"Everything I Know About Writing I Learned from My Cats: 4" - Barbara Jean Hicks

from the writing files of
children's author and educator
Barbara Jean Hicks,
Guest Columnist

LESSON THREE: SCRATCH WHERE IT ITCHES
(Or: What Do You Do when an Idea Won't Leave You Alone?)

Cats scratch in public. No matter where it itches. Not very couth, but there you are.

I don’t recommend that writers follow this example literally. But metaphorically, I think it’s a good idea to scratch where it itches.

As a visiting author in schools, one of the questions I'm most often asked is, “Where do you get your ideas?” That’s never been a problem for me; ideas are everywhere. My dilemma is, “Which idea do I choose to write about?” That’s when “scratching where it itches” comes into play. What are the ideas that just won’t leave me alone? What do I keep coming back to? What do I fall asleep thinking about? What am I trying to work out in my personal life? What moves me? What intrigues me?

I write about those things. I write what I need to write, what I can’t NOT write about. I write about what itches.

The itch I needed to scratch that resulted in my first concept book, I Like Black and White, was an image: Miguel, my tidy tuxedo cat, looking incredibly black and white against the lush, rain-fed lawn of our Seattle home. Without knowing what I would do with them, I began to collect pictures of black and white animals and objects. The pictures eventually inspired descriptive words, and then relationships between the words. Before long I had a poem, a rhyming picture book that simply celebrates the beauty of black and white.

The itch that resulted in my inspirational romance China Doll was highly personal. I was newly divorced and not ready for another relationship, and the old biological clock was ticking. I wrote parts of this book, about a single woman who desperately wants a child, in tears of grief over my childlessness. By the end of my final draft, I had written my way through my grief and started thinking of ways other than parenthood that I could have children in my life.

When it comes to choosing what I write about, I follow my cats’ lead and scratch where it itches. Sometimes the ideas that won’t leave me alone are the ones that have the power to transform both my writing and my life.

What do you do when an idea won't leave you alone? If you're a writer, you write about it. If your creative outlet is in some other form, maybe you paint it, or bake it, or knit it, or landscape it.

Whatever you do, don't leave your itch alone!

Tune in next week for Lesson Four: Sleep On Everything (Or, What time of day is best for doing creative work?)

 

THIS IS THE FOURTH IN A SERIES. FOR THE INTRODUCTORY COLUMN ON "EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT WRITING I LEARNED FROM MY CATS," CLICK HERE. FOR LESSON ONE: BE CURIOUS, CLICK HERE. FOR LESSON TWO: MAKE DARING LEAPS, CLICK HERE.