Thanks, Buffy: The Writer's Brain Never Rests
Author: Trish Milburn
Original Publication Date in Love Notes: November 2006

If you’re like most writers, especially if you’ve been writing and submitting for a long time, you have to take a mental holiday at some point. Sometimes you plan the downtime; sometimes the need for it hits you out of the blue. I had a close encounter of the latter kind over the summer. Only now am I realizing that while it felt like I was being lazy and wasting time, my writer’s brain knew better what I needed than I did. And now all that “playing time” is repaying me with a creative and productive writing burst.

In the middle of June, I got physically sick. I was already feeling bad on the eve of our regular MCRW meeting. If I hadn’t been leading the session that day, I would have likely stayed in bed that morning. But I managed to get through the meeting, even lunch. It was only later that I really started getting sick – the kind of lay on the couch and pass the days in a haze of TV sick. I’d borrowed the first three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD from Jody, so I thought I’d watch a couple episodes a day while I battled my illness. Well, let’s just say I became addicted, and fast. I’d watched all three seasons in like a week, and as soon as I was feeling up to it I drove to Jody’s (and that’s a fair distance) to borrow some more. As I watched, I understood what all the fuss among writers was about. This Joss Whedon guy – he could write. Great characters, great character arcs, great metaphors (high school as a horror movie = genius).

Throughout the rest of the summer, I made my way through all seven seasons of Buffy and all five seasons of the spin-off series, Angel. Add this to the fact I’d already watched the entire solo season of Firefly, along with the connected movie, Serenity, and I was ready to join in those Joss Whedon discussions. (Oh, and my answer in the Spike or Angel debate – Angel, baby!)

But when the marathon sessions were over, I still didn’t have the drive to write. I was suffering from “Oh, look, it’s another National and I still haven’t sold” syndrome. I felt like I’d plateaued. I could final in the Golden Heart, even get requests for revisions from editors, but I couldn’t make it over that final wall. Honestly, I felt no drive to produce on a daily basis as I’ve so often done in the past and suggested to others. So what did I do? I indulged in more TV. I downloaded the first seasons of Bones and Prison Break, and got hooked on those two shows too. I was writing some, but I wasn’t exactly going gangbusters. I re-watched my DVDS of Underworld and Underworld: Evolution. I joined Netflix and watched the entire first season of Supernatural so I could be caught up before the second season starts on Sept. 28.

In the midst of all this viewing, I started reading more paranormal books too. The list included Kim Harrison’s Dead Witch Walking, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, J.R. Ward’s Lover Awakened and Rachel Caine’s Ill Wind.

While I admired the writing – the characterizations, intriguing plots and great dialogue – in these shows and books, I didn’t realize what was happening deep down in my brain. All this entertainment or “playing” was actually stimulating my writer’s brain. It resulted in a creative burst this past week, about three months after the Buffy marathon began. Elements of a paranormal young adult novel had been bouncing around in my brain, evidently looking for each other. They finally hooked up, and I sat down at the dining room table with my laptop and started typing up notes on the idea. Character sketches, ideas for scenes, GMC, possible book titles, backstory–anything I could think of that could play into the story. Though that work was like stretching muscles that haven’t been used in awhile, by the time I was done I was anxious to get started the next day, a feeling I hadn’t had in a long time.

That was Wednesday, Sept. 20. I had freelance editing to do the next day so didn’t get started writing on my new book idea until 6 p.m. on Thursday. I wrote 12 ½ pages that night. It’s now Sunday, and I’ve written 65 pages. I can’t remember the last time I had two days in a row where I wrote more than 20 pages. It feels phenomenal, and I’m going to ride the wave as long as I can – hopefully until the end of the book.

You see, my writer’s brain never really turned off. Somewhere deep in my gray matter, it was paying attention while my conscious brain was watching Buffy and Angel dance at the prom and Selene and Michael fall in love despite the centuries of their races fighting each other, while reading about worlds where witches and vampires are real as are people who can control the weather with their minds.

So, I’d like to say thanks to Buffy and Angel, Willow and Xander, Selene and Michael, Dr. Temperance Brennan and FBI Agent Seeley Booth, Michael Scofield, Bella and Edward, Zsadist and the other Bella, Joanne Baldwin, Rachel Morgan, Spike and Drusilla, and all the other characters who inspired by writer’s brain.

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When Golden Heart double finalist Trish Milburn isn’t burning up the keyboard, you can find her noshing on nachos at Rafferty’s—at least on every third Saturday of the month.

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