I woke up a few days ago with this image floating around some of the more surreal corners of my mind. Try as I might the dream that had preceded this visual peek eluded me. Yes, there were sheep, plenty of them. And yes the weather was um, challenging. But as I lay there trying to snatch at a series of improbable images I knew the dream was lost to me. Sure enough, by the time I was munching my museli and wiping the puddles of milk from the kitchen floor left by my helpful offspring, this curious picture of snowing sheep was all that was left.

Actually, this sort of thing happens to me quite a lot. What sort of thing, I hear you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. I have a habit of drawing any old nonsense that comes to mind whilst sitting in front of the Tv. The best part about this is the fact I’m not really concentrating so it is often a surprise to me when I finally register what I have drawn. For some reason I have been drawing sheep recently and, no doubt, after an evening of sketching the silly things I took them with me to bed, so to speak. It’s all a bit bewildering, really. But, of course, it  is part of the answer to that familiar question ‘where do you get your ideas from?” Sometimes, it requires little thought, just a bit of mind doodling, be it written or drawn.

What any of it really means, quite frankly, I shudder to think. I will not be trying to analyse the signifcnace of such imagery. Somethings are better left well alone. Let sleeping sheep lie, I reckon.

If you are trying to write something why not try a bit of mindless doodling yourself. It could be anything you like. A list of words, a sentence, a paragraph (they really don’t have to make sense next to each other – just write anything down for, say 2 minutes, without stopping). Or try drawing – anything. Doodle shapes: leaves, twigs, whatever is at hand. Anything to get you started. You’ll be surprised how quickly your mind will wander and start making up it’s own shapes. You never know, it might just spark an idea. Forgive me if I have already mentioned this on a previous post but it is something a say quite often. Story ideas, for me,  is a bit like making a jigsaw puzzle. The joining together of often unrelated pieces that, when put together, form a bigger picture.

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