Writers Have a Lot to Think About

OK, I’ll admit it: I watch Virgin River. But only because my sister lives in the stunningly beautiful Vancouver area where it’s filmed. OK, that’s not the only reason. It’s probably not even the main reason. If I was to think about it, I’m sure I could come up with many reasons why I watch it.

One reason might be that it, a TV show, (as with so many other areas of life) can be a source of inspiration for writers, even Writer Unboxed contributors. For example, in a recent episode, the main character, Mel, was asked whether she was an optimist or a pessimist. She replied, “I would say half-optimist, half-realist. Which means I’m a hopeful control freak. There’s a lot of debate going on,” she circled her finger round her head, “up here.”

At first, it seems like a throwaway line, nothing too complicated, not even relevant for moving the storyline forward and it certainly doesn’t seem very inspirational. And yet, if you really look at it, really analyze it, there’s quite a lot in there.

She could be rejecting the popular binary perception of people being either optimists or pessimists. Or we could consider if a health care professional – even one on TV – should use a term like control freak. We could get into deep discussions on either of those topics.

I was more struck by the debate “going on up there” because that situation is familiar to me too. And I’m sure it’s one many of you can relate to as well. Writers often go back and forth over their stories in their minds long before they ever write them down.

Where ideas come from

The inspiration for those stories really can come from so many areas of life. What seems like a throwaway line to one person can be the seed of a great work to someone else. The line itself is perhaps not the inspiration, it’s more about where it can take the mind. In some people, that line can trigger a thought that leads to another thought that leads to another and so on until you have the beginnings of a story.

These are often the kinds of “what if” scenarios that Stephen King talks about in his memoir On Writing:

What if vampires invaded a small New England village? (Salem’s Lot)

What if a policeman in a remote Nevada town went berserk and started killing everyone in sight? (Desperation)

King adds that, “These were all situations that occurred while showering, while driving, while taking my daily walk.”

Covering all angles

Many of us will recognize these kinds of runaway thoughts, not just in the stories we want to write but in everyday life too. Such people are often referred to as overthinkers. Overthinkers will, for example, look at a likely future situation and go over every possible scenario of how it could play out. This will help them to be prepared if the person they confront says A or B or even Z and then how to react in each situation.

Some people see overthinking as a problem. “Don’t overthink it,” we’re often told. But a 2015 study suggested that people who overthink can be better problem solvers, while a more recent study points to overthinkers as being just as decisive as those who consider themselves to be confident decision makers.

In fact, it can be useful to sit with our thoughts for a while as long as we don’t dwell on them, as long as we don’t keep going over and over the same thoughts in our minds. Then they can almost become obsessive, get in the way of achieving our goals and can go beyond thoughts to even affect our emotions. I’m sure we can all recognize those situations where we recall a recent argument and feel the same anger or frustration as real as if it were in that moment. Those kinds of recurring, repeating thoughts can lead to strong feelings and emotions and even anxiety.

Mindfulness is one way to deal with those kinds of thought loops by teaching us to recognize when we have such thoughts. Once you realise you’re getting back into that pattern, you can then try to pause and let that thought drift off before you get too deep into it. The usual metaphor mindfulness practitioners use in these cases is to imagine your thoughts as drifting by like clouds in the sky or like leaves on a stream.

Writing as therapy

Writing can be especially useful too. Taking a pen and paper or hammering (gently) at the computer keyboard to get all those thoughts down on the page can help to get them out of your mind.

It’s the same with those story ideas. We keep developing them and the characters and scenes in our heads, and the only way to release them is to write about them. Sometimes we just need to get those thoughts out there. And what a release that can be to finally get those characters’ voices onto the page, to get them moving around in the novel rather than in your head.

Of course, many overthinkers will refute that very label – after a lot of careful consideration, of course – and conclude that it’s everyone else who is underthinking. It’s a fair claim, and one I will consider too once I’ve worked out exactly why I watch Virgin River, especially this latest season. What was that episode with the renaissance fair all about?

How has your overthinking helped or even hindered your writing? How has writing helped your overthinking?