The Writer as Hunter / Gatherer
Always. Be. Collecting.
Photo by Nika Benedictova on Unsplash
“For me, a lifetime devoted to creativity is nothing but a scavenger hunt — where each successive clue is another tiny little hit of curiosity. Pick each one up, unfold it, see where it leads you next.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert
Hi friends!
It’s great to be back with you again after my summer hiatus. It’s been a wild and wonderful last few months as I’ve traveled to Spain, Ireland (twice!), Iceland, and England. Nancy Stohlman and I just returned yesterday from a retreat we ran in Grand Lake, Colorado with an absolutely amazing group of writers. It was (another) unforgettable experience. I feel like, with this last retreat especially. the writers came to the retreat feeling a bit tapped out, with feelings and experiences they couldn’t quite access for their writing.
I think sometimes we artists expect too much of our creative brains. We sit down and say, Okay, brain, make art! And get frustrated or depressed when our brains refuse. But just like our physical health, our creative brains need to be supported and nurtured.
Also? Art doesn’t come out of thin air.
Our job is not so much to make something new out of nothing, but to make something new from what already exists.
We make new meaning by forming new connections. New beauty--or horror or strangeness or comedy or farce or satire or romance--from the stuff that’s already there at our disposal.
Sometimes it takes some digging.
Sometimes it takes some silence.
Or we need to feed our brains with music or art or some other medium.
We can’t draw from an empty well.
But I get it. At times we simply stop seeing what’s all around us. Our heads are too full, too addled, too worried. There's too much going on in the world or in our small corner of it.
Not to be too cheesy here but I have this sort of A.B.C. of creativity and it’s this: Always Be Collecting.
Gather material. Squirrel it away. Follow your curiosity.
I may be guilty of collecting too much information. Too any articles, too many quotes.
What else can we gather in service of our creativity?
What about random memories? I’m not talking just about “My First Communion” or “My first period” or the day my grandmother died (thought those are rich and important memories). I’m talking about the truly random stuff. The sense memories. The random occurrences that come to us without context. Especially those!
Write down your dream images if not full dreams. Pay attention to the emotion of your dreams.
Overheard snippets of conversation. Other people's oft-told tales? STEAL THEM.
It’s about honoring your own experience and background, your family dynamics, your own past, your ancestral past, the jobs you’ve had, the people who've passed through your life.
Collect oddities. Things you see on road trips. Roadside attractions and the eccentric folks who run them. Is there a story there?
Make consciously collecting fodder for your writing a regular part of your writing practice. Keep an actual physical folder if that helps.
The first session of the retreat in Grand Lake, I gave the participants an assignment to go around the grounds and the lodges at Shadowcliff and take pictures of anything that drew their attention and/or curiosity. And that night, a few of them had a not-too-close encounter with a young black bear! So much surprising and deep writing emerged from those found objects.
Your Prompt - Go forth and gather!
Take several minutes to survey your surroundings. Keep your mind open and receptive. “Re-vision” perhaps a corner of your home or garden or neighborhood that you’ve tended not to really explore. Take pictures. Gather the odd-shaped stone or a piece of bright colored glass. Look closer. Carry with you the heart of an explorer. Treat familiar surroundings like a new, unmapped territory. Look for the exotic, the weird, or the oddly moving things.
Once back at your desk, just begin to write about your found object. Describe it in detail. Ponder its origins. Allow metaphors to emerge. The key word is: allow. Allow whatever comes to you without judgement. Be receptive to surprise, delight, or unexpected emotional intensity. Then make this a regular part of your artistic and creative life. Always. Be. Gathering.
Before You Go…
I will be announcing my Fall/Winter workshops soon, with information about classes, with dates, and registration/lottery details. I’m really excited about what I have in store for you! The ONLY way you will receive this information is via my MailChimp mailing list. If you’ve received these mailings previously, great, you’re on the list! But if you’re interested and aren’t on the list already, simply sign up using the form on the right side of the page on my website here: https://kathy-fish.com/reimagined/?page_id=35
I love this. I'm a collector by nature. I'm always picking up little things (physically) wherever I'm at, as well as being a people watcher. I've used this technique in the past, but completely forgot about it. Great article.
This is an excellent sensory exercise and a way to flex our imagination muscles!
I have been curating my way through the old island farmhouse of my childhood this summer--a museum of antiques, books and heirlooms just begging to be written about. With my parents’ recent passage, I’m last in the legacy and often left only with my imagination to tell the tales.