FWIS (from where i stand) is a monthly feature i’m doing with jessica corra and bria quinlan. all three of us are YA writers in different places in our journeys. (check out their links for this month’s FWIS from their points of view.)
today’s topic: inspiration
muses. light bulbs. facts. fiction. imagination. voices in your head. characters taking over your brain. sparks. licenses plates. conversations. tv shows. dreams. nightmares. myths. monsters. where does inspiration come from?
(despite the fact i chose this topic, it’s actually an uncomfortable question for me.)
i’m not one of those people who can’t quiet the voices in their head nor do i have one shiny idea after another begging me to write it nor do i just sit back and let the characters do all the work, and frankly, sometimes it frightens me that i don’t have an endless supply of stories to tell or characters yelling at me because all the other writers i know do.
i’m more like one of these people.
my first MS was based on a perception i had of myself growing up. my second MS (current WIP) has a familiar fairytale foundation. i don’t yet know what my third MS will cover because i haven’t had anything particularly interesting cross my mind, not to mention the work involved with writing has felt heavy lately because the words, characters, and ideas aren’t revealing themselves to me.
i know i’m not supposed to wait for lightning to strike because, well, not only would that fry my computer, it would short circuit my brain.
instead, i need to work with what i have: take charge, grab hold of that tiniest grain of an idea, place it in my brain, let it roll around in there, pulsing and polishing and pearlizing, and then write it out. it’s not the usual method of doing things, but then again, what is the usual method? does it always have to look like this?
or is it okay to look like this?
do you do anything differently than everyone else? do you walk backwards to work? do you talk in pig latin? are you short when everyone is tall? are you hot when everyone is cold? do you laugh instead of cry? do you drink tea instead of coffee? do you have a flip cell phone? do you wear sunglasses at night?
Abigail Mumford 