Creativity flows differently for each person. Some days you have it and some days you don’t. Perhaps the afternoon light brings about a story or lines of poetry into your mind. Or maybe the calmness of the morning when no one else is around gets your creative juices flowing. Sometimes you never know. You could be asleep and dreaming of the next wonderful novel, or sitting in traffic.
Living on opposite ends of the country has changed my perception about creativity. I’ve lived on the west coast in California and on the far east coast of Canada in St. John’s. Each place has had something unique to offer me. In that uniqueness I’ve found that my creativity did not come at a certain time each day. On the east coast it was much easier for me to write during the early morning to mid afternoon. Where on the west coast I tend to write in the later afternoon to early evening.
I don’t know if it is because of the shift in my son’s naps or if it has to do with the amount of daylight and ability to sit outside. I was very much an inside writer when I lived in St. John’s, but in California I was able to write outside. It is amazing the difference in energy.
I had someone once tell me that the east and west coast were very contrasting for me. They said that the west coast had a frenetic energy about it and would keep me searching for the next best thing. I’ve often heard that phrase about the west coast; looking for the next big wave. It’s much faster paced. They said the east coast would be more internal for me, a little more grounding. Things move much slower on the east coast. It almost seems like you have more time to dip into your well of creative juices.
I found that very interesting. It did seem like I had more time to research and write when I lived in St. John’s, granted I wasn’t working as many hours as I had when living in California. Yet somehow I was able to find more creativity, dig deeper into myself and write better. Now that I am living on the west coast again, I am trying to remember my east coast thought process and energy and not rush what I am writing.
I started writing my novel when I lived on the east coast and the words flowed out of me. Now on the west coast again, they seem to be at some sort of standstill. It could be because there are so many unknowns in my future right now. However, I left behind a truly amazing writers group called the Scribe Wenches. We would get together once a month and talk about our WIP’s, and just help each other out. I would go over to one of my fellow Scribe Wenches house, sit and talk about writing and publishing among other things. I don’t have that here. Yes I know the internet is an amazing thing and you can still talk even though we are thousands of miles apart, but it is different. How I long to be there and just sit and write. I find that some of my inspiration has left me, and that is something that I will need to work on. I almost need the fast paced momentum to kick me into gear and begin writing/editing again.
It will be interesting to see as we get more settled in, if my creative juices come flowing back. I recently moved a step forward with my novel and sent it to an editor. I know I will have a lot of corrections to make seeing how this is my first novel, but I am excited to see what she has to say and ready to publish my novel.
So I’m moving forward, opening new doors and can’t wait to see where my creative flow and writing take me.
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