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Kari Trenten

Sources of Inspiration: Statues

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Statues fascinate me. I’m often drawn to them in churches, in museums, finding myself studying their inscrutable (or weathered) expressions, their posture, how much has been captured in stone. I didn’t even notice this one’s lack of certain attributes. I was too engrossed by his posture, his face, the way he loomed over his surroundings. The whiteness, the hardness, the details carved or chipped away to reveal a beauty very different, yet similar to other kinds. No wonder Anne Rice’s vampires became more statue-like as they got older; paler, harder, more removed from humanity with age and blood. No wonder … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Patterns

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I’m drawn to patterns, even when I don’t understand them. Seeing how something links, intertwines, weaves in and out of other lines and shapes, forming an intricate design fascinates me.  Of particular interest to me are patterns in stories, how plot and character hang together, every little detail drawing attention to a greater whole. My favorite stories involve a tight web where it’s easy to remember every detail, because they’re linked to other details. All of them are part of a greater whole, a greater story, and an overall theme. A shield glitters with a menacing light, drawing the main … Read more

Seizing the Moment – Sources Of Inspiration

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One of the biggest complaints about getting a project done is time. There’s never enough of it. There’s always something happening, something distracting. I never know when a crisis is going to strike, diverting my attention from my writing With this in mind I’ve learned to seize the moment. When a chance comes to write, I grab it. I carry a notebook and a mechanical pencil with me wherever I go. I try to keep my current projects in mind. It’s only too easy for them to get buried beneath a pile of thoughts and anxieties about everything I need … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: My Characters

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Sometimes I fall into a funk where I just don’t want to write. I’ve learned that a major source of inspiration which can drag me out of that funk is my characters.  Recently I’ve been dealing with some harrowing events. Writing has been a challenge. Even caring about writing, which is so crucial to my well-being, sank into a murky depression.  My characters can pick up and reflect this depression. We’re very lucky, those characters and I, that there are others drifting in my imagination (or paddling and keeping afloat in the murk), willing to grab hold of the sinking … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: The Dark

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I’ve always imagined things in the dark, seen shapes taking form in the pitch black. I had to learn to allow my eyes to adjust, to see what was really there, picking out what was familar to quiet my imagination. Ever since I started working on Stealing Myself From Shadows and other stories, I’ve shut down that particular reassurance. To create a place where objects, monsters, mythical creatures, people lost to all but memory, and ideas themselves could manifest from, I’ve been tapping into my imagination, letting myself see what lurks in the dark, to try and translate it into … Read more

Sources Of Inspiration: Taking Action

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One thing which always fails is to simply wait for inspiration to come and find me. I’ve waited for months, even years, feelings the stories solidify inside me, unsure how to let them out while hoping for the right moment.  There has very seldom or ever been a right moment. If one comes, it’s when I’m taking some kind of action. If I want to be inspired, to get ideas, to do something with these ideas, I need to do something. Get up, move around, and think. Take a walk and consider what I want to write. Empty the dishwasher. … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Creative Coping with Criticism

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There are two ways I’ve found I can creatively respond to criticism, particularly painful criticism.  One is if I feel there’s any truth in the critic’s words, I think about it, see if it’s something I can fix. I keep an eye open for that something in my future works. I see if I can pounce on the flaw, rewrite it, transform it into something better, thus using the criticism to make my work better.  Two, I image the critic’s words, the shape their mouth makes while the angry words are coming out of it. I visualize how the words … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Sorting Out the Clutter

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My imagination sometimes feels like a jumble of clutter in an attic. I’ve got so many ideas, so many stories in progress. Some of them get shoved into a back corner for too long, buried under other ideas. Sitting there, forgotten, they gather dust. How do I clean up these lost stories, make some progress on them?  Creating reminders helps, doing things which remind me that these stories are there, waiting for me. When I blog, I try to fill them with reminders of a particular character, a particular story. More and more, I’m using them to focus on my … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Painting a Portrait of a Character With Words

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Something I marvel at in other writers is their ability to bring a character to life in a few words that artfully weave their way into the plot, drawing attention to that plot as well as the character without distracting the reader.  This is an art I’m told I’ve improved in. I can’t tell you how gratified I am whenever I get a compliment on my description. I’ve struggled long and hard to better it. I do have a tendency to become fixated upon eyes. Eyes are one of the first things I notice about a person when I see … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Organization

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You may be laughing at this title. What does organization have to do with inspiration? A lot more than I thought. How I arrange things, whether or not I have a file open on my laptop, what that file is; all of these matters make a big difference is whether or not I work on particular project or not. Seeing the file prompts me, gets me going, reminds me to work on it. Where I place my notebook or file helps me remember it.  How I organize my thoughts as I work on a manuscript can help a great deal … Read more