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Inspirational Triggers

14 May

Last week my best friend dragged me to see The Lucky One. She insisted I had to see it (insert drooling here). While I haven’t read a Nicholas Sparks book in a long time (don’t get me started), I love the movies based off his books. Who doesn’t swoon over A Walk to Remember and The Notebook? I wasn’t sure we would make it because it was the last week the movie would be played at our theater and, well, I have a baby permanently attached to me. My friend ignored my excuses and took me (baby attached) to see it. I’m extremely glad she did and I may owe her forever. Because after the movie, I came home so inspired…I outlined half of my novel rewrite.

Publishers, prepare your offers.

Something about the movie, hit me at exactly the right time in the perfect way. I could blame it on Zac Efron (okay, maybe a little) but really, I blame it on the movie being full of the things that get my my muse’s attention. Rain, beautiful green settings, water, a gorgeous house. Not to mention a hero any woman could fall in love with (insert drooling here as well).

Lately, I’d lost track of my inspiration, especially when it came to this novel. Over and over again, I ran into a brick wall that stopped me from moving forward and realizing the full potential of my story, but somehow, that hour and a half of inspiration pushed me right past it all at once. Hallelujah!

We all have little things that inspire us–music, movies, books, weather, etc.–and it’s these things we should remember when we get stuck or can’t seem to find the right mood for a scene. I may have forgotten this for a while but now I remember that these are our little shortcuts to brilliance.

Here are some things that inspire me:

Rain
Jane Austen
Showers
Twilight (the book)(the first one)
Anything by Taylor Swift
The Hunger Games Soundtrack
The Bachelorette (don’t judge me)
Gravity by Sara Bareilles
Break Ups
Green Scenery
Northern Lights by Cider Sky
Country Cabins
Sense & Sensibility (Colonel Brandon fan here)
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Count Me In by Early Winters
So You Think You Can Dance (talk about evoking emotions)
Jonathan Rhys Myers
Pride & Prejudice
A successful undisclosed woman in my life
Don’t Make Me Wait by This World Fair

And, oh yeah…The Lucky One.

What are you inspirational triggers? What gets your muse’s attention? What makes you feel brilliant?

 
20 Comments

Posted by on May 14, 2012 in Inspiration, Just For Fun, Motivation

 

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Being a Confident Writer Before the Contracts

23 Apr

Last month I posted about being a new writer and the challenges we face emotionally with the daunting task of completing a first novel staring us in the face. I wish I could say after we do that, it’s all smooth sailing from there on out, but the truth is, it’s only the beginning. Sometimes the only thing scarier than the impossible (I wrote a novel) is too many possibilities (now what?). Because the question that comes after you’ve accepted you’re a writer is, “What am I going to do about it?”

I remember the very distinct shift I felt when my first draft freedom disappeared and the reality of how little I knew about novel writing settled around me in it’s place. I felt suffocated by how much needed to be fixed and how much I had yet to learn. And the question of whether or not I really wanted to go down that road. I had every right and every reason to continue simply writing for myself and my closest friends, but like you, I knew that would never be enough for me. I had something to share with the world.

Despite my enthusiasm, my confidence was shot. I didn’t need someone to tell me I sucked (though, trust me, they did). Like Kristin Lamb said in her vlog, Writing 101, people had told me my whole life I had a talent for writing so I guess I thought it would just come naturally. Ahem. Not so much. It was painfully obvious I had no idea what it took to write a novel and I went through a long period of writer’s depression when nothing I wrote felt good enough. In my mind, I was a horrible writer.

So how do I feel today? Please, put your coffee down for this one. I can say, without a single hesitation, that I am an amazing writer. Yep, I still get that swelling feeling in my chest every time I say it. And I’m not afraid to make a fool of myself by saying it here now. It may sound like I’m being proud and probably delusional but I’m not. Here’s why–

Am I a New York Times Bestselling author? No.

Am I even published? Nope.

Do I have an agent? Um…no.

Is everything I write perfect? Not a chance!

So how can I possibly be so confident in my writing prowess? For these reasons:

  1. I’m dedicated to my story. I have a story inside me and I have to tell it. Remember that this is why we’re all writers in the first place–not to get published, not to make millions of dollars, not for the fame. We all write, day after day, deep down, because we have stories to tell and we want to share them.
  2. I have a passion for my message. Beneath the surface of the stories I write, there’s something meaningful I want to say. It means so much to me that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make sure I get the chance to say it.
  3. I’m dedicated to learning. Because I want to do my story justice, I know I have to learn the best way to tell it and I’m up for that challenge. Not only up for it, excited about it. There is nothing more thrilling to me than growing as a writer.
  4. I love writing. All planning, productivity, and career goals aside, my reward for writing each day is the writing itself. I literally want to jump up and dance after penning a great scene (sometimes I do). It gives me so much happiness and an incredible sense of accomplishment. Every day I get to write is a day worth living.

Some people think being an amazing writer means having people love your work or having a publishing contract, but it simply isn’t true. A great writer is born long before you get the golden ticket (though if you stick with it, and publishing is your dream, those emails will come). If you have a passion for writing that energizes and fuels you, and if you are willing to do whatever it takes to keep writing, you’re already an amazing writer, publishing contract or not.

Don’t be afraid to say it.

Even if only to yourself.

Photo by Enid Yu

 
18 Comments

Posted by on April 23, 2012 in Inspiration, Motivation, Personal Experience

 

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Chasing Plot Bunnies

09 Apr

For writers, ideas are prevalent when we open our minds to them. Every time we come into contact with another human being, watch a TV show or movie, read a book, or let our minds wander, ideas pour in whether we realize it or not. And for every story that is told, there are a thousand other ways it could have been told–a thousand more ideas.

Sometimes I’ll even sit down with the intention of coming up with an idea that is unique (or as unique as any idea can be in this day and age). I’ll hook up with my brainstorming buddy to flesh out these concepts and turn them into what I hope will one day be stories. Sometimes they work out and sometimes they don’t. By this point, I have enough failures and successes under my belt to understand which of these ideas will evolve into something readable and which ones won’t. I’ll tell you what I’ve discovered.

The Bunny Farm

Every idea looks shiny at first. It’s new. You haven’t had to answer too many questions about it. You haven’t had to fact-check or create a sensible timeline. You haven’t yet spent hours (sometimes hundreds of hours) going over it and over it until your brain bleeds. But there will come a time when you reach the question of, can I take this potential story any further or is “an idea” all it can ever be?

Of all the ideas I’ve had in my life, only two have turned into full-blown, novel-length stories and they both have something in common: they originated from my deep-seeded convictions about human nature. They meant something to me.

I’ve come up with tons of other ideas that hit me on a superficial level. The ones that start of with, “wouldn’t it be cool if…” or “so I was thinking…” I’ve written some fun short stories from these concepts and even attempted a couple of novels with them but eventually, the questions, timelines, and hours of going over them got the best of me and I just couldn’t take them any further. The shininess wore off and I no longer had anything to say that felt like it was coming from my heart.

Which Plot Bunnies Do You Chase?

So what conclusion have I come to? I stick with the ideas that resonate with me on a deeper level. As fun as really unique ideas may be, I’ve never managed to turn them into stories unless they’re tethered to something honest. In reality, it may not even be the fact that they originated from my beliefs, but that they were only given the opportunity to grow because my convictions behind them drove them past the point of giving them up and letting them go.

I still write down every idea that comes because there’s no way to know which ideas might strike me later or which ones might combine to turn into something real. But now I recognize which ones are merely distracting me with their sparkle and which ones will leave me with something to polish when the initial shine has worn off.

How do you decide which plot bunnies to chase?

Photo by S. Parker

 
11 Comments

Posted by on April 9, 2012 in Inspiration, Personal Experience

 

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Being Green: What It Means to Be a New Writer

12 Mar

I have something embarrassing to admit. Before I wrote my first novel, I thought you had to be a chosen one. Seriously. I thought it required a fancy degree or some special certificate or maybe an old man in a wizard’s hat came out to your house, interviewed you, and gave you a learner’s permit if he found you suitable. It seemed like such a daunting task that surely an average girl like me could never do it.

About four years ago, in my infinite quest for an excuse to give it a shot anyway, I came across the National Novel Writing Month website (is this where I apply for my permit?). Would you believe there were thousands of average people, just like me, writing novels together every year? People who weren’t even writing outlines or trying to get published? People who were writing novels purely for the enjoyment of it? I was so surprised, it took me reading the entire website and a full twenty-four hour’s contemplation to sign up for an account. I assure you–this is a long time for me. That November I wrote my first novel and it was all over from there. I was hooked. I was a writer.

No Longer “Aspiring”

Since then, hardly a week has gone by when I haven’t written something. I’ve completed another full length manuscript, started two more novels that have yet to be completed, written dozens of short stories, and penned hundreds of blogs. I think I would have made that old man in the wizard’s hat pretty proud.

When deciding to take the leap from thinking about writing to actually doing it, starting is the hardest part. There’s so much to learn, so much to practice, so much to grasp. More than that, though, is the lack of confidence in yourself. Before you complete your first work, it seems impossible. Sure, other people do it, but that’s just published authors, right? There’s no way I could write a novel, or short story, or article, or even a blog.

But here’s the thing: You can.

Know It Will Happen For You Too

If I could whip together a license or a certificate for you, I would. But I assure you, you don’t need it. Published authors weren’t always published and there was no fairy dust sprinkled on them at birth. The only magic trick they’ve come to master is writing when it’s hard, when it’s noisy, when the kids are nagging them, when they’re working overtime at their day job, when the spaghetti sauce is boiling over, when they’re in so much pain they can hardly think, and on those rare occasions when they finally get some peace and quiet for five whole minutes. The only secret ingredient is perseverance.

If you have yet to complete your first piece, keep writing. Have faith in yourself against all odds. I’m not sitting here telling you it will be easy. What I’m saying is it will happen. As long as you put your fingers to the keyboard or your pen to the paper every day, no matter what, one word will build onto another until you have sentences and paragraphs and pages. Until you have a story. Typing “the end” will be the greatest feeling and the greatest confidence builder you can ever imagine. Because once you know you can do it, you’ll also know you can do it again.

And then you’re not new anymore. You’re a writer.

Photo by Scott Robinson

 
28 Comments

Posted by on March 12, 2012 in Inspiration, Motivation, Personal Experience, Writing

 

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My Romance With Writing

13 Feb

Since as long as I can remember, I’ve had an overactive imagination. My husband would call it obsessive worrying. The TV show Parenthood so eloquently called it “catastrophizing.” But you, as a writer, will understand. Tell me right now you’ve never heard a bump in the night and started imagining what it could be. A burglar? The creepy neighbor next door who, you’re pretty sure, hates you because you turned off your lights last Halloween instead of handing out candy and in turn, you both got egged? Or maybe a wild bunch of Javelina (I live a wooded area) who have been eyeing your beloved Spot for the last month and are finally here to drag him off to Animal Farm for good. (Where was he that afternoon last month, anyway?)

Say you’ve never done that with a straight face. I dare you.

I use my powers for good too. I remember a time about seven years ago when I heard a colleague of mine was getting a divorce after years together and I felt so sad for him that I began to imagine a story where they were forced to spend time together, face their troubled marriage, and fall in love with each other all over again. Or the time when my friend finally got out of an abusive relationship and while I watched her heal, I thought of all the scenarios where she would meet the most amazing man who would appreciate her and show her what real love meant. (I’m happy to say that story came true.)

It’s hard to remember a time when I wasn’t writing stories. Even if it wasn’t with my laptop. Even if it wasn’t with a pen. Even if it wasn’t with that ridiculous old typewriter I stole from my aunt. Always, in my mind, I loved to tell a story.

For any true writer, it’s a romance that never ends and, somehow, never really begins. It seems to have been there all along–that way we look at the world, the way we process it, the way we look toward the future. It isn’t always the easiest gift to bare. We are known for our drinking problems and being slightly…how does my husband put it?…crazy.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The passion I feel when my characters come to life, and when a plot hole magically fills itself in, and when all the puzzle pieces lock into place, is what makes me feel alive. Storytelling has been there for me in the good times and the bad. I can picture myself now, old and gray, penning out the stories of my life to leave behind me when I go. At times, I hit barriers with my writing but I know at some point, things will always turn back around.

Can you imagine a love any more true than that?

Photo by net_efekt

 
16 Comments

Posted by on February 13, 2012 in Inspiration

 

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