! I'm sorry for your bad day -- I've had many just like that. Customer service, the noblest of professions... *gag*

But isn't it great when the solution just jumps out and bites you?

Those "a-HA" moments make everything we go through worth it!

Azraelsbane · Oct 15, 2007

I love those moments. They're what makes my books not suck. Mostly.

Teige Benson · Oct 15, 2007

You got to love when that happens, and yes, it almost makes the whole day worth it.

That just happened to me as well - not your day per se, but the lightning bolt moment. Unfortunately, those tend to happen to me just as I'm about to doze off to sleep.

glassquill · Oct 15, 2007

Got to love those light bulb moments. :idea:

You're in customer service? I'm in awe.

You must surely have the patience of a saint.

Just Me 2021 · Oct 15, 2007

I know exactly what you mean! I had that same thing happen to me with my first book. I could not for the life of me come up with a good first chapter. I agonized over the opening chapter (and tried out many, many lame ones) for over a year. Then one day as I was mowing the lawn it just came to me - BAM!!!! - and I literally quit mowing, ran inside, wrote the chapter, went back out and finished the lawn.

And that first chapter is still in there, almost completely as I wrote it the first time. Amazing. Bolt of lightning, inspiration from the gods, words of the muse... nothing short of a miracle.

Celebrate! I'll celebrate with you <Lifting my glass in your direction, wishing it was full of wine or a margarita or some fine scotch, but alas, it is 9:45 A.M. and therefore only filled with Diet Coke>

Joe Moore · Oct 15, 2007

Megan, that's the magic of writing. I pity anyone who has never experienced that amazing moment when the clouds part and the answer reveals itself. Enjoy the moment!

WittyandorIronic · Oct 15, 2007

Fantastic. Those are great moments. My husband knows I am having those moments because I laugh maniacal-y and start talking to myself, about how smart I am.

qdsb · Oct 15, 2007

Yay! I love those moments.

ChaosTitan · Oct 15, 2007

megan_d said:
I was having the worst day at work. Every customer was in a bad mood, I kept getting orders wrong, I dropped a plate; it was just one of those what can go wrong will kind of days.

I had that day on Saturday, so big hugs. :Hug2:

But if nothing else, I find that the day-to-day frustrations of working in the Retail/Customer Service industry makes me appreciate my writer's imagination. I've unstuck many a plot point while in the middle of venting about some fool who didn't understand why it's not okay to return an item six weeks past it's 30-day cutoff.

And the ones that really annoy me? I find a way to get them (or their likeness, if I don't have a name) into my story and kill them off in a particularly harsh fashion.

Azraelsbane · Oct 15, 2007

WittyandorIronic said:
Fantastic. Those are great moments. My husband knows I am having those moments because I laugh maniacal-y and start talking to myself, about how smart I am.

We must be twins. My husband learned to ignore me unless I'm talking directly to him. Between mumbling about my writing, talking to myself while I write, and the sound effects I sometimes do while driving... Yeah, that's why he carries headphones everywhere.

moth · Oct 15, 2007

Yay!

I love moments like that! :Thumbs:

Saundra Julian · Oct 15, 2007

Amazing, isn't it? Happens to me too...

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 15, 2007

Here I thought we were going to talk about Rorschach tests.

jdparadise · Oct 15, 2007

megan_d said:
And when I bent down to pick up that napkin, the answer appeared in my brain, fully formed. Out of no where, it came to me. It was a glorious moment, it really was.

Can I have your napkin?

I'm stuck at 75k words myself - realizing my Big Bad is spectacularly poorly motivated, and the way I've had him act out (big destructive stuff) is antithetical to the way I've had him interacting with the world before he got free (manipulative and clever). So I know what the problem is... but I've been stuck for days trying to figure out what to do about it...

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 15, 2007

75K? That's a completed novel to me.

qdsb · Oct 15, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
Here I thought we were going to talk about Rorschach tests.

BHAHAHAHAHA!

And to think, I call myself an avid reader. Totally missed that! Thanks, SF!

Wraith · Oct 15, 2007

Yay! Those moments keep me from chucking all I ever wrote in the bin. One could live on those moments when your book is the awesomest thing ever and the idea that just hit you is worth a celebration and a trip to Hawaii. At least.

Good luck with getting it down, now! Glad your terrible day ended like that (my bad days always stay bad until the end

)

underthecity · Oct 15, 2007

That's cool that this happens to so many writers. I remember very clearly when it happened to me. I was at work walking along the shop floor, thinking absently about how things were progressing to the climax when I had that "A-HA!" moment too. Just sort of stopped and stared at the ceiling for a moment when this perfect event that just HAD to happen during the climax formed in my head.

And that event definitely just makes the climax.

Congratulations on your--and everyone's--epiphanies.

allen

Hummingbird · Oct 15, 2007

I love those moments!! My luck, I'm usually doing dishes or something when that happens. At least I can drop the dish and run for my notepad.

Also, my family has stopped asking me what I'm thinking about when I get an idea. I guess I get this stern look on my face or something, they used to wonder what was wrong. They'd ask me what was up, and I'd start happily babbling about the idea... they would patiently stand clueless until I finished.

It's moments like those that I love writing so much, and others. ^_^

melaniehoo · Oct 15, 2007

WittyandorIronic said:
Fantastic. Those are great moments. My husband knows I am having those moments because I laugh maniacal-y and start talking to myself, about how smart I am.

Azraelsbane said:
We must be twins. My husband learned to ignore me unless I'm talking directly to him. Between mumbling about my writing, talking to myself while I write, and the sound effects I sometimes do while driving... Yeah, that's why he carries headphones everywhere.

Make that triplets. And now I understand the headphones - it was pissing me off but I see it's just a protective device.

Oddly, I'm almost at 75K too!

jdparadise · Oct 16, 2007

Shadow_Ferret said:
75K? That's a completed novel to me.

Huh. I've never completed a novel below 110k, myself...

In any event, this one was supposed to go 100 or so. Alas. It's died. Starting over, with v2...

larocca · Oct 16, 2007

Good thing you had that napkin handy to write the solution on before you forgot it.

Mud Dauber · Oct 16, 2007

Even if you only have one of those per year... it is sooooo worth the wait! The A-ha Moment! It's the whole reason I'm addicted to writing!

That's why I loved the scene in Stranger Than Fiction *mild spoiler* where Emma Thompson's character (sorry, can't remember her name) saw someone drop an apple and it rolled into the street, and thereupon had her A-ha Moment, when her flash-of-inspiration arrived, and then she was finally able to complete her novel. I saw the movie with my non-writer friend, and I was going on about that scene after the movie and my poor friend had no clue why that was so exciting to me! :crazy:

It's nice to see post after post of others who understand that same feeling. :Hug2:

qdsb · Oct 16, 2007

Mud Dauber--I love that movie! The apple scene. The novelist's process. It might not be one of the best movies of all time, but I absolutely love it from a writer/reader's perspective.

'Twas like a lightening blot, it 'twas!

Falling in the milk

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