Take Note(s)!

Inspiration always seems to strike me at the most unfortunate times. Sometimes it is when I am driving, sometimes in the middle of a conversation, sometimes while I am in class. Then, when I am actually in need of inspiration, my mind is as dry as the Sahara. Because of this unfortunate lapse of inspiration, I started to jot notes down wherever I could when I am feeling inspired. I have a note on my phone, one on my iPad, a notebook in my purse, and a stick it note on my desk. Looking over my notes is pretty amusing, because the thoughts are so random. Here is a sample:

“How do I paint a shirt stretched across a back
That bends forward to look at taughtened sails
As they glide across the sea,
pushed by the muscles of the wind?

Heroes are just ordinary people doing the right thing under hard circumstances.

life is such an interesting thing,
the peasant someday may become the king.”

Just shows you how random my mind is, right? I have found that it is helpful to be able to refer back to these notes sometimes, and build off of their ideas for my writing. Moral of the story? Write down all of those crazy, random thoughts… You never know when you could use them for a blog post!

Writing from Experience

One of the first stories that I ever sat down to seriously write was about two girls who went to college in England. After a few pages, I came to the mortifying realization that I had no idea what college life in England was like. My story sounded something like a mix between Harry Potter and the brief glimpses of school life from The Chronicles of Narnia, but with dialogue that could have been a bad parody of Hamlet. At that point, I was not in college, and had never visited an English school. I realized pretty quickly that I could not write well about something I had no knowledge of. Obvious, right?

Maybe not. It seems to me that a lot of young writers want to escape so badly into real or imagined worlds, that they start trying to write about places, cultures, and lifestyles that they have never experienced (I am definitely guilty of this!!). However, this leads to a story that is generally unrealistic, and could be called out as improbable by anyone, but especially anyone who has had actual experience in the field.

Occasionally, it is true, that a writer can write about something via reports, stories and interviews, but unless your specialty is in research journalism, or you are a genius at researching, it is probably a good idea to stick with the familiar, at least for your first few stories.

That doesn't mean that all you can write is nonfiction! Try putting a new story in a place that you know very well, or creating characters based on people you know, but in a city you are less familiar with. Beginning writers can certainly branch out into new locations and cultures, but it is probably a good idea to start from a point where you already have some experiential knowledge.

There are definite advantages of writing from your own experience. For example, I recently wrote a fictitious short story about two women who had a conversation at the SC State House, an area with which I am very familiar.  It was very nice to be able to concentrate on creating the two characters, without having to create a whole new location from my own imagination.

Additionally, if you write about local areas, your work has an added interest for the people who live near the area. Many bookstores host events to promote local authors, and sometimes the city or county council will do the same; pretty nifty, right?

Whatever you write, whether it be located in your own backyard or in a galaxy far, far away, just remember - your main audience should be yourself. Write things you'd want to read! Write from your own experience and point of view. At the risk of sounding like a cat poster, do as Oscar Wilde said and "Be yourself, everyone else is already taken."

Inspiration, Pinsperation, and Perspiration

Today I am going to post a little post about inspiration. It is not a simple "how-to" guide or a list of ways to "get inspired," but it may show you how you can find things in your everyday routine to give you that little burst of creative energy that you've been searching for.

To start off, I would like to tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a tired, drained, stressed college student who had two hours to write the last poem in her poetry class, and she had no inspiration. That student was me, of course, and that evening was very traumatic.

I had tried all day long to come up with something to write my poem on, but inspiration was at an all-time low. After hours of struggle, I decided to take a break. I fixed a cup of tea (always a good idea) and sat down with my iPad to look at Pinterest. I popped over to my "Words" board, where I'd stashed away all those great quotes that come flying across the Pinterest homepage. As I was scrolling through them, I saw two quotes from The Great Gatsby, and suddenly I had an epiphany. I tossed aside my iPad, grabbed a sheet of paper, and wrote down my poem. I incorporated the two quotes into a story I'd already been thinking about using, and the finished product was my best work to date.*
                   *As a side note, this story is very useful in justifying the amount of time I spend on Pinterest.

Since then, I have used Pinterest several times to help with inspiration, whether it is with a few great quotes, or just looking at some beautiful pictures of the ocean or beach.

Walking or biking is another wonderful way to find inspiration. One of my suitemates (I can't write a post and not include them, it seems!) recently sent me an infograph of the creative routines of various famous authors, thinkers, scientists and artists. My suitemate pointed out that many of these famous people included some amount of walking in their daily routine. She walks a good deal herself, especially when she is stressed, and she has encouraged me to do the same. It is remarkable how simultaneously calming and stimulating a walk can be!

I have already mentioned how important it is to write in community. Inspiration comes more naturally when you are surrounded by people who encourage your creative talent. It would be impossible to number the times that my writing friends have encouraged and inspired me, whether through their words, works, suggestions, or lives.

Lastly, the greatest, deepest, and longest-lasting inspiration often comes through reading. The works you read have a profound effect on your creative life, and influence the way you write and think. Just as "bad company corrupts good morals", so also does good reading affect (and enable) good writing. When I feel creatively dry, I love to pick up my old copy of The Lord of the Rings, or some other imaginative work, and immerse myself in the creativity of the author.

These paths to inspiration are available to most of us, and we needn't have a Walden-like nature exile to fuel our writing. Good writing, your writing, comes out of your daily life. Next time you need a little inspiration, go for a walk, call up an old friend, find a shady nook and read, or just scroll down your Pinterest page... you never know what magic may happen.