Dispatch From The Quest: Waka Brown
Over the course of the 24 weeks I am working with the writers in The Quest, each will write a weekly dispatch to share with the GITS community. There are several reasons for doing this, the main one educational: Hopefully you will learn something of value for your own understanding of the craft from the experiences of the Questers. I should also add they are a great group of people, so I expect you will enjoy getting to know them.
Today: Waka Brown shares some thoughts about psychology and the value of daydreaming:
My dad is a psychiatrist and he’s always loved his work. During my childhood, I remember him waking up early so he could read and research before he set out for work at 7 AM, not to return until 7 PM. When he’d return for dinner, he would sometimes analyze me and my siblings at the dinner table. As you can imagine, this was exceedingly annoying. For one, we never asked to be analyzed. Worse yet, he was almost always WRONG. (“Waka, I hear that you put cicada shells in your little brother’s bed today. I am wondering whether the motivation behind this action was a deep-rooted desire to — “ “I did it to get back at him for dumping out my nail polish in his hair, geez!” “Yes, but I think we need to question what that nail polish symbolizes — “ “No analyzing at the dinner table, Daddy!”)
My father had a dream that all four of us would become psychiatrists and that the institution he worked for would open a Takahashi psychiatric wing in honor of our family. When he was telling me this dream of his, I crushed it like I would an earwig by declaring I wanted to be a cowgirl.
Fast forward several decades, and no, I’m not the psychiatrist my dad wanted me to be, (nor a cowgirl) yet this week on the Quest, I’ve been reading about Jung, a character’s wants v. needs, and character archetypes. Delving into my characters, talking to them, and I can’t believe I’m saying this: analyzing them.
When I interviewed with Scott for the Quest, we got on the topic of daydreaming. When I’m in the process of writing, I daydream all the time. I daydream while I run, while I shower, while I drive (for the record, the only accident I have been in was when I wasn’t daydreaming). When I’m not working on a project, I tend to daydream less and I tend to be grouchier. Turns out daydreaming is good for you (OK, so maybe not according to Freud). The Quest has reinvigorated my daydreaming and as a result it’s been a little overwhelming because of all the voices in my head clamoring to be heard (let me take a step back and address any non-writers who might be reading this. Do not be alarmed! Voices in a writer’s head is a good thing.) My daydreams have unearthed old memories and characters from my past. In my musings, my characters morph and combine and are put in imaginary situations that have made me cringe and laugh. Add to that my fellow Questers’ suggestions and we’ve got more fun than a barrel o’ monkeys (my introduction to Urban Dictionary has been eye-opening to say the least…) I’m excited to see who makes it onto the page. Until then, sweet daydreams everyone!
In terms of daydreaming, it just so happens that I’m married to someone (Rebecca McMillan) who wrote an article called “Ode to Positive Constructive Daydreaming” that is going to be published this fall in a special edition of Frontiers in Psychology on the subject of ‘mind wandering.” There is a scholarly move afoot to ‘rebrand’ daydreaming as not a waste of time, but an actual beneficial part of one’s work / creative process. To wit, Rebecca forwarded me four scholarly articles (links here) on this very subject.
I encourage ‘mind wandering’ in The Quest. It’s the spirit of “Go into the story and find the animals!” Immerse yourself in that story universe, let your mind wander and see what happens. Indeed there are parts of the Prep process which create a structure — through a series of exercises and prompts — specifically to engender mind wandering.
The story-crafting process involves logic and hard work, plotting and connecting the dots, but it also requires the surprise and magic that derives from letting oneself meander around among the characters that inhabit our story universe.
So Waka, embrace your daydreaming. Let your mind wander. The Quest is a safe place for it.
Tomorrow: Another Dispatch From The Quest.
About Waka: Kansan turned Californian turned Oregonian. Fan of Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, Richard Curtis, Tina Fey (who isn’t?), & I still use a $30 Tracfone @wakatb.
If you are interested in all things related to cognitive neuroscience, the brain and creativity, follow Rebecca’s twitter feed: @bf4tbrainy.
Comment Archive