The awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG will be Lauren Hennessy, Lisa Buie-Collard, Lidy, Christine Rains, and Mary Aalgaard!
What Inspires You?
Inspire: vb. - to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration; to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence upon; to affect; to bring out or about
I think it's safe to say we're all inspired by the world around us - people, places, events. All these things influence our daily lives in one way or the other. But lately, I find myself wondering what inspires others to write . . . what motivates and moves a writer to put his/her words on paper. Where does your inspiration come from?
For me, it feels like its always been there . . . always lurking beneath the surface nagging and pushing me to write. It's a yearning, a need, an itch to be scratched less it drive me crazy. Even during my barren writing years, I still felt an urgency - an unfulfilled need, something missing from my life. I revel in the satisfaction of a good writing day or week however rare they may be and feel a sense of all's right in my world when I meet my writing goals.
But that still doesn't answer my question - What inspires Me? The short answer is Everything & Everybody! People in all phases of my life - family, friends, neighbors, people on the News, people in the store . . . and Events - daily events, special events, events on the News, good events, horrific events . . . and Places - home, mountains, fields, woods, beaches, little towns, big cities. All are food to feed and inspire my need to write.
Taking it a step farther, one specific thing that inspires me to write is Music - such a powerful, mood setting, influential thing. The right song or lyric releases waves of emotions, crashing down on me, reaching deep inside. The power of music is both shocking and inspiring as it never fails to evoke a range of emotion that either lifts me up in laughter or weighs me down in tears . . . emotions that inspire me to write, inspire me to elicit those same emotions from my characters.
Can you identify the things that feed your need to write? What motivates you to tap into your creative energy? Is it a person, place, or thing? A feeling or an instinct? Share the things that inspire you to write.
I'm constantly amazed that the most insignificant thing can inspire me. Just the other day, I was in a coffee shop and a woman in front of me said something and my imagination was off and I already worked it into a story.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, TBM. Often, it's the little things. Thanks for stopping in today!
DeleteMy inspiration comes from everywhere. Even inanimate objects like screws and safety pins. No, really! But music is the one source that constantly feeds my inspiration. It's my muses nourishment. :D
ReplyDeleteMine too, Chrys! I've always been moved by music and almost always have it playing. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteThe voices in my head .. . Really! Characters begin to talk and scenes build and plots blossom. Curiosity- that "What if?" is something that's provoked me since childhood into spinning stories off everything from TV shows, to faces in a magazine or a line from a history book.
ReplyDeleteAnd you do it so well Nancy! It seems so effortless for you...I have to work at it, but I'm getting there!
DeleteYou're fortunate that so many things inspire you to write. I am far more limited.
ReplyDeleteI can find inspiration in almost anything...I just need to work on my craft more - work on getting it from my head to the page! Thanks for stopping by, Alex.
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