Maria Semple Quotes

Most people have their best ideas when they take their minds away from problems they're trying to solve.

All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow.

After a day's fishing, I'll know the solution to something or have good ideas that were not accessible before.

When I am traveling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that ideas flow best and most abundantly.

A lot of times, some of my best ideas happen when I'm running. That's when I do my best thinking.

Take naps. Often new ideas come together when you are half asleep, but you have to train yourself to remember them.

You have to allow a certain amount of time in which you are doing nothing in order to have things occur to you, to let your mind think.

Brainstorming, for me, takes place in my bed at night between the time I turn out my lights and I finally fall asleep. It is not a very violent storm, but what's happening is I am just thinking about different ideas and maybe things I've seen that day that I think might make a good story.

I write about two hours a day, and I write in fits and spurts - 45 minutes here, a half-hour there - and when I get stuck, which happens often, I take the dogs for a walk. But during the time when I'm not actually writing, I'm thinking.

Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas.

I think that everything is part of creativity - the more you create, the more you have ideas, and the more you meet people.

Creativity requires input, and that's what research is. You're gathering material with which to build.

My good ideas are shy. But if they see that I treat the stupid ideas with respect, they come forward.

It's not enough to tell people to be creative; they need to know how, and what to create.

Let your mind alone, and see what happens.

The brilliant thing about swimming is that, while you're doing it, there's nothing else you could be getting on with, like the ironing or sorting out the children. My mind goes into free-float mode; some of the best ideas for plots come into my head while I'm ploughing up and down the pool.

I guess some people are brilliant enough to be brilliant on their own and never doubt anything and come up with fabulous things. But I think it's good to get into arguments with people and have them say, 'That sucks' or 'You're crazy' or 'That's cheesy' or 'What do you think of this?'

For some reason, some of my best solutions and ideas are triggered in those dark theaters, usually totally unrelated to what's going on onscreen. I also enjoy hiking in the foothills and mountains close to Sacramento. I always have to bring a pen and paper to jot down sudden thoughts and ideas. So inspiration arises from countless sources.

I have some ideas on how to fix that. They're not very good ideas, but at least they're ideas!

When you stop thinking about something, the idea comes to you. It seems to work.

When I run, I think about everything: physics, family problems, plans for the weekend. I haven't made any big discoveries on a run, but it does give me time to think through problems. Some solutions are obvious, but they are only obvious when you are relaxed enough to find them.

Creativity and insight almost always involve an experience of acute pattern recognition: the eureka moment in which we perceive the interconnection between disparate concepts or ideas to reveal something new.

You can't really think about more than one movie at a time. You're thinking about it consciously, and the subconscious is working too, and if you cram too much into your head, you don't get any ideas in the shower.

I do find walking is fundamental to my creative process.

You get so tied up with the minutiae of the day-to-day, there's never a chance to sit back and let your subconscious run wild.