Inspiration

As a writer, I am often asked, "Where do you get your inspiration?"  This always evokes a smile from me because the truthful answer is that I never run out of inspiration; it's everywhere!  And any good writer knows this.

It doesn't just come from interesting people I meet.  It also comes from people I observe (and if you're a good writer, you're constantly watching other people and getting ideas!)  It doesn't just come from places I visit.  It also comes from the million and one discoveries I make when I travel.  And it doesn't just come from the things that surround my life.  It comes from the way my brain processes those things, turning them into unique storytelling props.  My point is that, as a writer, I can never turn off my brain to the possibility of a story about anyone, anywhere, or anything.

In another way, stories I read can inspire me to take it a step further and create something new from what I've learned.  Bookshelves line the walls of our house with books I read over and over.  Not a week goes by that I'm not walking the shelves of the local library in search of a reading adventure. And a bookstore is my favorite place to while away an hour or two.  I read fiction, of course, to keep up with what others in my field are writing.  I read history, sometimes for research, but mostly just to learn.  I love biographies and autobiographies, books about places I've traveled to, or hope to travel to someday, guidebooks on gardening, needlecraft, nature, and cooking.  I never can predict what I'll come home with in my book bag, and I always have a stack of books next to my bed, and another in my study.  It's my belief that you can't be a good writer if you don't read!  And I love doing it.  It was a major part of my life long before it became a necessary part of my professional life.

I keep a notebook in my purse, notepads all over my house, a writing desk at my bedside.  The purpose of all these is not to miss an idea, a story proposal, a quote I might hear, or a quick thought about a story that, if not written down, might be lost forever.  An "Ideas" file next to my keyboard is where I deposit all these notes, and I refer to them weekly.  There's always something there to get my creative juices flowing.

In the final analysis, I know that I'll never run out of ideas, just out of time to put them all on paper.  If writing is a passion, as it must be, then that should be the reality of my life.  That's my inspiration.