Inspiration

What inspires us as writer? I have a list of songs that always seem to tug at something within - The Long Goodbye, The Highwayman, Puff the Magic Dragon, Raindrops...to name a few, and in addition to music, there are movies (Tangled, While You Were Sleeping, Practical Magic...) and books, too.

But sometimes, it's the Ordinary Everyday that sparks something. The scent of woodstoves on a crisp, cool autumn afternoon. The way the sunlight hits the front of a house, or streams into a room. The sweet scent of spring flowers on a warm May afternoon. The task of making muffins or cookies or brownies with a child. Trimming a Christmas tree. Thanksgiving dinner roasting in the oven. Laughter. A really bad joke that nonetheless makes you laugh like a hyena.

So, here are some thoughts from other writers about inspiration, and writing in general. See what tickles your fancy.

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any.
Orson Scott Card

When I examine myself and my methods of thought I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing knowledge.
Albert Einstein

Observe, don't imitate.
John M. Ford

Words, as is well known, are the great foes of reality.
Joseph Conrad

Each writer is born with a repertory company in his head and as you get older, you become more skillful casting them.
Gore Vidal

Last but not least...I liked Duncan Hines on FB, and boy, they sure tempt and tease with awesome pix and recipes. So does Betty Crocker. However, this one is from Duncan Hines, and it's for Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars. CLICK, but only after you get a drool cloth, because the picture of these treats will make you want to lick your monitor. These are *truly* inspirational. ;)

Inspiration

...It comes from a turn of a phrase, an element from a favorite TV show, a scent, a memory, a song, pictures...It's all around us, all we need to do is pay attention and tune into it. Artists use many mediums - paints, oils, canvas, pencil, paper; words, phrases, paragraphs; a camera - the possibilities are limitless. Since I craft with words, I use my medium - words, phrases, paragraphs (etc) to convey a picture the reader can envision in their mind. Translating the pictures below into words would be fun, and yes, I'll admit, I'm feeling a little niggle of inspiration. Who wouldn't, looking at these pictures?

IMAGES

At the moment, the rhythm of the rain pounding on the patio cover fires my imagination. The rain is pouring - relentlessly and ceaselessly - giving a beat to each breath we take, move we make, steps that take us around the house on our tasks - grateful to be inside where we're dry and warm. I love this sound, love watching the rain and smelling the rain. 

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

~Aristotle~

Do or do not. There is no try.

~Yoda~

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Creativity and Inspiration

Found this lovely picture at Public Domain Pictures...

Went looking for something inspirational to share, something to get the ol' wheels a'turning, spark a bit of creativity. The newest thing I've started writing (Sherry's Fault), insists it's set in NYC. Nifty. I've been there exactly ONCE, so this picture caught my eye, seeing as it's of the East River. My first thought upon seeing this picture was, "Look how those lights along the pier look like martini glasses." Incorrigible. Sunset, the last bit of light turning the sky white as the darker blue of night begins to take over provides a brighter contrast to the buildings in silhoutte. Lights reflect in the buildings, and one has to wonder...just what is going on in all those buildings where the lights are on? What are people doing? So g'wan with ya, pick a speck of ight in one of those towering buildings, and let your imagination loose. There's a story in there somewhere. Too much going on in this deceptively placid picture...



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A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something. ~Frank Capra

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  ~Sylvia Plath

Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.  ~Dee Hock
Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience.
~Masaru Ibuka

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. ~Bill Moyers

Imagination is the highest kite one can fly. ~Lauren Bacall

Do or do not. There is no try.  ~Yoda

Inspiration

...comes from many sources. One of my favorite inspirations is songs. Sometimes it's the lyrics alone. Could be the melody or the singer(s) or simply the mood of the piece, too. Recently my Muse Bait has been The Highwaymen---Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristopherson. Namely the song entitled 'Highwayman.' Struck my fancy. I love the progression of the Highwayman through the verses---his many incarnations, how the spirit survives the death of the incarnation...It's cool. And yeah, who wouldn't love listening to these men sing? I mean, you have to admire anyone who's voice comes from their toes, like Waylon Jennings' and Johnny Cash's. And in the midst of searching YouTube for more Highwaymen songs, it occurred to me. The heroine in the new WIP the Muse gifted me with this past weekend...how droll and unexpected would it be for her to like the Highwaymen's music? The notion still tickles me. Can't wait to incorporate that bit of silliness. :D

Now that I've digressed a wee bit...Inspiration...someone said you can't wait for it to hit on its own, you have to go after it with a club. So true. That's why I often turn to music for inspiration---either as a laxative for Museal Constipation or just to spark an idea to start writing. People watching works, too. Closing the ol' eyeballs and letting the mind wander works, too. Another favorite of mine is asking myself "What If" situational questions. "What if the bridesmaid never becomes the bride," for example. Taking a simple, every day occurrence and setting it on its ear is fun, too. Writing prompts are good ones, too. You never know what will come from one.

Speaking of writing prompts...What song(s) have inspired you? What have you seen people do that's caught your fancy and blossomed into an idea? Where has your mind taken you? What every day occurrence can you take and set on it's ear? My answers are below, in order of the questions asked.

1. Song: The Long Goodbye...It's been tickling my brain cell for years. One of these days, I'm going to put it on repeat and listen to it until whatever it's evoking within me comes out.

2. People Watching: People shopping at a home improvement store, in my case, Lowes.

3. Mind Wandering: Saturday last, the Muse gifted me with a heroine, hero and a situation and a very good view of the entire story. Now I just hafta figure out how to get it out of the brain and onto paper (or in this case, into the computer!).

4. Everyday Occurrence On Its Ear: People going about their daily business, piling into elevators to be whisked up to whatever floor they work upon, but when the elevator doors open, they don't wind up where they think they will...Hmmm...

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If you wait for inspiration to write; you’re not a writer, you’re a waiter. – Dan Poynter

Ever tried and failed? No matter. Try again and fail better. – Samuel Beckett

Best advice on writing I’ve ever received. Finish. – Peter Mayle

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. - E.L. Doctorow

He is able who thinks he is able. - Buddha

You must want to enough. Enough to take all the rejections, enough to pay the price of disappointment and discouragement while you are learning. Like any other artist you must learn your craft—then you can add all the genius you like. - Phyllis A. Whitney

The Joys of Writing

Writing is like breathing for me: I can't live without breathing, and I can't live without writing.

I love perusing through websites dedicated to quotes about writing. Today I'm looking at THIS ONE, and I thought I'd share the ones that stand out to me.

It is better to write a bad first draft than to write no first draft at all.Will Shetterly

There is no great writing, only great rewriting.
Justice Brandeis

Writing is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent elimination.
Louise Brooks

It is perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly. C. J. Cherryh

It's none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.
Ernest Hemingway

As with all other aspects of the narrative art, you will improve with practice, but practice will never make you perfect. Why should it? What fun would that be?Stephen King

By writing much, one learns to write well.
Robert Southey

The only way to learn to write is to write.
Peggy Teeters

It is my contention that a really great novel is made with a knife and not a pen. A novelist must have the intestinal fortitude to cut out even the most brilliant passage so long as it doesn't advance the story.
Frank Yerby