Looking For Inspiration To Write?

Emily Dickinson

Are you familiar with the work of Emily Dickinson, the poet whose work was never published until after her death? She died in 1886 leaving about 1800 poems which her sister found and managed to  get them published beginning in 1890.

She was a recluse for much of her life, writing the poems in her bedroom in Amherst, MA. I have always admired her poems, not that I've read the entire collection. The number is extraordinary. 

She came to mind today when I read the offering on a day-by-day calendar we received for Christmas. The Emily Dickinson Museum has a replica of her bedroom. The bed and small stove are original and the rest of the furniture only replicas. That includes the writing table where she probably wrote her poetry. The museum website offers the opportunity to see the bedroom and learn a bit more about it.

The calendar page offered a quote by the nineteenth-century poet, one I liked a lot and wanted to share with you today. She said:

     "I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word." 

Apparently, the museum has chosen to capitalize on that quote. Visitors are allowed to rent the bedroom for a few hours. They can bring their own writing materials and wait to see if inspiration comes to them. I wonder if certain parts of the room are a Do Not Touch area. Surely, they would not want visitors to stretch out on the bed for a snooze. But, to sit at the writing table and wait for sparks to fly in your writing mind might be wonderful.

I was once a visitor to a German courtroom where the Nuremberg Trials were held after WWII. The tour guide mentioned how the seats were filled with journalists, including Ernie Pyle who was an acclaimed writer in his time and Pulitzer Prize winner. When I heard that, I felt a shiver up my spine. To think that I was sitting where these famed writers had sat, taking notes and planning articles was heady stuff. The longer I was there, the more I wanted to start writing, not only wanted but felt compelled. Was it the ghosts of writers past that reached out? Or just the idea of where I was and who had been there before me? So, maybe I could be inspired to write poetry if I was to visit the museum and sit at Ms. Dickinson's writing table with paper and pen.

I should tell you about the day I had the pleasure of visiting Claude Monet's home in France, but that is a story in itself to be saved for another day.

If you could choose to go to the place where a writer you admired practiced his/her creativity, where would it be? Whose home? Whose garden? Whose bar? Coffeehouse? University? 

A few more quotes by Emily Dickinson: 

“'Hope' is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tunes without the words - And never stops - at all -”

“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only way I know it. Is there any other way?”

"Dwell in possibility."

“Success is counted sweetest/By those who ne'er succeed./To comprehend a nectar/Requires sorest need.”

Writers often ask how to get inspired. One way is to study other writers, their lives, their dwelling place, and their writing. If you have an opportunity to visit the home or museum of a writer, don't pass it up. I felt inspired when I walked the grounds and visited the home of Robert Frost. A friend had the great experience of spending time writing in the Ernest Hemingway House in Oak Park, IL.for a full year. I must check with her and see if being in Hemingway's home did inspire her own writing.

Inspiration To Write In February

It's Friday but also the first day of February, so Happy Friday and Happy February! This is the shortest month of the year but it has several notable days:  Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, and President's Day. In my childhood years, we celebrated the birthdays of two presidents. Abraham Lincoln on February 12th and George Washington on February 22nd. Now, it's one day for all presidents. 

My son and his oldest daughter both have birthdays in February, so I add two more special days to this month. 

Memories are triggered for me by each of these days. Those memories can easily lead to a story to write. It might be one to add to my Family Stories book or a story for a magazine or anthology. Here are a few of the memories that came to me as I wrote those special February days above:

• the movie--Groundhog Day
• groundhogs in the zoo
• a Valentine box my dad made for me when I was 7
• Valentine parties in grade school
• learning about Abe Lincoln in school
• hearing a favorite senator deliver a Lincoln Day speech
• learning about George Washington--especially the cherry tree story 
• the day my son was born
• waiting for my first granddaughter to be born

Make your own memories list for the days in February that have some special meaning for you. That list has suggestions for new stories to write. Jack London's famous quote comes to mind:  You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. I agree. We can't sit in a chair and wait for bright lights and shining stars to explode above our heads. We have to go after inspiration in a variety of ways. 

The exercise here is only one way to find inspiration. Get out of the house. Take a walk. Visit a shopping mall. Sit in a waiting room at a Dr's office or train station or wherever you'll find people. Watching and listening can bring inspiration if you do so with a writer's eye. Go to a concert. (Yes, an entire story came into my mind as I listened to the classical music of a symphony orchestra one evening) You have to go after it, not wait for inspiration to come to you all wrapped in pink paper and a pretty bow. 

Writing Inspiration Doesn't Last Forever!

As a writer, what does it take to inspire you? Where do you go to find that urge to keep writing? Who do you talk to in order to rekindle that passion you once had for writing? And then, what do you do to keep it alive?

The photo above would be an inspiration to many who love nature's joy and beauty. Taking a walk in the park or a forested area on a crisp fall day could make many a writer want to sit down and write as soon as they returned home. 

Going to a writing conference is one of the best ways to ignite that spark--the one that makes you want to drop everything else and write. I have come home from every conference I've ever attended with a boatload of ideas and the passion to attack them, one by one. 

Meeting a group of writers for coffee, lunch, or drinks is another way to find the inspiration we need to start a new project or continue with an unfinished piece or revise something that has never been accepted by an editor. Writers talking to other writers make the creative juices flow.

Going to a family reunion is a good way to want to get those family stories written.

Any of the things I've listed above will inspire you. The question I have for you is How long does the rekindled passion to write last? That terrific feeling of wanting to write every minute of the day does wear off. We don't realize it until the doldrums hit and you begin to lose interest in whatever you're working on. It may become drudgery instead of pleasure. Your muse whispers in your ear...Honey, you need some inspiration! Do you tell her to shut up or do you stop and listen?

If you're a wise writer, you'll do the latter. You'll pay attention to her words, the ones that keep swirling in your head. You'll do again whatever it is that inspires you to write again with interest and verve. Or maybe you should try something new.

Attend a concert. My husband and I enjoy classical music played by symphony orchestras. I find myself also thinking about new writing projects as I listen. The music never fails to bring me an idea or two. Once, an entire story played through my mind as the music swelled and ebbed. It was all I could do not to leave and head for home to write it before I forgot the important parts. That story sold the first time I submitted it. 

Any kind of entertainment you enjoy--plays, art exhibits, concerts, a dance--these can all be places where ideas for writers dip and sway and slip into your mind. Even attending a sporting event can do the same. 

The point is to get away from your everyday routine. Get out into the world and try something you enjoy. A long hike gives your mind free space for the ideas to pile up while your body is doing the physical work.  

Don't expect inspiration to last forever. We have to renew it in any way we can. 

Looking For Inspiration To Write?

Do you ever feel like you don't know what to write about? That writing is getting to be a drag? That you have no new project in mind and you really don't care? Every writer experiences these feelings occasionally. We hope it's only once in awhile, not on a regular basis. We all need some inspiration at that point. 

This past week, Ken and I attended a farewell concert on our university campus. A renowned music professor, leader of the Gold Orchestra conducted his final concert at Kansas State University. Being there, seeing a man honored for his long career and hearing the young people in the orchestra sounding like professional musicians inspired me. When each senior was introduced, their major cited and what future plans they had, I felt even more enthused. Very few were music majors. Their study field ranged from Engineering to Education and more. They were in the orchestra because they also loved music and the instrument each played. I left with my heart uplifted.

We spent the week-end in Kansas City, 2 hours east of us. We did a bit of shopping and attended a 50th anniversary dinner for a charity group we support. Seeing all the good this group has done in the world was emotional and inspiring. On Sunday, we attended a church service and then had a sumptuous lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, using two gift cards received at Christmas. On the drive home, I felt inspired by so many parts of the week-end. As we drove through the Flint Hills of Kansas, I started planning a piece I'd like to write for a new Chicken Soup for the Soul book. The rolling prairie served as inspiration, too.

Taking a break from the writing process and attending concerts, plays, or a quick week-end trip can do wonders to give you the urge to write something new or get on with one of those big projects you sometimes wonder why you ever started. Take a drive through the prettiest place you know in the area where you live. The scene in the photo above would make me want to paint a picture--or write a story, even a description of this place. 

Even a long walk can give you a needed break from writing and, if you use your writer's eye, you can see much along the way to inspire you. Don't walk with head down, hands in your pockets and a gloomy look on your face. Look around you. There is so much to be seen, so many things that can lift your heart. Inspiration is there. All you have to do is let it settle over you like a warm comforter.

New Month, New Projects

Month number 11 of the year 2017 is now upon us. There are several dates we recognize in November. Any one of them could be a topic for a new writing project. 

Here are a few of the better known significant dates in November

All Saints Day--today, the 1st
Veterans Day--the 11th
Thanksgiving--the 23rrd
Black Friday--the 24th

There are a number of other, rather bizarre days recognized by someone, somewhere this month. If you would like to see the list, take a look here. 

You're probably thinking What could I write about these days that hasn't already been done? Especially the common ones in the list above. Granted--Thanksgiving has been written about thousands of times but maybe not the story YOU will write. Black Friday stories might be a lot of fun to create. Veterans Day has also been observed through writings over and over again, but maybe YOU can being a new angle, show your own patriotism and thoughts. Today is All Saints Day when we remember those whom we know that are no longer alive. There are many approaches to this topic, too. YOU can write a story about people that no one else can. 

At the beginning of each new month, check out the holidays or days of observance to find inspiration for a new writing topic. Take whatever angle you like. Make it funny, sad, moving or scary. YOU are in charge. 

Where Do You Seek Inspiration?

This quote from Jack London might reek of hyberbole, but he makes a good point. Writers do need inspiration to keep on writing. It's necessary to begin either  a new project or a short piece of writing. We seek it like miners of old searched for gold nuggets. We crave it. Go ahead--admit it--you know we do.

My question for today is Where do you seek inspiration? Do you sit in front of a blank screen or page in a notebook and concentrate hard on the word inspiration? Do you hope that inspiration will rain upon you like April showers? Do you wait for a phone call from a writer friend, editor or fan who might hand out a single dose of inspiration to you? If so, you may be in for a long wait.

You must get up and get moving and go after that which will inspire you to write. Easy? No. But here are a few things you can do to be successful in finding inspiration. Don't scoff at some of these very simple things. A story idea has come to me in many unusual places.

1. Take a walk by yourself. Look around you. Listen to the sounds. Sniff the air for aromas, good and bad.  Your mind doesn't turn off when you are on a solitary walk. It keeps working.

2. Go to your favorite coffeehouse or wherever writer friends congregate. Chat with them, find out what they are working on. I am not saying you should copy them, but something in your conversation might click for you.

3. Read a book about writing. It doesn't matter how long you've been a writer. Something in there might trigger an idea.

4. Go to a concert or a symphony performance. One of the best juvenile stories I've written came to me while listening to a symphony orchestra, scene by scene, from start to finish.

5. Go to a circus, a rodeo, or a sporting event. Look around you . What do you see? What do you hear? Who looks like he/she might be a great character in a novel or short story?

6. Attend a writing conference. Nothing motivates me more than a conference. I always come home enthused and ready to start new projects.

7. Believe in yourself  All too often, we get down on ourselves. Those rejections we all get have a lot to do with that. Don't let each one pound you farther into the sinkhole writers sometimes fall into.

8. Visit a place you want to write about. Not alwys possible, I know, but there are books, museums and movies to take you far away, too.

9. Read your favorite blog for writers on a regular basis. 

Pick up that club and seek inspiration with determination and passion.

Looking For Inspiration To Write?

A Jack London website mentions that he wrote fifty books in a sixteen year period. Many of his books were based on his own experiences on the sea and in the wilderness. His quote impressed me. He didn't sit inside a warm, toasty house waiting for inspiration to strike. He created his own inspiration, or so it seems.

Perhaps too many writers sit in front of the computer each morning and wait for inspriation to come floating by, then drop down into their lap. Oh, if only it could be that easy. Where do we find inspiration for our stories, poems, essays and other writing? It is rarely found in your desk chair in front of your laptop.

I once had a friend comment that she couldn't understand how I could be a writer. You're such a social person and writers are introverts and often recluses. That was her personal interpretation of a writer. She went on to say she thought I'd be lonely spending so much time alone writing. I never consider writing time as being lonely. After all, I'm with the people I'm writing about and thinking about the ones I'm writing for. I can't say I've ever felt lonesome while writing.

Yes, I truly am a social person. I like being where the action is--with my friends, at meetings or conferences, with family, at sporting events. Besides the joy of being with others, that is often when I find inspiration to write. Something I see or hear will trigger an idea. There have been times when I've grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down a few words to jog my memory later on.

I imagine Jack London spent time with others who, like him, led an adventurous life. They must certainly have been an inspiration to him and I'm guessing thata many of his characters were based on people he'd actually met or observed somewhere.

People watching in a coffeehouse, at a sporting event or in an airport can inspire a writer over and over. Think of all the people you see in situations like that all the little slices of life you witness. Sitting in a pub listening to the tales others at the table are telling can be inspiring to a writer, too. We often rely on our own memories to help get us in the writing mode but the memories of others can also be an isnpiration.

If you want to write a baseball story, where is the best place to get some inspiration and background? Needless to say, it's a ball park. Looking to write a story about the life of a monk? Visit an abbey. Where are you going to find inspiration for an article on learning to be a chef? Maybe at a culinary school.

In other words, don't sit at home and research the topic on google. Get out there and find your inspiration. Nobody is going to come along and drop it into your lap. It's up to you.