Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Our inner lens

Do you ever feel like the way you see or perceive what you write can vary from day to day?

Here's an eye fact:
Did you know that when you focus on things up close (i.e. write, read, type) the lens inside your eye actually changes shape? It thickens, changes dioptric power, and takes up more space in the anterior chamber of your eye. And of course when we're tired our eyes can have trouble focusing.

The other day I was tired, but rather than using it as an excuse not to write, I pushed through and got the scenes written. When I finished, my perception was that my work for the day was mediocre and boring.

Then I looked at the same few pages a few days later and I'm like hmmm....this is good stuff. And just experiencing this shift in perception frustrated me.

Do you ever find that your inner eye randomly shifts focus? One day something that looks good, the next day looks bad, or vice versa?

Don't forget about the add on story =)

7 comments:

  1. Yeah, narrow-sightedness is definitely a big issue when I examine my own writing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh yeah, I have days where I think what I've written is brilliant only to realize a few days later it's awful and visa versa. It's funny how that happens sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah, I've had that happen to me. In the short term, it's usually I'm tired or don't feel well, and this writing I've just wasted the last three hours on sucks. Then come back the next day, and it's not great, but hey, it's not awful, either, and a few minor changes will help it along.

    Over the long term, like, say, the course of revisions and drafts, I tend to veer towards disliking my writing, and wondering how I ever thought that could pass for good, haha. I'm a shapeshifter!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've noticed that I'm most open to my muse/inspiration/whatever story ideas come from when I'm not completely coherent. I don't know if that's because the lack of logical interaction allows me to not second-guess myself or not, but I've seen time and again pieces written when I was "out of it" that sound better than the ones that I wrote while wide awake.

    Weird, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well it's good to know guys, that I'm not the only person with this problem. Thanks for sharing! May all our inner lenses remain cataract free for quite some time!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, it happens to me too.

    But it changes over time. One day it looks good, I go back, it looks terrible, go back again, and it's good. The opposite also happens, beginning with, it looks bad...

    The fickle muse.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That absolutely happens to me. It makes it hard to procrastinate, no matter how much I want to. :)

    ReplyDelete