I remembered a workshop I recently attended where the speaker talked of getting inspiration in unlikely places- beg, borrowing and stealing ideas. And, being creatively challenged, I wondered how that approach might help me. But I was getting kinda desperate!
So I grabbed a couple of old magazines and started cutting out random pictures and words that somehow struck a chord without forcing the process- just seeing where inspiration took me. (And yes- the NZ Rugby magazine was purely for research purposes- honestly!)After a while I lost myself in the process of it all, looking at the fashions, imaging my heroine wearing this or that, what type of house my hero might have- I lost quite a few hours but gained a lot of insight into what makes my characters tick, how the story might progress, and more importantly, how my hero and heroine feel about things. I don't know how it worked, but it definitely gave me a clearer vision. Maybe it was the chance to get away from the computer screen for a while and just play with no pressure. It's crude and basic- but I never set out to make art, just a way of collating ideas in a visual form.
Collaging isn't a new concept, I have friends who love to scrapbook important life events, and I know the great Jenny Crusie does a complex 3D collage of every story she writes but I've never understood the allure. Until now.
So now I have a story- I just have to write the darned thing!
Have you ever collaged or done scrapbooking? What do you find helps the creative process- or what creative things do you do to help you relax?
