INspiration

Where do you go to get inspired? the beach, a park, a movie? Or, are you the type that of person to find your inspiration in talking with people, joining a club or maybe the solitude of a day alone with a good book. Does sampling a variety of wines or berries or vegetables inspires you? How about the touch of a luscious fabric?

Regardless of where you find inspiration, a writer often uses what they see, smell, hear, taste and touch to make a story sparkle. They take the inspiration IN, mush it around a bit and voila! It appears in a story.

Years ago I watched an Oprah Winfrey program where an author was interviewed about how she created the unique images in her book. Her answer: she was told that every image she created needed to be fresh and new. If it had been spoken or written before, she needed to work harder and create something distinctive. She said the re-imagining of what she wanted to say to be unique was probably the most difficult part of writing her book.

When you read, do unique images stop you and invite you to go back and reread them? Do you enjoy writers who paint those unique images with words? I do. I find myself scribbling them down to look back on them when I’m floundering for a better way.

What INspires you?