What makes an inspiration....
- beachywritersbeach
- May 1, 2013
- 2 min read
I have tried to keep a log of all the things that have sparked inspiratin and to be honest if I really looked back at the list I would have so many stories that I would not be writing AND publishing anything. So what is inspiring?
Well, now that I think becomes very personal. It is like your story. It is so personal and overwhelming that it becomes paralzying or consuming and the fear of letting either go means losing just a little bit of yourself. I know this because last year I was asked to submit my novel. I was too terrified. I held off for a year. Yes, a year. It was finished, or at least for me it was. It is sitting at the publishers now waiting to find out what I need to do if anything.
I was having a particularly rough day. The kind of day that means no cup of joe, no cup of tea, no cup of anything but a stiff drink was going to fix my misery. That's when the muse that often inspires me at 2am decided she wanted out and NOW! So I thought of my mother as I had been most of the day (she's passed 8 years now) and suddenly I looked outside it was dark and I was feeling small and afraid of life. That's when I heard my mother's voice say, "You better not go outside." I smiled and thought "Why not?" Her instantenous reply? "Because you never know what's out there." That began the riding of the muse on my back. I wrote for eight hours solid. I didn't take a break. My head hurt and my hands cramped but I wrote on until I could finally say "enough" and put the laptop away. Well, the muse wasn't finished and I have managed to turn a small phrase into a triology. Yeah, Book One is done. Only 50 pages...Christ, that's a lot of writer's blood....but it's done.
Another story was inspired by my son Christian. He wrote he loved going to his uncle's house because you never what's in the basement. This started an avalanche of memories of knowing what was down there and how an 8 year old boy would have a field day going through each of those things and memories with his brother and four cousins. So, a story was born.
As you can see literally anything can be a jumping point. Sometimes it's to a death of an idea other times it is a great novel waiting to happen. All novels are great. They are our work. They may be poorly expressed. They may be too long. They may have crappy characters, but they are OURS. That's what makes them great novel.
No one ever became famous for writing without failing first. Stop waiting. SUBMIT YOUR WORK.
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