Unlocking Creativity: The Role of the Subconscious in Writing

Every writer, whether a seasoned veteran or just starting out, has experienced moments when the words flow with little effort. This can be attributed to the subconscious mind. A vast and mysterious realm beneath our conscious awareness that shapes our thoughts, emotions, and creative impulses.

The subconscious is a silent partner in the writing process. While the conscious mind focuses on grammar, structure, and logic. The subconscious quietly weaves together memories, emotions, and fragments of experience. It’s here that ideas incubate, characters develop personalities, and stories find their unique voice. Writers often describe inspiration as a sudden spark or a whisper from within, but in reality, it’s the subconscious mind drawing from a deep well of lived experiences and hidden associations.

Many creative breakthroughs occur when writers allow themselves to step back and let the subconscious take the lead. Techniques such as free writing, journaling, or even daydreaming can help bypass the inner critic and tap into this reservoir of creativity. Dreams, too, are a window into the subconscious, offering surreal images and narratives that can be transformed into compelling stories.

However, the relationship between the writer and their subconscious is not always straightforward. The subconscious can be elusive, at times withholding ideas or presenting them in cryptic forms. This is why many writers develop rituals. Such as walking, listening to music, or meditating to quiet the conscious mind and invite the subconscious to speak.

I’ve always been more comfortable making my decisions from the subconscious level, or more emotionally, because I find it is more truthful to me; Intellectually, I don’t think like that because I get uncomfortable.

Tim Burton

Ultimately, the magic of writing lies in the interplay between conscious craft and subconscious inspiration. By learning to trust and nurture the subconscious, writers can access deeper layers of meaning and emotion in their work. The stories that resonate most powerfully are often those that emerge from this hidden place, carrying the authenticity and complexity of human experience.

For me the key to my subconscious stirs during showers, and the brain teaser games I play on my phone. Every time I hop into the shower my mind starts gnawing at whatever impasse I might find myself stuck in my current WIP. If things are going well on the writing front it’ll start poking holes into whatever I’m working on.

One of the puzzles I play on my phone is Woodoku. This morning while working on a chapter for Parasite I got stuck with my character at the stove cooking breakfast. What could be so exciting about cooking breakfast that it needed to appear in my story?

I didn’t understand it at the time, so I turned to my phone and started playing. Halfway through the first game my mind flashed on an image of the yellow yolks of an egg in a skillet. A game many of us may have played as children that involves buttercups and the question, ‘Do you like butter?’ came to me. This in turn opened the floodgates to a sequence of events that shaped my characters choices later in life and dovetailed nicely into the narrative.

If you’re a writer, artist, or any kind of creative, what ritual, or process do you follow to unleash you creativity?