Writers On The Move: Inspiration

Showing posts with label Inspiration. Show all posts

Travel for Writing Inspiration

Dívčí Kámen, Czech Republic
Great inspiration for my current historic novel
All photos by Melinda Brasher

Many people resolve every year to travel more. It's not just fun, interesting, and mind-broadening. It also provides grist for your writing mill. Article writers, of course, already know this. But you can also find a wealth of inspiration for your fiction. Here are some tips to use travel to enrich your writing.

1) Steal from History. This isn't only for historical fiction or academic articles. History--told well--is one long story. Visit museums, read informational plaques, take walking tours. You'll find fascinating details of history's crazy characters and its dark and bright moments. Take elements from here and there and twist them into your own story. When I was in Znojmo, Czech Republic, the history of the catacombs there fascinated me. I later incorporated them--in my own style, with many details changed--into my novel, Far-Knowing.

Volunteering at a village school in Guatemala
Seeing different ways of life is good for my writing.

2) Meet People. Talk to locals in trains, shops, and restaurants. Get their stories. See things through their eyes. Stay in hostels and meet international travellers with backgrounds and experiences enough to fill hundreds of novels. If you have time, organize a volunteer vacation to really interact with people. Of course, you don't want to violate anyone's privacy or steal entire life stories, but let people's tales serve as the seeds of your own work. On a train to Budapest, I met two Brits who told me a story about having to get off a train once in the middle of nowhere and walk to the nearest station with all the other passengers. And that's what happens in "On the Train to Warsaw," my first published short story. All the details and the internal conflict are my own, but I still owe the external conflict to those friendly travellers.

Hah! The perfect place to drop my poor miserable characters

3) Explore Nature. Get out there in the elements, especially in climates and landscapes you're not used to. Pay attention to the plants, the smells, the feel of it all. Then plunk your characters down in the harshness or beauty or crazy variety of nature you've discovered and see what they do. One scene from the novel I'm working on now came from my own scary experience in a Slovakian forest.

4) Visit Libraries. Depending on where you travel, libraries may serve as cultural or historic centers. If you speak the language, ask for their local section of books and see what you find. In El Salvador once, tired of "sights," I spent the morning in the library, reading local folktales. One inspired me to write "A Learned Man."

Znojmo, Czech Republic
Which served as inspiration for a setting
in my novel, Far-Knowing

5) Imagine your Characters at the Sights you See. While you're strolling the grounds of a castle or taking in the hum of a modern metropolis, imagine characters there with you. What kind of people are they? What are they doing here? How do they react to what they see? What do they want that they can't have? What problems lurk for them around the corner?

Record it!
Whenever you travel, carry a little notebook with you to write down these ideas and story kernels. Then, even if you don't use something right away, you can go back to this idea bank for later inspiration. Good travels!

Melinda Brasher loves to travel and has filled numerous notebooks with the things she sees on her journeys. She's also lived abroad in Spain, Poland, Mexico, and the Czech Republic. To read some of the work inspired by her travels, click the links above or check out Leaving Home, a collection of travel narratives and short stories, many of which were written on buses up mountain roads, in foreign town squares, or sitting in castle windows. Visit her online at www.melindabrasher.com

Taking a Break from Writing: Finding Inspiration in a Summer Writing Hiatus

My critique group usually takes a break during the summer. With all the summer activities, it’s hard to find a time that fits our summer schedules, and even harder to find time to write. I usually try and keep writing during this break, but not this summer.

This summer I’m giving myself a “hall pass” to escape from my writing room. I normally schedule my weekly writing time on my calendar. It almost always includes Saturday mornings and a few other sessions during the week. For July and August, I’ve decided not to pre-schedule my time and not worry if I don’t write.

Instead of writing, I’m travelling and getting out into nature. I’m working on those house projects I never seem to get done. I’m visiting the local museums and catching up with friends and family.

AND… I’m looking around for inspiration. I use my phone to keep notes on writing/subject ideas. For me, summer is a fertile time to germinate ideas for future projects. Three of my projects this year, were ideas from last summer. By September, I hope to be re-energized and ready to sequester myself with my computer.

If you’re struggling to write this summer, consider taking a hiatus from writing for a few weeks. It might just be the antidote for a stalled writing project.

Mary Jo Guglielmo is writer and intuitive life coach. For more information check out:

http://theadvantagepoint.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/do_north

http://facebook.com/DoNorth.biz

Using Bookends to Overcome Procrastination

If and When were planted, and Nothing grew.” ~Proverb

Procrastination………….who me? I know how to get things done; I also know how to procrastinate. As a writer, sometimes procrastination has to do with feeling lost in a project, other times it’s about not being satisfied with a draft. Personally, I'm pretty disciplined with my writing time, but I can procrastinate for months when it comes to sending a draft off to an agent or editor. After having my 900 word manuscript accepted by a magazine, the editor sent it back to me asking that I further develop the topic. I quickly added the info requested and sent it back. The editor responded with ..."tell me more." Again, I added another section and resubmitted the manuscript. I was sure I was done with the manuscript. The editor responded with highlighting another section and once again said..."tell me more". Frustrated and not sure what she wanted, I put the manuscript down for three months. When I finally finished the manuscript it was almost 3,000 words. I was sure too much time had elapsed and the editor would no longer be interested, but with the next submission to the editor, I received my contract for publication. Fortunately, my procrastinating didn't cost me the contract, but it certainly raised my angst about the project.

Now when I find myself procrastinating I apply bookends to the project. Once I decide what I'm gong to work on, I schedule it and plan a pre and post project incentive. It’s my bookends. I treat myself or do something I enjoy prior to starting the project and again when I finish it. Sometimes, it’s something small like a trip to Starbucks before doing research on a project, other times it’s a day at the zoo or the art institute. Why do bookends work? I think because the first bookend marks it’s time to start and then the last bookend acknowledges the accomplishment. Sometimes the bookend at the end is something that I’m really dying to do or is time sensitive. This gives me the added push to slug through until I’m finished. So if you find yourself procrastinating, try bookends.

Mary Jo Guglielmo is writer and intuitive life coach. For more information check out:

http://theadvantagepoint.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/do_north

http://facebook.com/DoNorth.biz

You Know You're a Writer When Your . . . Part 2

Dare to dream Photo by Linda Wilson

Build a strong foundation: Read as much as you can. Study your weak areas so you can improve them. Share your work with a critique group. Take courses. Attend workshops and conferences. Build a marketing platform. Write the best article/book/poem/memoir you can. Ask a professional editor to proof your work. Whatever you do, don't give up. You've covered the bases. You are on a sure road to success.

And, don't forget: write from your heart. For, without putting your heart and soul into what you write, your works would have little meaning. To find meaning you need only to look inside. As one editor put it, "Go to the well. That's were you'll find what to write." Sound easy? It hasn't been easy for me. Nestled in among the flowers inside there are weeds, weeds that I sometimes don't want to see. But when I take a good, hard look, each weed that I pluck adds meaning; and in the end, could be the very reason for my story to linger.

What has made up your well is the sum total of your past, your thoughts and feelings, your experiences; in short, where you come from. While reading through this small sampling of the main forces that have shaped great authors' careers and how far their humble beginnings have taken them, think about how your own writing choices originated; how these choices have driven you, even challenged you, toward the subject(s) you write about today.

You know you're a writer when your . . .

. . . relative is a journalist.

Brian Doyle, the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, Oregon; and author of thirteen books, most recently The Plover, published in April 2014, writes that he is asked how he became a writer in almost every class he visits. His short answer is "By writing." In an article for The American Scholar, Doyle imparted precious gems he learned from his journalist father: "My dad was a newspaperman, and still is, at age 92 . . . he taught me immensely valuable lessons. If you wish to be a writer, write . . . Note how people get their voices and hearts and stories down on the page . . . Be honest with yourself about the size of your gift . . . The best writers do not write about themselves but about everyone else . . . The best writers are good listeners."

. . . family is your biggest influence.

As an extremely shy girl, Jane Austen, the youngest of seven, centered her world around her family. The author of six novels, including Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, Austen drew her "comic abilities" and "knowledge of the sea" from her brothers. Though Austen never married, she drew much of her fiction from her own life.

Eudora Welty grew up in a house full of books. After attending college at the University of Wisconsin and Columbia, she returned to her childhood home in Jackson, Mississippi, where she lived most of her 92 years. She never married, saying, "It never came up," and of her life at home, said, "I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within." Welty wrote four short stories which were reissued in 1980 as The Collected Stories; five novels, a volume of essays, The Eye of the Storm (1978), and a memoir, One Writer's Beginnings (1984).

. . . life is changed by a catalystic event.

In answer to why he became a writer, on his website Stephen King writes, ". . . there was nothing else I was made to do. I was made to write stories and I love to write stories." King grew up without a dad. Endearing to me is that he made a success of himself in spite of that. Though he grew up with meager finances which continued for the first part of his career as an English teacher, he and his brother David benefited from a loving mother. At six and seven years old King's mother read aloud to them. Stephen loved her choice of stories, from the comic book series, "Classics Illustrated," to Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. She said of a thin, plain "grown-up" book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, "This one's a scary one. It's about a man who changes into something else." Stephen begged, "Read it to me." She gave in. The story only fanned the fires already burning in Stephen's heart. Even at the tender age of seven he thought, "I have to do that, but I have to do that worse."

When Stephen was eleven years old he and David amused themselves by going to the movies. They liked the scary ones best. One matinee, The Pit and the Pendulum, moved Stephen so much that he wrote his own version and passed copies of it to his friends. Movies helped develop his unique writing style: "I write down everything I see. It seems like a movie, and I write that way."

Yet King's most poignant influence came at the discovery of an old box of his father's books--horror stories--that he found in his aunt and uncle's attic. Among the books was a 1947 collection by H.P. Lovecraft, one of the first noted horror writers, called "The Lurking Fear and Other Stories." Like Lovecraft, King was from New England. King realized, too, that he could establish his stories in the place he knew best--Maine.

. . . life experiences have moved you to help others.

Offering examples from the experiences of the patients in his psychiatric practice, M. Scott Peck, M.D., developed a philosophy discussed in his best-selling book, The Road Less Traveled (1978). It is an engaging read which, in the first part, focuses on the importance of discipline in helping solve life's problems and in living a fulfilling life. Peck sums discipline up in neat categories, such as: Delaying gratification: the process by which some children by the age of twelve "are able to sit down on occasion without any parental prompting and complete their homework before they watch television;" Acceptance of responsibility: the ability to accept responsibility for our actions and not avoid it by expecting others to be responsible; Dedication to truth: "Courageous people must continually push themselves to be completely honest, yet must also possess the capacity to withhold the whole truth when appropriate," and; Balancing: the ability to handle situations appropriately. Peck argues that by trying to avoid legitimate suffering, people ultimately end up suffering more. The last two parts of The Road explore the nature of love and the power of grace, respectively.

"Be in control of your life and live the life of your dreams." That's the mission stated on Dr. Wayne Dyer's website. Dyer is the author of over 40 books, many audio programs and videos, speaker in the field of self-development, and guest on thousands of television and radio shows. His belief that every person can live an extraordinary life is particularly poignant, for he grew up in orphanages and foster homes. In the late '80s, I listened to audio cassette tapes by Dr. Dyer in which encouraging words were spoken by him in rhythm. The rhythm matched the steps I took on walks, and provided reassurance at a time when I needed it most. Dyer's books and audio products have evolved since then; I haven't been able to find that specific program I enjoyed while on walks. But Dyer's works, available in print, CD and audio download, cover the gamut of encouragement.

Writers from our own ranks at Writers on the Move exemplify the urge to help their readers by virtue of their writing choices. Readers can scroll down from this post to the list of contributors and by checking out our writers' websites and blogs, can find a treasure trove of expertise and heartfelt advice.

Now for my humble beginnings: Chronicling my life in diaries has satisfied a natural inclination to record anything that strikes my fancy, from childhood on. Serious efforts began by reading "how-to" books and writing for local newspapers and periodicals. Today, after retiring from teaching elementary school, my dream to write for children has finally come true. The best part is that writing for WOTM has allowed me to delve into topics that I enjoy writing for adults, too. I feel I have arrived at the best of both worlds.

Sources: http://theamericanscholar.org/how-did-you-become-a-writer/#.U3Z7XznnZaQ; "Jane Austen: Get the Particulars," by Ginny Wiehardt, at http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/interviews/a/JaneAusten.htm;

http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/reviews/p/welty.htm; http://stephenking.com/ and "Stephen King," Biography Today, vol. 1, 1995; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.Scott_Peck;
http://www.drwaynedyer.com/

Next month: Know Your Audience

Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, recently completed Joyce Sweeney's online fiction course. Linda has published over 40 articles for children and adults, six short stories for children, and is in the final editing stages of her first book, a mystery story for 7-9 year olds. Follow Linda on Facebook.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

When I was a child, I lingered with my Golden Books, intently studying the pictures. They were as important, if not more important, than the story.

We all know how moving a picture can be to help tell a story - whether simple or complex. But how about the picture being the source of inspiration for a story or article?

If you're feeling the late winter slump (particularly those of us who live where spring is in a holding pattern), grab a book of photographs and find a cozy spot to browse and reflect.

Time Life, National Geographic, and even your own photo albums are chock full of material to get you thinking. Not only that, but it is relaxing and will help take your mind off everything that vies for attention.

I keep my iPhone or camera handy and I'm in the routine of capturing special moments in time.

I took this picture when I went snowshoeing this winter and it produced several ideas for an article.

When I woke up one morning in my daughter's apartment, this is what I saw:

(That one is tucked away for later).

Here's one from my backyard, just before a storm. As I watched the sky groan with turmoil, it conjured up a plot of the struggles that can come in a relationship.

Finally, some years ago, my 5-year-old made this drawing on our computer. It sparked an idea for a children's book I'd like to write:

If you haven't tried letting pictures help you write, try it!

Whatever your genre, pictures will help you paint a thousand words.

~~~

After raising and homeschooling her 8 children, Kathy has found time to pursue freelance writing. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope to people of all ages at When It Hurts -http://kathleenmoulton.com

Handling Rejection Letters

The best way to grow stronger is during a struggle.

Who likes this process? But if we work through it, we will come through it, and discover things about us we didn't know were there.

Chicago Man / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Since seriously beginning a freelance writing career almost 2 years ago, I have had 4 magazine submission rejections and 1 acceptance. With each rejection, I've learned this about myself:

Discourages easily
Takes criticism too personally
Sees rejection of my work as a rejection of me
Impatient with methods

The fact that I can list those 4 things means I have worked through some weaknesses in me! I've embraced the process of discovering myself at a deeper level, which will only help me be a better writer.

In the months I've networked with other writers, I have learned that rejection is part of the package. Not everyone is going to like what I write. Knowing that and how I feel about it are two different things. I had to set aside my feelings and accept the cold hard fact: move on to the next submission.

So, after receiving a rejection email this morning, I did what any good writer would do. I typed in my search engine: "handling rejection letters from publishers".

I landed on a wonderful site, full of rejection but devoted to inspiration! The first thing I read: "Rejection is an imperative test of one's character".

True. Good character is important to me. My feelings are real, but they would be set aside in order to keep writing and not give up.

But there was more:

After 5 years of continual rejection, the writer finally lands a publishing deal: Agatha Christie. Her book sales are now in excess of $2 billion. Only William Shakespeare has sold more

Louis L'Amour received 200 rejections before Bantam took a chance on him. He is now their best ever selling author with 330 million sales.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter was rejected so many times she decided to self-publish 250 copies. It has now sold 45 million.

http://www.literaryrejections.com/best-sellers-initially-rejected/

Wow.

As I've been allowing my rejection letters to teach me, I've discovered their worth. The writing process has not only helped me be a stronger, mature individual, but they have helped develop my writing voice.

Do you have any rejection stories to share?

~~~

Inspirational Quotes for Writers

No matter where we are in our writing career, we all need encouragement. It's amazing how a simple gesture - a hand on your shoulder, a smile, or a few words can make all the difference.

Whether you are a successful, accomplished author or you're working on your very first book, let these inspirational quotes give you the encouragement we all need at one time or another:

"I dwell in possibility."

- Emily Dickenson

"It's never too late to be what you might have been."

- George Eliot

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

- Agatha Christie

“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”

- Stephen King

“Self-trust is the first secret of success."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I like good strong words that mean something."

- Louisa May Alcott

"If you do not hear music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart."

- Terry Brooks

“You have to protect your writing time. You have to protect it to the death."

- William Goldman

“Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world."

- Tom Clancy

"If you start with a bang, you won't end with a whimper."

- T.S. Eliot

"In a mood of faith and hope my work goes on. A ream of fresh paper lies on my desk waiting for the next book. I am a writer and I take up my pen to write."
- Pearl S. Buck

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

-William Wadsworth

Kathleen Moulton is a member of the Working Writer’s Club and monthly contributor to Heartbeat the Magazine. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope at When It Hurts – http://kathleenmoulton.com

Article photo credit: Βethan / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

Keeping a Journal

I'd like to say I still have every journal from a lifetime of writing. After all, I poured so many thoughts into those pages, secrets I couldn't even share with myself.

My childhood diaries, however, have gone the way of my baby teeth. Just as well. Some things are better left forgotten.

More recent journals are scattered about my home: stacked on the floor, stuffed into the back of shelves, and hidden in boxes in the closet. I wouldn't be surprised if some are propping up second-hand furniture.

Does this mean I'm indifferent to the contents of those half-remembered tomes? I prefer to see them as buried treasure. How much more poignant the words will seem when unearthed years from now. And perhaps their value will have grown during the passing years.

Consider the following description written during a morning freewrite at an oceanfront cottage:

"The way the foam dances ahead of the wave, it looks like nimble fingers on piano keys."

The line stayed in my head for years and eventually evolved into the following poem:

water washed over

cold crescent shore loosely keyed

pebbled concerto

The basic concept had endured but been expanded to include more concrete imagery. If I hadn't captured the description in the moment, however, the poem never would have come about.

Journaling is a valid aspect of any writer's life. Recording your observations on a daily basis provides practice and discipline. Try it for a week--just one page per day--and see if you're not convinced.

You just might realize that there's more to "keeping" a journal than choosing its storage location.

Betty Dobson is an award-winning writer of short fiction, essays and poetry. She also writes newspaper and magazine articles but is still waiting for those awards to materialize. In the meantime, she continues to run InkSpotter Publishing, which has three new books available and several more in the works for 2012.

The Gift of Feedback

Feedback, otherwise referred to as constructive criticism, can make the heart beat a bit faster. Each of us, in our lifetime, have been subjected to this feedback, yet society doesn't tell us either how to give or receive feedback well. Consequently, even when our intent is to help another, the feedback we give feels hurtful or mean. With writers, too often, this "constructive criticism" may stop a person from writing.

Some suggestions: When giving feedback:
1. Ask for permission first. "May I make a suggestion . . ." This gives the person the option of saying, "no."

2. Use "I" statements. "I have found . . ."

3. Remember that even though you may appreciate and accept feedback well, others may be more sensitive to criticism. Keep that in mind and adapt your comments to reflect how they may be received by someone else.

4. Do not say something to someone on-line that you would not say if that person was standing in front of you.

Some suggestions: For receiving feedback:
1. Resist the urge to become defensive. Remember, it is difficult to give feedback too!

2. Take a deep breath. You are not perfect. No one is. We all have things we can work on. This is not about whether you are liked or not.

3. Listen. Then find the truth. Okay, so we are all not perfect. We all have things we can work on. Somewhere in the criticism there will be a suggestion that will allow you to take your writing to the next level. The message might be filled with untruths, but somewhere, trust me, will be something that can be taken and used. So consider and evaluate the criticism. Then decide how to act.

4. Ask for help with your writing challenge. If you need it, ask. Trust me, there are people who want to help.

Finally, thank the person who have you a gift, the gift of believing you are worthy of feedback.

_____________________________________

D. Jean Quarles is a writer of Women's Fiction and a Young Adult Science Fiction series. Her latest book, Flight from the Water Planet, Book 1 of The Exodus Series was written with her coauthor, Austine Etcheverry.

D. Jean loves to tell stories of personal growth – where success has nothing to do with money or fame, but of living life to the fullest. She is also the author of the novels: Rocky's Mountains, Fire in the Hole and, Perception. The Mermaid, an award winning short story was published in the anthology, Tales from a Sweltering City.

She has also compiled a collection of short inspirational material for writers in The Write Balance, Journaling the Writer's Life.

She is a wife, mother, grandmother and business coach. In her free time . . . ha! ha! ha! Anyway, you can find more about D. Jean Quarles, her writing and her books at her website at www.djeanquarles.com

Her novels are available in electronic format here, or print format here.

You can also follower her at www.djeanquarles.blogspot.com or on Facebook

Writing for Theme-Based Contests

Writers draw inspiration from many sources, including words, phrases and pictures--and many contests require you to do just that. Writing about the same "theme" as other writers can be challenging but can also push you to greater levels of creativity in search of the unexpected angle.

As with any other type of writing contest, it's important to stick to the guidelines. Stay within the proscribed word count, use the required formatting, and DO NOT miss the deadline.

In order to succeed in theme-based contests, you have to look beyond the obvious responses and surprise the judges. You might even surprise yourself.

One of my earliest wins as a writer was in a poetry contest that wanted humorous takes on love. Rather than go for outright humor in every line, I set up a typically romantic scenario before delivery the final deadpan line.

red rose

valentine gift

treasured keepsake

symbolic of our love

pressed flat

The judges got the joke, and I got first prize.

The first time I ran a contest, I asked entrants to write about "the first time." The phrase might bring to mind memories of first love or first sex, but I wanted to see something more. What I got was an eclectic mix of stories, including tales of skydiving, wartime, jail, and a woman's first encounter with her grandchild who had Down's Syndrome.

Whether you're writing for theme-based contests or simply looking for inspiration for your next project, keep an open mind. Details don't change, only your perceptions.

Trust your instincts. Don't be afraid of the "strange" ideas that pop into your head. Don't listen to the little voice that whispers, "You can't write that." If you hear that voice, get the "strange" ideas on paper as fast as possible. You're probably onto something good.

Writers On The Move