Inspiration

Reading Feeds Writing (still)

/ still a dreamer

One of the things I love talking about with friends is what books we are reading and what we are writing. The two topics are often in the same conversation.

One friend is working very hard on her middle grade novel. I am generally working on picture books; however, a middle grade novel is slowly writing itself in my head. I’m asked if I’m not writing this down. I am not. But little by little I am getting to know my characters and I have a fair idea of where they’ve come from, what is shaping their dilemmas and where they are going. When the time is right, and when I know them better, I will begin the writing process.

Meanwhile, I read.  In talking with my friend, we discussed the 3 books I have just finished. She had not read two, but was interested in doing so for the reasons I’ll describe. She was reading, but lost interest in and abandoned, the third.

The first is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. I had seen the movie – it was light, probably a “chick flick” – but I liked it.
Advantage to Writer? Observing and understanding realistic  dialogue and relationships between teenage girls.

The second is The Divide by Nicholas Evans, probably best known as the author of The Horse Whisperer. I also read The Loop by him. What a way Evans has of engaging you in a story, building up suspense, then taking a sharp turn away to another character, leaving you wanting more. I only hope, whenever I write my novel, that I can hold a reader’s interest like he does.
Advantage to Writer? Learning how to pace a novel for maximum effect.

The third, (and unfinished by my friend), is The Lovely Bones by Alice Siebold. This was a daring first novel, told from the first person POV of a 12 year old girl who is raped and murdered, and is now in heaven. This could have been really strange, quirky or sappy. It was none of these, and it had my attention through to the end.
Advantage to Writer? Learning to trust in your own unique story ideas, that writing from the deepest and most real place within is where the best stories will always come from.

I trust that all I’m learning is soaking into my unconscious and always making me a better writer. And so the enjoyment of wonderful books continues. What is your reading bringing to you?

Re-Finding Ourselves

/ still a dreamer

I woke up this morning not feeling fully awake – I remember waking at 12:40, then 1 something, then 5:40 with a jolt – a disturbing noise that may have only been in my dream. When I finally got up at 6:30, I hardly felt rested.

In the kitchen, I found that one of my cats, who has recently returned to dragging food out of the bowl with his paw, had dragged the entire bowl to the center of the kitchen floor which was now littered with many small pieces of half-eaten food. Are they trying to attract mice?

With coffee in me, I was thinking of work, how much I had to do right now, and how much time I was spending in my office. The open doors and windows brought in a breeze and drew me out to the porch, where I sat down and realized what an absolutely gorgeous morning it was.

I watched a little spider on one of the yews valiantly mending her web as fast as the breeze would blow a bit of it away. Sunlight glistened on web strands of larger spiders, and as the breeze would move them, it seemed as a scintilla of light traveled a diagonal from the porch rail to the roof.

I heard birds I didn’t recognize – I heard what sounded like the high pitch of a seagull, but I’ve never once seen a seagull in this area. Perhaps it was a late-summer baby clamoring for food, or maybe one of the numerous catbirds had mastered a new voice.

Sitting there, peaceful at last, I wanted to stay … to delay the inevitable, and just enjoy a cool summer morning and do nothing. I am always amazed at the healing power of even a few moments spent appreciating nature, if only from my porch. We can usually re-find ourselves by taking a little time away from our many demands and just being with the simple wonders of the natural world.

And then I saw him. It was a seagull, indeed, circling in the sky. I wondered if he had lost his flock and was calling out to be found. His cry had such a desperate air to it, and he flew in wider and wider circles, but still in view. I hoped someone would come looking for this seemingly lost soul. I returned inside, having found myself, and hoping that he, too, would soon find himself where he needed to be.

Enchanted

/ still a dreamer

Enchanted, entranced …. swept away … by such a lovely piece of music by Mike Rowland, who I am just now discovering. Entitled “Magic Moment,” the added visuals, (by truus 1949), are just that – simply magical, a reminder of such moments – so often in our lives and not noticed, or just a star’s breath ahead of us – and a reminder of how beautiful we actually are. Watch and summon your own true beauty. Feel the magic always in our lives if we just let ourselves be.

 

Building Your World on Your Dreams

/ still a dreamer

Morning by Maxfield Parrish

“Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.”

– James Allen from “Visions and Ideals,” As A Man Thinketh

Where Do Story Ideas Come From?

/ still a dreamer

Back in December, I devoted a post to where ideas for picture books come from. With energy still running high from the NJ SCBWI June Conference, I feel inspired to expand that post. I’ll start with an example.

The photo below tells a story that may or may not have interest to you, but it definitely does to me. You may not even see the story right away. But stick with me. By way of background, I put food and water on my back porch for the 2 cats next door who are outside most of the time, and often visiting me. In time, a small tuxedo feral whom I’ve named Little Fee found the food, and now he’s a regular. I feed him morning and night, and he can graze whenever he’s inspired until I bring the food in. But who else is at the food bowl?

Well, if you know animals, you can look at the photo and know that it’s not just a cat. Towards the end of this past winter, when food sources were slim, I had two visitors who discovered the food – a young skunk, and a young opossum. While neither bothers me, I don’t need animals with lots of teeth or who can spray horrible smells on my porch. So I started bringing the food in as soon as it got dark. They left and found food elsewhere.

Feeling confident, now that it’s June, I started leaving it out a bit later again for when Little Fee comes around. So look again … and check that footprint. Here it is enlarged – Exhibit A. Based on my research last time, I’m pretty sure that I have a possum again. But he’s not the only visitor … I started noticing an increase in bird poop on my porch railing. Closer observation has revealed that a mama Blue Jay swoops down several times in the morning and late afternoon, takes a piece of food and flies away. She’s either feeding her young or eating it herself and regurgitating for her young.

For me, that’s a story idea. Three cats, a skunk, a possum and a Blue Jay all coming for dinner. I’m always enamored with nature, and this inspires me!

So where do story ideas come from? Always something of meaning and interest to ourselves. It can be something as simple as an observation of nature on our back porches, or something we’ve always wanted to know more about, or experiences or observations we feel compelled to write about. It’s when we are trying to write about “not us” that stories fall flat. We need to know ourselves, (or be willing to discover), and write from our hearts. So simple.

At the June Conference, I had a PB critique which inspired me to improve my story and rework my dummy. In a First Page Session, I got some suggestions that got wheels turning about really writing that middle-grade novel I only occasionally thought about. Where are those ideas coming from? My past, my love of horses, and all the information I’ve been absorbing over the last 7 years from helping an equine rescue and having friends who ride. The ideas are flowing as through an open faucet. I didn’t expect that from a simple First Page critique.

And in one workshop about breaking picture book rules, we split into 2 groups halfway through, and one of the two presenters, Alison Formento, gave us a writing exercise. What we participants wrote in such a short time was both amazing and moving to us all. And right there was another idea for each of us, because Alison had triggered our writing about something meaningful in our lives.

It all starts with an idea … what has meaning for you? What MUST you share with the world in whatever genre or whatever format or voice you choose? That’s where story ideas come from. And sometimes it can be as tiny as a muddy little paw print.