Pampering your subconscious

Last night I went to the Christchurch launch of Rachael King's Magpie Hall. I finished the book this afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it! If you like Victorian Gothic novels, tattoos, taxidermy and cabinets of curiosities, you'll love this book. And I got a free magpie tattoo, which I wore today as my tribute to the book's great cover.

In her talk last night, Rachael spoke about 'pampering your subconscious.' This really struck a chord with me - possibly since I have been semi-torturing my subconscious lately, with all the churning-out of words. I think this is another way of expressing Julia Cameron's idea of 'filling the well.' As writers, we are constantly dipping our little (battered, leaky) buckets down into the well of our unconscious mind and pulling up stories. If we do this often enough, however, without putting anything back into the well, we are eventually going to run dry. It is easy to dismiss that part of our mind, or abuse it, treating it as a story-telling machine that must do our bidding, but our subconscious is one of our most powerful tools: it writes our books far more than our conscious mind does (although the conscious mind goes to town in the editing stage). It definitely needs some love and pampering.

And here are some of the ways in which I think you can do it:

Daydreaming

Also known as puttering, pottering, faffing, fluffing and pootling about. Letting your mind wander where it pleases. As a writer, you need to spend a lot of time daydreaming. Think of it as brewing ideas, if that makes you feel less guilty for sitting and 'doing nothing.'

Pursuing what interests you

It can seem self-indulgent to spend an afternoon reading about cigars, or taxidermy (I have it on the brain at the moment after finishing Magpie Hall), or twelfth-century China, or Communism, or tea-cups, or whatever your current obsession may be. You might ask yourself (or unkind people might ask you) what the point of this knowledge is, aside from the fact that it makes you happy. Well, you never know when a piece of information or a remembered image will pop up in your writing. Your subconscious mind knows what it's doing. You are interested in this subject for a reason, and by giving in to your desire to pursue it, you are filling your well with colour, imagery, new words and knowledge that will be useful later on.

Immersing yourself in the world

I go stir-crazy sometimes, and can't see anything outside my own little world. When that happens, I grab my notebook and go somewhere. Anywhere. Wherever appeals. Sometimes it is into the city, to sit in a cafe and people-watch. Sometimes it is to the park, or the beach. Writing is an art form that requires all of the senses, and you need to give those senses something new to chew on sometimes.

Making creative surroundings

Or, as my husband would call it, 'collecting piles of random junk.' Having physical objects that reflect the ideas in your head is a great way to inspire your subconscious. Collect things that speak to you, whether they be objects, quotations, pictures ... anything at all. Surround yourself with these things. It may be that no one else will understand why you want a handful of old typewriter keys, a box of crayons and an old photograph of some mysterious, unnamed Victorian. It doesn't matter. You will know.

Napping!

I am a huge advocate for naps. I suggest them as cures for all sorts of things: hangovers, writer's block, heartbreak, indigestion, tax bills. They are also a wonderful way to refresh your mind. They give you a break from the endless mental chitter-chatter, circular thinking, mild paranoia and base-level anxiety that is a part of every day (in my world, at least), and leave room for other things - like ideas - to float to the surface.

Have you got any more tips for giving your subconscious mind a good pampering?