Writing Because of a Restroom

It's funny how a lot of my inspiration comes to me when I'm walking into the women's bathroom at work. I am so not sure why that is the case, but it seems to be a time when my mind disconnects from work and just drifts. My heels click onto the tiled floor and I let the dim fluorescent lighting wash over me. My script a few months ago started out with a bathroom scene. "A familiar sound of urination" was a key phrase in the description. A phrase that gets quite a bit of attention. But it is so routine. And for my novel, I seem to pull a lot of my main MC's thoughts from my own when I walk into the bathroom. And no, my characters' lives do not revolve around the bathrooms. I rarely put them in the bathrooms--but it does happen more in this novel then in some. Only because bathrooms have recently pulled a lot of random thoughts. For instance, I walked into the bathroom one day to find that it was a group meeting room. Sure, women congregate in the bathroom in clusters to talk boys,  makeup and everything from tampons to lighting fixtures. I always find it intriguing when some of my friends talk on the phone while using the bathroom vs. the friends who are appalled to even have the phone near the bathroom. The head of our HR department at work frequently takes calls while she's in the stall--this I know only because she is a loud talker even a few stalls down. But the one thing that triggered it was when I made my MC have a similar viewpoint as me. She felt uncomfortable with the thought that so many women were gathered in the bathroom to talk at the counters while a few sat on the cushioned chairs and one even sat with her chair pulled outside someone else' stall.

I have no problem discussing bathroom issues only because it is so common. I remember when I was younger and girls would turn on all of the faucets and air dryers to mask the sounds. And, while I don't particularly feel comfortable hearing sounds coming from the stalls (regardless of which number you're doing), it is a natural thing. I also don't have a problem with friends using the bathroom while on the phone. I mean, sometimes, you're in the middle of a conversation that is too good to hold for and it risks peeing your pants. I get that.

But, I think it is odd that I pull a lot of ideas from that first second walking through the bathroom door. At least my novel is not taking place in the bathrooms. Instead, they take place in very specific spots. But the bathroom at work is always a thought-provoker and the bathroom at the bars is always a great segue/escape. I think that the main part is that when you walk into a bathroom, you're finally able to relax for a second. You stop thinking. And that, dear writers, is a blissful time for creation inspiration. ...I wonder if anyone's written a novel from their toilet...I might not want to know.

OMG Did That Just Inspire Me?

So, I decided to call it quits on the script. My first official participation year and I decide to label it DOA or at least put it on pause while I get up for a glass of water. It's not because I'm blocked. Okay, part of me is. I've hit a wall. The script should be a short story. Like, 30 pages short story. Not 100 minutes of screen time. Oh well. The main reason I wanted to hold off on the script is that, well, I have very active muses who dance up and down in front of me saying "please look at me! I want to be written! Please! Pretty-pretty please!" Well, Kirby wasn't. He's been my busy little muse (I think he's taken Grant's place?! --BTW, yes, I name my muse after their most memorable role in my world. This one has had several names--Kirby, Pit, Pep, Pip...but he's always known as Pipe in my heart). Kirby was a quiet, always constant, peeking around the corners at me so I knew he was there all along.
He just wouldn't fit into my script. He wouldn't and neither would any of the other muses who have skipped circles around me (they're pretty jolly, aren't they, those muses). So, my script was kind of halted because 1. I couldn't figure out what to do with the characters and 2. I was meeting a lot of other characters that needed their own stories. So, I moved to another story. Actually, the novel I was working on before April. Which came first? The script story. But regardless, the characters are still solid, they can hold off. But, after a new muse finally decided to calm down and settle in that story (after trying to give it it's own story that was mostly a series of moments) and not deciding to jump into my script, I decided to novel instead of script.
Well, that's not happening. Now, I'm kind of giddy again. Just the thrill of writing, the excitement. It's like playing house, honestly. Or like playing with dolls. I swear, that's how I got into writing. I grew up from playing house (or "soap opera" as we got older) and Barbies. Daydreaming needed to be documented and stories just happened.

But here is the email I received this afternoon that really jump-started my script mojo.
Kind of exciting.
I am SO GLAD to have these people in my life!

Panda, as in Panda Bear

This new story is a struggle. I mean, I've had writer's block before and I've had stories that rip up my emotions but this one has it's own mess of internal issues. It came to me first by way of emotions. You can't write a book based on emotions. When all you get is that feeling coursing through your veins and the descriptions of such strong emotions, you just have to sit back and wait for the story to come to you or you have to make the conscious effort to push it in your direction. Either way, I was focused on my nano-inspired story and tried to focus my attention on one muse at a time. But in the back dark corners, this new muse kept peeking around the corner every once in a while. I'd get a glimpse of his yellow blond hair before he darted away. Until finally, he was starting to grow on me and emerge himself. There, now my story had been given a muse to play with. But what to do with him? The ideas had been swimming around my brain for months (and I do mean months) before I finally settled on a few. I found a great underlining story, a character conflict, to fuel some turmoil. Great! But none of this can actually pull together a whole novel--unless I want to amp up the conflict (which I didn't. It's character-driven, not story-driven) or make this into something small (which again, I didn't). So, I pushed through it. And lately it seems like my life would make the perfect story! But why lose that fun? I want to learn the story rather than already live it. So, I decided to play around with the ideas.
And finally it hit me. I had a perfect place for all of this to take place! It fit everything! It encompassed everything I wanted to say! But now I was stuck. I had emotions, a muse, underlining character conflicts and a place to play with them. Again, it was a bit of a waiting game. And thanks to an amazing author of mine, I found a new genre to play in. I already knew her struggles with it but decided to take it on. So now, here it goes. The characters are starting to really define themselves and I am in complete love with them.
This is exciting. This is why I write.