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Sources of Inspiration

Sources of Inspiration

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There are certain books I can read over and over. Not only because I love them or I feel they are good books, but I get a creative charge from reading them. A certain phrase, a particular segment causes my imagination to quicken with ideas. Fragments of story, dialogue, poetry, or simply a response to what I’m reading come to mind. I’m starting to take the time to write down those responses. Certain books I read at a table with a notebook standing by, so I’m ready to jot down a particular quote or a snippet of story, poetry, and … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Resisting the Source

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Sources of inspiration are all around us. Sometimes I don’t see them. Sometimes I recoil from what the world has to offer. There’s a person I keep meeting when I venture outside of my home to take a walk, one of the few times I dare to leave it. He’s well-built as if he works out. He never wears a mask. He’s always talking on a cell phone. He doesn’t make any attempt to socially distance himself from me or anyone else on the road. He forces everyone else to get out of his way. I could write about him. … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Mythical Norms

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A vivid depiction of a mythical being brought to life in a story often shapes my mental image of it, particularly if a lot of other writers have fallen in love with that depiction, creating something similar. They shape a mythical norm, which becomes what I think that being should be. Anne Rice wrote such a lush, detailed description of vampires in her fiction that it’s very hard for me to see them in a different light, even though I’m writing several Works in Progress with vampires or vampire-like beings. Dragons have also been shaped by my encounters with them … Read more

That’s The Signpost Up Ahead; Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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  That’s The Signpost Up Ahead                                     By Jeff Baker Somehow in the last few weeks, nostalgia has been flowing freely here. Not the drinkable kind, but a feeling, that wistful mood of nostalgia for days gone by. Writers and other creative types are particularly susceptible it seems, at least this one is. A few songs play on the radio, a package arrives in the mail and then the nostalgia hits. And it brings up memories of a regret. I have been outrageously fortunate: I have lived a life with very few regrets; one of them goes back nearly forty … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Ritual

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The waters of creativity and inspiration are dryer and shallower than ever. You’d think trouble would be a bountiful source of inspiration. Many a writer has tapped it, creating great literature because of it. I doubt we’d have Lord of the Rings if not for World War II. It might have been a very different trilogy if not for the tragedy and changes which faced England and the world in the wake of it. We’re facing tragedy and change right now, too. Not being a particularly brave or heroic person, I want to hide from it. I yearn to wrap … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Plotting a Project

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Nothing can focus my creativity quite like a project. This may seem obvious, but it’s one of those obvious techniques I cannot repeat to myself enough, of cultivating and harvesting inspiration so it can nourish my creativity, transforming it into a blog, an article, a poem, or a story. Giving my project a title, a plot, a general idea of a plot, thinking about what I want to do or say in this project helps me focus on it, giving my work direction and energy. The more detail and thought I put into it, the more focused upon the project … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Flourishes from Favorites

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Developing my own style is important. I have to find my own voice, to resist the impulse to imitate my favorites, no matter how brilliant I think they are. I need to build up my own brilliance, even if it’s just a feeble, flickering candle flame at present. There are flourishes I can add to my own work, traits I’ve noticed and enjoyed in my favorite authors and their works. A tendency to turn a pretty phrase or describing a scene with very simple words that still gives it a flowery feel. Using unusual word play in dialogue that isn’t … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Getting Going

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It’s the beginning of a new year. I should be filled with resolution to accomplish new things. Never had I felt more uninspired. I’ve solidified into a chunk of fandom and routine, rather like a thick, dense piece of fruitcake left on a platter from the holidays. How so I get myself to unsolidify? How can I release all of that story which has gotten stuck within me? It may be time for a change. If I alter one small thing in my routine, it could loosen everything up, shake some of that story loose. Maybe it’s time to do … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Unreliable Narration

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I can understand of someone who appears to be an average person as the narrator; like Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, or Tim Hunter. We readers and viewers are introduced to their universes right along with them. They ask a lot of the questions we have. Only none of these narrators were average, not really. Luke Skywalker was strong in the Force, connected by blood to some of its most powerful practioners. Harry Potter was the Boy Who Lived, marked from infancy by a powerful Dark Wizard. Tim Hunter had a special destiny, which led to him being stalked and recruited … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Action During Dialogue

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The very first thing which comes to me in a story is the dialogue. Perhaps it’s just a single line uttered by one of my characters and a response to this. Once that pops into my head, an entire scene blossoms around it. Most of my stories have a lot of dialogue, but there’s a wealth of action around character convesation I have yet to explore. The movements, the interactions of the characters with the setting; I’m too easily distracted from this when I’m writing. Seeing effective use of them, a character playing with a statue similar to a creature … Read more