I have come to realize that I am spending a lot of time talking about movies/books, when initially, I hoped that this blog would cover a variety of topics. Not that talking about movies or books is a bad thing, but I don’t want this blog to become about one thing and nothing else.

This is my attempt to change things up a little; I’m sure I’ll return to books and movies soon.

Plus, it’s National Novel Writing Month, and since I don’t really have the time to do that kind of writing, I am going to start making posts about writing. I think I’ll make a series of these, with the hope that I can learn something while also maybe giving someone else some tips and/or tricks to use for themselves.

For this first post, I’m going to focus on inspiration.

Occasionally my children ask me, “How do you write?” Sometimes what they really mean is how do I decide what to write. The short answer is I don’t know, but since that isn’t helpful, I’m taking the time to really think about where my inspiration comes from.

1. Write what you know.

This old adage is helpful inspiration. A lot of aspiring writers might ask how this helps, but when you think about it, it’s pretty simple. If you’re a single mom and teacher in Tennessee who hasn’t been to New York City since you were seven years old, writing from the perspective of a NYC lawyer is probably going to be difficult. However, you might write from the prospective of a mother, not necessarily in TN, but you get the idea. Or if your mother was a nurse, and you heard A LOT about what being a nurse is like, you could attempt to write about that. Or since you are a mom and teacher, you could probably convincingly write about teenagers. The point is writing what you know doesn’t literally mean write about yourself, but we all have little niches, things we cherish that are our thing. Write about that.

2. Dreams.

Several times in my life, I have woken up and been like, “What in the world was that? I need to write that down before I forget it.” I admit, I don’t always have the time to immediately write down my dreams, but when a dream really hits me in the morning, and I know I won’t have the time to write it down for a while, I try to keep it fresh in my mind by continuously revisiting it. It is true that the more you think of something (pulling the memory out of wherever the brain stores it) the easier you will remember it. So, if I can’t immediately write down my dream, I try to think about it several times during the day until I can get the time to write it. I may lose a few details, but usually the main parts are there. Once it’s written down, the dream can be tweaked at will to form a narrative. I have at least two (totally unfinished, maybe never to be finished) stories on my computer right now that started as dreams. I have also read that it is a good habit to write down the dreams you remember, but I have never been able to form the habit well enough.

3. Songs.

This may sound strange, but I have in the past been inspired to write after hearing songs. Songs have their own stories to them, and when we listen, we usually visualize those stories for ourselves. At least, I do. The one that conjured the strongest images for me was Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved.” Even before I saw the video, I had very powerful images in my head when I listened to it. And of course, the story in my head was nothing like the story in the video. I only have a basic outline of the story, but one day, maybe I’ll have the chance to write it.

4. Books and other creative media.

Another old adage is “there is nothing new under the sun.” This is true. Just look up Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey if you don’t believe me. Also, Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” and while I’m not sure I completely agree, I do think that imitation is important for inexperienced writers. You need to find your style and voice, and the best way to do that is to study and mimic those who have come before you. However, you want to use that imitation as a tool, not a crutch. Just remember that the Romans had very little artistic culture when they annexed the Greeks, so they started to cultivate their artistic culture by imitating the Greeks until they found their way on their own. That being said, there is no shame in finding inspiration from your favorite authors or filmmakers (or other). Just make sure you aren’t plagiarizing.

These things are where I find some of my inspiration. Leave me a comment if you agree or not, if you have a question or a suggestion of your own, or for whatever reason. Thanks for reading.

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