tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post4756291015255668405..comments2023-09-20T03:40:25.128-07:00Comments on Leigh Russell: Leigh Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-72895593143015493642007-12-09T17:20:00.000-08:002007-12-09T17:20:00.000-08:00my ideas usually pop into my head while i'm busy d...my ideas usually pop into my head while i'm busy doing other things. it's a weird balance though- when i get too busy i have no ideas. :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-2993848588739105642007-12-08T02:53:00.000-08:002007-12-08T02:53:00.000-08:00Hi, Leigh. Just got round to catching up with your...Hi, Leigh. Just got round to catching up with your blog ( and mine). Ideas come to me at all sorts of times, as you know, like my taxi man and the suitcase, but when I get stuck, or am thinking through a tricky bit I sit on the sofa in my office and knit! knitting is brilliant, because it not only allows my mind to carry on working but I end up with a cardigan or some leg warmers. I am lucky that now I can do this, but when I was running my own business all week and only able to write at weekends it wasn't possible. A dictaphone in the car though was great especially in traffic jams when travelling from meeting to meeting because I could merrily talk through my ideas and record them.Pauline Rowsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08005932083484569659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-20831219659633231372007-12-05T10:44:00.000-08:002007-12-05T10:44:00.000-08:00MICHELE - thank you for the little love link. I re...MICHELE - thank you for the <I>little love link</I>. I really like that! :) to you too.<BR/><BR/>LANE - Any kind of nap will do for me. Any time. Except bedtime. That's when I usually have my best ideas!<BR/><BR/>BILL - You call that gossip? You men, you have no idea! But it's always a pleasure to read your blog, despite the misnomer.<BR/><BR/>MIDDLE DITCH - Do you think all the time you were stuck on that character, episode 19 was working itself out below the conscious surface activity in your brain?Leigh Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-61240465827102434232007-12-05T07:40:00.000-08:002007-12-05T07:40:00.000-08:00Writing is so strange, isn't it Leigh. For ages I ...Writing is so strange, isn't it Leigh. For ages I wanted a new character but just could not see him. In the end (after about five weeks) I got rid of him and wrote episode nineteen within five hours.Middle Ditchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16493665280732775898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-76006728535247255602007-12-04T12:47:00.000-08:002007-12-04T12:47:00.000-08:00lane is right - there are a lot of comments here.D...lane is right - there are a lot of comments here.<BR/><BR/>Do you think it's time for a new post? Erica gave me a kick in the pants today, so I dusted off my fingers and got to work. Result, such as it is, over on Greenwich Gossip.Bill Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01828998021246511869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-51799024485402736502007-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:002007-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:00gosh what a lot of comments here!Sensible and crea...gosh what a lot of comments here!<BR/><BR/>Sensible and creative do seem a bit juxtaposed don't they.<BR/>Personally I'm a big fan of the 'creative nap' (as suggested by Heather Sellers in Page After Page). Doesn't necessarily have to be a sleep as such, just a quiet few minutes and a drift. Sadly, haven't had much time for these recently:-(Lane Mathiashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08147122748453850264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-24572312823668880032007-12-03T08:15:00.000-08:002007-12-03T08:15:00.000-08:00Hi there Leigh,Thought I'd let you know I gave you...Hi there Leigh,<BR/><BR/>Thought I'd let you know I gave you <A HREF="http://writingthecyberhighway.blogspot.com/2007/12/link-love-for-november.html" REL="nofollow">a little link love</A> in today's post :-)<BR/><BR/>Smiles,<BR/>MicheleMichelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14815778079892773244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-23792659303682682572007-12-03T02:49:00.000-08:002007-12-03T02:49:00.000-08:00Hi FIZZY - I've found this:"There's nothing to wri...Hi FIZZY - I've found this:<BR/>"<I>There's nothing to writing. all you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.</I>" written by someone called <I>Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith</I>. <BR/><BR/>I don't think it works so well with the typewriter - an earlier writer might have implied blood for <I>ink</I>? <BR/><BR/>I love Johnson: "<I>Read over your compositions, and when you meet a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.</I>" It sounds ironic, but is actually excellent advice! Bashevis Singer put it like this: "<I>The wastebasket is the writer's best friend.</I><BR/><BR/>(My editor would be pleased to see me endorsing these comments!!!... but that's another 'story'...)Leigh Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-72351008964401845162007-12-02T23:09:00.000-08:002007-12-02T23:09:00.000-08:00FIZZY - "...open a vein" I love that! I'll keep my...FIZZY - "<I>...open a vein</I>" I love that! I'll keep my fingers crossed for your new job (but will miss your observations - I hope you'll still encounter lots of people in your new position.) On the bus seems to be a popular source of inspiration.<BR/><BR/>ELLO - I once dreamt an idea for a story, which I haven't used yet. It was a bit complicated, but very cool. Other than that, I only once dreamt about an idea, which I'd already used. I rarely remember my dreams.<BR/><BR/>LILY - The bus, driving and the shower crop up repeatedly as excellent places to find ideas. I wondered about a car wash?<BR/><BR/>WISDOM - I think poetry is probably a parallel creative process to painting? But prose fiction differs from music and visual art in that it has to make some sort of 'sense' on an intellectual level. It can't make a direct appeal to emotion/feeling/subconscious - which is why its effect is (generally) far less powerful than that of music and painting. <BR/>No - not 'trite' at all. These things are so difficult to put into words. How do you talk/write about things that transcend language? Language is only a means of communicating what is in our heads.Leigh Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-76157489409923748332007-12-02T11:40:00.000-08:002007-12-02T11:40:00.000-08:00I don't know about writing but I can only imagine ...I don't know about writing but I can only imagine it may be similar...to creating a painting, you need a gush of inspiration and energy to get whatever it is out of you??? mmm this sounds trite!The Wisdom of Wislonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01158980647426471257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-57457544949994564922007-12-02T10:38:00.000-08:002007-12-02T10:38:00.000-08:00PS Usually have story thoughts when I'm meant to b...PS Usually have story thoughts when I'm meant to be having serious thoughts about work!Lily Moonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00818879538473446207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-70566129097776320482007-12-02T10:37:00.000-08:002007-12-02T10:37:00.000-08:00Hi again Leigh, I liked reading about your thought...Hi again Leigh, I liked reading about your thoughts on ideas. I rarely have them sitting in front of a fresh piece of paper, a pencil in hand, or in front of a blank screen. It used to be in history lessons at school, then in lectures, now it seems to be whilst driving up and down the M5, or looking out the windown on the bus. The shower too is a good place. I always have notebooks everyhwere, in my bag and by the side of the bed. Late at night, in that space just before falling asleep seems to be a time as well for thoughts to come.Lily Moonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00818879538473446207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-78140484275629011132007-12-02T09:02:00.000-08:002007-12-02T09:02:00.000-08:00All my best ideas come while I am sleepng so I hav...All my best ideas come while I am sleepng so I have taken to leaving a note pad and pen next to my bed. The other day I had an inspiration and found that all my pens were missing. Stomping around the house at 4 in the morning looking for a pen sure puts you in a bad mood! ;o)Ello - Ellen Ohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18311917335471167591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-28590899976434589782007-12-02T06:56:00.000-08:002007-12-02T06:56:00.000-08:00Forgive me I could be quoting from the wrong sourc...Forgive me I could be quoting from the wrong source but I think Johnson said 'writing is easy , you just sit at a desk and open a vein'. Something like that.<BR/>Hopefully there may be a new job offer for me in the new year, so then the cotton wool will finally put to rest, hoorah! appreciate your comments and thoughts.<BR/>Ideas, well I only write the blog but buses tend to be my idea place, or even shops, just interacting with people seeing how they live seems to start ideas flowing.fizzycathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13417554474293773804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-15229194805140418882007-12-02T03:24:00.000-08:002007-12-02T03:24:00.000-08:00I'm a living Paramol after that Vodka..Mea CulpaI'm a living Paramol after that Vodka..<BR/><BR/>Mea CulpaSleepyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16851172321023922107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-7421950525272144192007-12-02T03:22:00.000-08:002007-12-02T03:22:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Sleepyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16851172321023922107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-66124871993753160512007-12-02T03:18:00.000-08:002007-12-02T03:18:00.000-08:00SLEEPY - you're a living paradox. J.WILSON - compr...SLEEPY - you're a living paradox. <BR/><BR/>J.WILSON - <I>comprehensiveness and pithyness</I>? You flatter me! (But please don't feel you have to stop.) Thank you for your kind comments.Leigh Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-80081515228589306072007-12-02T03:04:00.000-08:002007-12-02T03:04:00.000-08:00Hi SARAH - stop saying 'thank you'? Next you'll be...Hi SARAH - stop saying 'thank you'? Next you'll be asking us English to stop saying 'sorry' at every possible (and impossible) opportunity... What next? Stop talking about the weather? You do realise you're blogging with someone who <I>thanked her printer</I> for working for long enough to print out the MS of a book...<BR/><BR/>But seriously, I do take your point and will try to cut to the chase more directly. <BR/><BR/>I do like your notion of the Renaissance woman, but I'm not sure that's possible any longer in the West. I like to think that women in some societies who are currently 'invisible' - physically as well as politically - will have their own Renaissance soon.Leigh Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-85417370204007998002007-12-02T01:28:00.000-08:002007-12-02T01:28:00.000-08:00Like you, Leigh, I don't know when inspiration wil...Like you, Leigh, I don't know when inspiration will hit. I never leave home without a small notebook. Notecards by the bed work too. Try bath crayons in the shower?<BR/><BR/>Most of my ideas flow while I'm working at my computer without distraction. I need to listen to the characters talk to me on the page and follow them on their journeys. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comments on my Philip Pullman and Wizard Earl blogs - I responded to your question on the second one there. Maybe we should stop thanking and just comment?Sarah Laurencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00423008641739156182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-75903443666765883162007-12-01T22:41:00.000-08:002007-12-01T22:41:00.000-08:00Thanks for your comment on my blog. If you liked ...Thanks for your comment on my blog. If you liked the seven-thirty there, then I think you'll like the content of my other blog at eight-thirty.blogspot.com.<BR/><BR/>Looking through your blog, I like your comprehensiveness and pithyness, as well as your detail!Map Finderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09904785506231468413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-20854429991745933162007-12-01T17:35:00.000-08:002007-12-01T17:35:00.000-08:00As I am tucking into some vodka, with some fervour...As I am tucking into some vodka, with some fervour I must admit, Sleepy Alertness makes peculiar sense!<BR/><BR/>Even if I don't.Sleepyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16851172321023922107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-41446705505869449462007-12-01T17:23:00.000-08:002007-12-01T17:23:00.000-08:00I just read this on another blog (about Philip Pul...I just read this on another blog (about Philip Pullman):<BR/><BR/>"When writing, the author is a tyrant and the process is despotic. Once the book becomes published, it becomes a democracy of the readers." <BR/><BR/>Does the same apply to blogs, do you think? If so, as the writer of your blog, you may decide you are sleepy, but as your reader, I might choose to think of you as alert. And I think I will. A kind of sleepy alertness, as a compromise, perhaps.Leigh Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-5827036445125774292007-12-01T17:12:00.000-08:002007-12-01T17:12:00.000-08:00Sometimes I do a good impression of alert.Don't be...Sometimes I do a good impression of alert.<BR/><BR/>Don't be fooled!Sleepyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16851172321023922107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-56003508892046376042007-12-01T17:01:00.000-08:002007-12-01T17:01:00.000-08:00A useful thought. I'll watch out for overused word...A useful thought. I'll watch out for overused words, I'm sure I have a few lurking around. Thanks for sharing that, Sleepy. (I'm not sure your name does you justice. You seem pretty alert to me.)Leigh Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15080517449825380527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8326835832552443337.post-67192693203598385492007-12-01T16:56:00.000-08:002007-12-01T16:56:00.000-08:00Nope, haven't noticed anything or am bugged!Was th...Nope, haven't noticed anything or am bugged!<BR/><BR/>Was thinking more about myself really.<BR/>Just a thought.Sleepyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16851172321023922107noreply@blogger.com