Nathan Bransford - The Forums

When you guys do you get a bolt from the blue, do you get jittery?

I'm literally shaking right now. Know why? Cause I just got a bolt that contained the ending of my book. That's right! Now my hands are shaking so badly from all the adrenaline that I can barely type!

What's reaction to the bolts?

CV

I wouldn't say I get jittery or weak from a surge of adrenaline, but I definitely get excited whenever I'm hit by one of those 'aha!' moments. I get so distracted, I can't think about anything else until I've scribbled it all down on paper. I love those moments of being a pantser.

I don't get jittery, but I can feel my mind racing...if that makes sense.
Usually those moments happen before I fall asleep, so I have to rush to the computer to get it all down.

Ahh...must be that combined with lack of sleep. Got it.

CV

I don't get jittery, but I do get nervous. I do most of my "thinking" while I'm driving to and from work. When I get a great idea, I try to repeat it over and over in my head... working it out to get it right. I think about it constantly until I can get to my computer. Problem is... on the way to work I need to wait 4 hours until lunch until I can write it out. On the way home I need to wait four hours until my kids get to bed. By then, the boost of excited energy is gone... and sometimes, unfortunately, so is the idea. Well, not always the whole idea, but the original brilliance isn't always there.

I do LOVE IT when that spark of live comes when I'm actually at my computer. Those are those days when it's almost like I'm watching a TV show. It's just unfolding in front of me and I am typing so fast that I don't know what I am doing. I love that... until I realize it is 2:00 in the morning and I have to get up for work in three and a half hours. Ahhhh.... what we do for our art!

A little. I sometimes get the jitters but I usually I just get so excited that I almost hyperventilate. I kinda twirl around in a daze for a while, basking in my own creative genius <derisive snort> and the glow that comes with it. Then I'm dying to tell someone but I have no one to tell because no one knows the details of my WIP. So I tell the cats and they look at me like I'm crazy.

I kinda have to bounce around for a while, so I guess I do get my own sort of jitters.

I don't get the jitters until AFTER I'm done writing a big scene. When I've just finished writing a scene I've been anticipating and it feels REALLY GOOD and strong and almost-perfect, I get so excited I have to get out of my chair and jump around a little. Not joking

Adrenaline rushes I feel as the calm before the dark and stormy dawn. They're brought on by flight or fight instincts when confronted with dangers. No tingles in extremities. Clenching guts and other strictured anatomies, yes. Girded loins stuff. Quiet emotions waiting to flare up, after I've carefully assessed the scene or I'm already gone.

Quickenings of epiphanies and prescience and momumental glimpses of the cosmic abyss, yes, light-headedness, finger and toe tingles, a couple times whole body tingles, and spine lightning and raw nervous energy, sometimes painful, burning, stupid tears.

I'm with Dios4Vida. It's basically a surge of excitement about how perfectly something's fallen into place. Almost like a writing high, where you know you're on your A game and you just want to celebrate it and harness it for all it's worth!

I love those moments!

I give myself terrible insomnia with those moments. They invariably come as I'm trying to go to sleep so I started keeping a notebook by the bed. But if it's a really good idea, then I keep thinking about it even after I write it down. Or I talk it out with my husband, poor love. He's a good sport about it.

I just got that kind of jolt! I was actually asleep when it happened. I have been so sick I haven't been writing. Tonight while sleeping I had that jolt that woke me up. The cool thing is I know this dream is the climax of the book. I love when this happens. So sick though,that I can't really talk so I talked it into my pensive( my hand-held recorder.

I don't know if I'd call it adrenaline, but I definitely get these moments when I have the perfect idea and I need to write it down NOW.

Usually I'm somewhere I can't write, at least not for an extended period of time, so I get super distracted. Or if I'm with writer-friend, I change the topic back to my super idea every five minutes. XD

I get shaky too, Charlee. When I found out about my full, I couldn't even dial the phone to share the good news my hands were shaking so hard.

When the light bulb goes off for my writing projects, I usually just shout (as long as I'm not in a public place). I think I was driving when I finally figured out my ending. I slammed my hands down on the wheel and yelled, "That's it!!" It's pretty similar at home as well. Although when I figure out little details that have been troubling me, I laugh rather evilly. And that's when (like Brenda), my cats look at me like I've lost my mind.

Ok I have to chime in again. I guess I had missed D

dios4vida wrote:A little. I sometimes get the jitters but I usually I just get so excited that I almost hyperventilate. I kinda twirl around in a daze for a while, basking in my own creative genius <derisive snort> and the glow that comes with it. Then I'm dying to tell someone but I have no one to tell because no one knows the details of my WIP. So I tell the cats and they look at me like I'm crazy.

I kinda have to bounce around for a while, so I guess I do get my own sort of jitters.

Dios' post.

So when I read Oldhousejunkie's

oldhousejunkie wrote:I get shaky too, Charlee. When I found out about my full, I couldn't even dial the phone to share the good news my hands were shaking so hard.

When the light bulb goes off for my writing projects, I usually just shout (as long as I'm not in a public place). I think I was driving when I finally figured out my ending. I slammed my hands down on the wheel and yelled, "That's it!!" It's pretty similar at home as well. Although when I figure out little details that have been troubling me, I laugh rather evilly. And that's when (like Brenda), my cats look at me like I've lost my mind.

I went back and reread and then rolled on the floor laughing....
You see I do the exact same thing only with my dogs!
They both look at me like I have lost it.
This is especially true since I am west coast and have just moved to the west coast and have few friends up when I get the DING !DONG!
I finally got it moment!

CharleeVale wrote:Now my hands are shaking so badly from all the adrenaline that I can barely type!

I hadn't really thought of this when you first posted the thread, Charlee, but I /do/ get adrenaline surges when I'm writing action scenes. I wrote one this afternoon, and by the time I got to the end (all of a thousand words long) I could feel my heart pitter-patting with the adrenaline. Very in the scene with my characters, I guess!