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| Authors at previous author talk, L to R Kelly Tinkham, me, W.S. Gager, Joselyn Vaughn |
I am enlisting your help today. My critique group is presenting a talk on "what stirs inspiration" this week at the Artsplace in downtown Fremont, Michigan. (Hey, you're invited at 6:30 pm if you are anywhere in West Michigan.) I struggled over the weekend with figuring out a five minute "talk" on inspiration. I think I have it in my brain and am planning to make notes for the talk. But before I finalize it, I would like to know what stirs your inspiration??
I know authors who swear they have a Muse who sits on their desk with them and inspires them to write their stories. In fact the title of my publisher includes the muse, MuseItUp Publishing. So that means there HAS to be a muse, right?
For me, no. I have no muse but I do have many people who inspire me to write. Especially this crit group. We meet every Thursday at the Koffee Kuppe. Just talking about their stories and brainstorming together really gets the juices going.
People inspire me. Ordinary people who become heroes in traumatic experiences such as earthquakes, tornadoes, fires, even robberies. They inspire me to be better to do more!
The female pastor I interviewed for Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women inspired me to write a mystery/sweet romance about a female pastor, Pastor Christine in Coda to Murder. Debates about having women as pastors and take a leadership role in churches always pop up, so I thought the controversial topic and the message of love and forgiveness in the book could inspire others to discover their own beliefs.
So tell me, do you have a Muse or do you daydream or are there people who inspire you to put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard? Please leave a comment and help a poor gal out. Thank you!!!
THIS WEEK:
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1--Yee-haw!! Author Marsha R. West shares her pastime--theatre. She and her daughter have a special mission when they attend theatre productions. Besides the entertainment, they have a worthy purpose for attending the musicals.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 1--Author talk at the Artsplace, downtown Fremont, Michigan, 6:30 pm. Questions from the audience encouraged.
9 comments:
Um, well, lots of things can inspire me -- a writing prompt, a commitment to write, just daydreaming, some incident or other.
I have a chapter book coming out soon that was inspired by a tragic fire that took the lives of a friend's wife and children. I wrote my first science fiction solely from a desire to overcome my phobia about world-building. The next one, just released, was inspired by a question about back story in the first sci fi novel. The next one, due out in November, was written to delve into what happened to one of the other characters in Relocated.
In poetry, I'm often inspired simply by an image I want to capture, or by words, or a writing prompt. If I'm paying attention -- and I'm not always -- lots of things inspire me to write poetry. I wrote a poem years ago about some soup because I was annoyed with my SO for complaining about it after I'd gone to a lot of trouble to make it from scratch.
I'm often inspired by song lyrics or pictures. They start things stirring in my mind, creating characters and plots and I'm off and running.
That sounds like a great talk, JQ. Wish I could join your group in the Kofee Kuppe! I get my inspiration when I'm out walking the dog. She's a great listener :)
That sounds like a great talk, JQ. Wish I could join your group in the Kofee Kuppe! I get my inspiration when I'm out walking the dog. She's a great listener :)
Hey, JQ. Looking forward to the visit Wednesday. I have to say locations inspire me. I've driven by a certain house in a lovely neighborhood for months and I kept wondering about who might live there. That became the setting for book 5. In VERMONT ESCAPE, it was a small town. In book 3 a theatre. In book 2 a news article. Book 1 a phone call. All are connected to locations. I may be odd that way. LOL Good luck with your presentation. I'm sure you'll do great.
Plenty of things inspire me. To start. But as they say, like every other job writing is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. In other words, WORK.
Our local writers group (in Australia) do an exercise at each meeting starting with something someone has thought up, or a picture we all write a brief page around. And we do assignments. (Not marked!) It's amazing that our members come up with completely different interpretations.
So interesting to read what inspires all you folks. We are all different, so inspiration comes in many forms. A question, a building, a poem, artwork, writing prompt...I could go on and on and on...!!Thanks so much for your input. Keep your fingers crossed for me to put it all into words to inspire readers who attend the talk!
I'll tell you Thursday night! See you then.
I am inspired by other people's talent, be it musical, literary, or any other of the fine arts. Experiencing great work motivates me to do my part. ^_^
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