The “magic rain room” and creativity.

I get a lot of my ideas in the shower.

A. Lot.

Sometimes new ideas for stories, sometimes plot snags working themselves out. I have a dive tablet and waterproof notepad for taking notes when this happens. (And thanks to reader Karen for gifting me another one at Christmas!)

I get so many ideas in the shower that Hubby and I have dubbed it the “magic rain room.” To be fair, we’d dubbed it that years ago, while we were still raising service dog puppies, because our dog Scudder used to sort of freak out when we’d get into the shower, like we’d disappeared or something. And then it just sort of…stuck. But it fits.

I’ve also literally written entire books while in the car on various drives. Even to the point of putting a song on repeat loop on my iPod and listening to it for a couple of hours while working out plot snags in a scene. (To a lesser extent, doing the same thing at home, but with earphones if I’m not alone so I don’t drive Hubby mad.)

There’s actually a scientific basis for all of this. White noise, combined with certain conditions in the brain, can equal a burst of creativity.

• http://www.memd.me/why-do-we-get-the-best-ideas-in-the-shower/
• http://lifehacker.com/5987858/the-science-behind-creative-ideas
• http://www.cameronmoll.com/archives/2008/11/showering_and_thinking/
• http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2010/08/20_reasons_why_1.shtml
• https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-science-of-how-room-temperature-and-lighting-affects-our-productivity
• http://99u.com/articles/16711/turn-it-up-how-the-right-about-of-ambient-noise-increases-creativity
• http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-websites-that-will-help-drown-out-the-noise-so-you-can-stay-focused/
• http://www.ldrmagazine.com/blog/2013/12/06/20-ambient-noise-websites-like-rainymood/
• http://rain.simplynoise.com/
• https://coffitivity.com/

(Side note: if you run a Google search for “shower meme” there are apparently a shit-ton–haha–of them about taking a poo post-shower. Which is apparently a problem I’ve never had or heard of. Amazing what you can find on the Interwebz…)

I also have a great white noise generator on my iPhone and iPad called Relax Melodies by Ipnos Soft (NAYY). It includes isochronic tones (no headphones needed) and binaural beats (headphones needed) that can help induce deeper modes of concentration. Since I have tinnitus, a white noise generator is pretty much mandatory for me.

I always have music when I’m writing, but my iPhone stays docked on my desk during the day, so sometimes I have the iPod playing in the player and headphones on with the white noise generator playing. I can still hear the music, but the white noise (I use a binaural beat along with a mix of rain and water sounds for the best result for me) helps me focus and tune out the rest of the world.

I used to keep my iPhone next to the shower to make quick notes, because no matter how much I tried, invariably I’d get out of the shower, forget to write it down, and later be like, aw, dammit.

What do you do to relax, to get into the mood to write, to work out plot snags? Any tips or tricks you’d like to share? Feel free to sound off in the comments.

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