Before the performance, we must set the stage...
We are often taught how to incorporate our five senses in a writing piece to bring words to life. But, I believe we need to use the "5 senses" concept even before the writing process and apply it toward prepping our space for fluid and kinetic creativity.
Imagine an empty room - a square or rectangular, dark box. What elements would you add to this blank canvas of a space to give it oxygen, light, and movement?
I propose the "breaking" of a writer's stereotype. You know, the one where the writer rushes off into the bitter wintry woods and locks him/herself in the caverns of an abandoned cabin...NEVER to return to life again until the written masterpiece is complete. This reminds me of when I was in High School reading Thoreau and Emerson and would romanticize this "writer's" life and dreamed of experiencing it for myself one day. I naively thought all writers had to set the stage this way to create.
Here's a different approach.
We need to find our UNIQUE ways to "set the stage" to circulate the creative magic potion in our minds. This is where we engage and entice our five senses and renovate our plain and empty room with warm illumination for creating.
Ideas to ENTICE each of the FIVE SENSES before the writing process:
Smell: soft seasonal scented candles
Sound: new age piano, jazz, or radiohead
Taste: light and sweet coffee or tea
Touch: a cool color ballpoint pen & journal paper, piano keys
Visual: perched by an open window with sunlight or moonlight; completely in view of nature
Sound utopian?
It does to me.
How do you set the stage before your writing performance?