“The idea hovered and shimmered delicately, like a soap bubble, and she dared not even look at it directly in case it burst. But she was familiar with the way of ideas, and she let it shimmer, looking away, thinking about something else.”
–Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
I am nearly finished reading The Golden Compass to my children. I love this book and have read it many times, but this is my first time reading it aloud. Reading aloud makes you read slowly, and speaking the words allows you to notice them and sink into them and savor them. Pullman’s words are delicious, and as I consume them, I realize how they have consumed me. I keep discovering phrases and ideas that, during earlier, quiet readings, I folded into my world view.
One such idea is the one in the quotation at the start of this post: to let an idea develop, you must let it shimmer, and you must leave it alone. You should look away and think about something else. This is excellent life advice, but I believe it is especially appropriate for writers. If we look directly at our ideas, they might dart away, or they might freeze and stare sullenly back and grow dull. Looking away from ideas allows them to float where they will and catch the light and become something. Looking away might be the best way to find what we need.
The trick is knowing when to look back. You don’t want the bubble to burst, but you also don’t want it to drift away and shimmer all on its own with no one to see it and wonder at it. Pullman says that Lyra doesn’t look at the idea directly, and I think that’s the key. You need to look at something else, but you also need to keep the idea ever so slightly in view, just at the edge of your imagination. In this way, you will notice when the idea is ready to be faced head on.
I’ve been looking away from an idea for a few weeks now, and it shimmers at the edge of my mind, reminding me that it’s still there. I think it’s ready. I think I’ve waited long enough, and now the idea waits for me.
It catches my eye. I look right at it. It doesn’t burst, and it shimmers still.