Sources of Inspiration in Four Part Harmony

There are some days when I just don’t feel like writing. Do y’all have days like that? I can sit at this computer and stare at it for hours, and words just won’t come. Other days, ideas keep bubbling up to the surface. Sometimes so many ideas that I can’t concentrate on just one.

Inspiration strikes when it gets good and darned ready. I call that inspiration “My Muse,” and I talked about Her before when Vivienne at Inspiration Bit urged us to ponder our sources of inspiration. You can visit my entry to that Group Writing Project, if you want to know what I said.

My Muse is elusive and whimsical. As I explained in that post, sometimes I can entice Her, but I can’t make Her do anything. I’ve been thinking about Her lately, and decided to join another group project. Joanna Young, at Confident Writing is having a group writing challenge that began as a meme. Here are the rules she posted:

• Share 4 lots of 4 things on the theme of writing and inspiration
• You don’t need to follow these headings: there are zillions of possibilities (4 blogs, 4 books, 4 authors, 4 people, 4 teachers, 4 pieces of music, 4 paintings and so on)
• But please stick to the format of 4 x 4 and the theme of writing and inspiration
• Post your contribution by 28th March (midnight, your time)
• Let me know you’ve written your piece, by linking to this post, leaving a comment on the post, or contacting me

This is what I’ve got for you. You can join in (if you have the time and the inspiration), or just leave a comment if you want to tell me what works for you:
Joanna listed things that were “uninspirational.” I know what makes my Muse go away! So, I’ll start with that.

4 blocks to my writing creativity:

1. Pressure. Don’t tell me “you must.” Don’t nag me. Don’t even say anything that my pea brain could possibly perceive as nagging. Don’t give me a strict deadline. If I can write about a subject, My Muse will do it in a time of Her own choosing.
2. Too much “on my plate.” I don’t juggle well. If I have too many things to get done, I just can’t think. The Muse just hides away.
3. Gloomy days. I think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. When the sun doesn’t peep out, I have a hard time being creative on any level. I just want to curl up and read or sleep.
4. The Unexpected. I can be very spontaneous…if it’s on my calendar a week in advance. I just don’t “do” changes very well. I’ve always been that way. I like to know what’s on the agenda. That makes it sound like I am anal retentive, which could explain why some people say I am full of…
   …never mind.

I could list many more than four, but that’s the magic number, so I’ll spare you.

When I’m blogging, there are other bloggers who always make me start thinking. They are an inspiration and they are “touchstones” for me. A trip down my blogroll will show you many of them, and it’s hard to pick just four. I was going to try that, but decided that I’d offend someone if they weren’t on the list!!
“Ah kin only liyust fower.,” she whined in that terrible Texas twang. [Translation: “I can only list four.” We make one syllable words into two when we cayun.]

Since I can’t in good conscience list the blogs, I’ll tell you some other reading matter that appeals to me and gets me thinking. I read to get inspiration, but not the works of “great authors.” I know I’m not really an author. I have “moments,” but writing is not my skill. Get me on a stage telling a story, and that’s a different scenario. I tell stories, and the ideas come from all sorts of places.
4 things I read for inspiration.

1. The newspaper. Yep. Ann Landers is a good place to start. In our hometown paper, I look for the “police blotter,” which is always a source of ridiculous ideas. Usually, anything in the Lifestyle section of the paper is fodder for an active imagination.
2. Collections of Trivia. I find tons of interesting and obscure books at my favorite bookstore. Trivia and books about the sources of words fascinate me.
3. Any ghost story. I’m a sucker for those stories that make your hair stand on end. That’s why I chose “Scared Silly” as a topic for the current writing contest (that ends at noon today!!)
4. Humorous authors. Give me the writing of Celia Rivenbark, Dave Berry, David Sedaris, or Armistead Maupin (and dozens of others) and I’ll have a story of my own when I’m done with the book. Humor inspires me. I couldn’t tell you why that is.

I’m always coming up with ideas when I do not have a writing implement! Isn’t that the way it always works?
Here are 4 situations that inspire me:

1. Driving a long stretch of highway. If there is no traffic, I get lost in thought. Heck, once I was driving back from a week long trip on the road and there was a character developing in my mind. It was the middle of the night and I was so caught up in thinking that I “overshot the runway.” I passed Denton and was almost to Oklahoma when I realized what I had done! I could have been home 40 minutes earlier except for that dadgum Muse of mine.
2. Working in the garden. Get my fingers in the dirt, and my mind goes to work. I don’t know if it’s memories from Papaw’s farm coming in to play or what, but I start telling myself stories that later get written down (after I’ve scrubbed my hands, of course).
3. Walking a beach or lakeshore. Y’all, I grew up going to Lake Texoma every weekend. We were constantly on the water, and I just come alive when I’m near a lake, river, stream, or seashore. Unfortunately, I married a perfectly delightful man who does not care for the water. A small price to pay for marital bliss, but I still miss it.
4. Lost in a crowd. I’m a people watcher; a voyeur. In a casino, I’m not gambling, I’m watching the gamblers and “living” through their eyes. I’ve been known to follow people around just to watch their expressions and listen to their voices. On a crowded city street, I’m that maniac who is looking you right in the eye. I’m not a stalker, really! My storytelling is peopled with folks I have seen in real life. It’s “character study.”

Finally, 4 places that inspire My Muse

1. San Francisco, CA. The first time I was left alone to walk the streets, I knew I had been born to live there. What better place for people watching? It has a wacky weirdness that totally appeals to me.
2. Santa Fe, NM. The art galleries draw me, and every wonderful piece of art tells a story. The scenery surrounding the city is amazing, but the city itself is just teeming with history.
3. Eureka Springs, AR. Again, it’s a wacky town. The temperature is to my liking, the mountains are gorgeous, and characters are everywhere.
4. Denton, TX or any small town USA. Folks who haven’t spent much time in a small town think that we don’t have anything more exciting to do than watch clothes roll around the dryer at the laundromat. I beg to differ. You just have to dig a little. And, if you want to sit and talk to people (and get them to tell you stories) find out where the old men sit to have their coffee. The Waffle House, or the equivalent, is where the stories are.

That’s what I’ve got for you. It was a great exercise to think about what works for me. I was a little surprised when I started considering it. Of course, I was itching to get into what inspires me for weaving, or for spinning, or for cooking, etc. Being creative in the other areas of my life help inspire the writing, too. I’ll save that for another day, and maybe have some pictures with it.

So, tell me. What inspires you?

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Post tags: creativity, Group writing project, inspiration

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