1
The Little Book of Inspiration for Writers Charlie Wilson and Morwenna Tudor
A Book Specialist book
2
Copyright 2012 Charlie Wilson and Morwenna Tudor All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for purposes of review) without the express permission of the authors given in writing. The right of Charlie Wilson and Morwenna Tudor to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. To contact the www.thebookspecialist.com.
authors,
visit
3
The Little Book of Inspiration for Writers Ideas, imagination, spirit, vision, ambition, enthusiasm, motivation, determination, passion... everything that you need to be a productive, happy writer. Sometimes, though, the muse is elusive and confidence is wobbly. So here’s a little book of ideas and thoughts and quotations to inspire.
4
If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. – Toni Morrison
If all you want to do is write then you are a writer. Self-doubt has no place; you’ve already achieved the dream of being who you want to be. You. Are. A. Writer.
Write late at night when your family is asleep. Tired and surrounded by darkness and silence, the story takes on a new life.
5
YouTube. Home of Lego-men-do-Star-Wars. And eye-liner application tutorials. And giggling infant quadruplets. And fainting goats. And obscure fanfiction films. The perfect research tool for all that’s great and bizarre about humanity.
As well as writing the stuff you want to share with the world, write pieces that are for your eyes only. Give yourself the freedom to write just for you – no rules, no judgement. Keep the papers or shred them; either way, you’ve done the job of letting all parts of you speak.
Learn a new language. Not only do you gain confidence as you develop a new skill, but in the process of unpicking the various elements of language you gain a better understanding of how it works. 6
Think beyond writing and embrace other creative pursuits as well – painting, sculpture, music, cooking, theatre. Participate or appreciate. All art forms feed the same place inside and stimulate your creativity.
Photographs capture a moment in time, a snapshot of a story. What happened before? After? Look at your family photographs – what tales do they tell? Browse through The Photo Book by Ian Jeffrey for a varied collection of photographs.
Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. – Anton Chekhov
Stuff your target word count. Just write. 7
Indulge a guilty passion for celebrity magazines. Celebrities are often larger-than-life characters, so draw on their personalities, their adventures and their mishaps, as well as their fabulous (and not-sofabulous) outfits.
How fast can you write? It may sound like a contradiction when you’re struggling to get the words flowing, but take some time out from writing to, erm, write. Speed writing, without worrying about the content or style, can untie mental knots
If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write. – Stephen King
8
An impartial ear can be great for testing out new ideas. Invite your friends round, crack open a bottle of wine and chat about your ideas. Get their honest feedback in a relaxed environment. Recording the conversation could be insightful, depending on how well the wine goes down.
Test your acting ability and play a character for a day. Try to walk in the character’s shoes and see the world from his or her point of view. Experience the world differently. Are you a shy, polite person? Be boorish and loud. See what ideas you spark.
Watch a film adaptation of a book and then compare the two. Which do you prefer? What are the strengths and limitations of each medium? How can you bring what’s great about a visual story into your writing?
9
Scriptwriters, check out Script Frenzy and challenge yourself to produce a hundred pages of a script during the month of April. To find out more, visit Scriptfrenzy.org.
When the screen or the paper is too white, get creative. Write on wrapping paper. On old envelopes. In the margins of the newspaper. On a chalkboard. On a whiteboard. On the wall.
Repeat after us: ‘The words are in me. The words are in me.’ When you hit a wall, use a mantra to break through – a short phrase of your own creation that you repeat over and over again. You may feel a bit silly, but positive reinforcement can work wonders.
10
Need a novel death or injury for a character? Head to DarwinAwards.com where you’ll find collated some of the strangest people-maiming incidents on record caused by utter stupidity, from urban legends to confirmed cases.
Keep up to date with current affairs and with emerging trends, and consider their effects on society today and in the future. Whatever you write, whenever the setting, you’re trying to appeal to modern-day readers, so know the issues that affect and inspire them.
Create a writing den on wheels: write in the car. Grab your netbook, laptop or notebook, drive somewhere that inspires you and write. When you run out of steam, drive somewhere else. Lay-by hopping is the new sensation. 11
Write for you. Because you want to. Not because you want to impress others. Fear of ridicule or criticism or any form of judgement blocks you. Vivir con miedo es como vivir a medias – a life lived in fear is a life half-lived.
The measure of artistic merit is the length to which a writer is willing to go in following his own compulsions. – John Updike
If you’re writing about a place, go there. If you can’t, research it carefully. Cover your walls with photos of the place. Ask people who have visited to share their experiences. Ground your writing in its setting.
12
Every great and original writer, in proportion as he is great or original, must himself create the taste by which he is to be relished. – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Have two (or more) projects on the go simultaneously. Taking time out from one to work on the other, particularly if they’re very different in nature, helps clear your head.
See the world. Travel. Visit other countries. Explore your own country. Know your town inside out. Check out every road, every footpath. Poke about in woods and fields and parks. Visit castles and museums and galleries and graveyards. Notice architecture. Appreciate nature. Take an interest in history.
13
Stash sticky notes everywhere; in your bag, on your desk, in your kitchen. Then, whenever inspiration strikes you, jot the idea on a note and stick it on the wall as a reminder. Designate a wall in your house where you collect all your notes and look to it for inspiration.
The bath is for dreaming and plotting and planning and writing with bath crayons. (Warning: Matey bubble bath and netbooks don’t mix.)
Prose not working? Try verse. Non-fiction a slog? Switch to fiction. Wrestling to make a novel weighty and serious? See whether children’s writing is a better fit. Experiment with different genres and writing styles until you feel the click that says you’ve found your author voice.
14
Have you seen the film Sliding Doors? Think back over your life and imagine what might have been had you taken a different path or made a different choice.
Remember, people want to know about people. An eighty-thousand-word book describing John O’Groats in vivid detail is yawnsome. Characters are everything, so make them jump off the page.
I have written a great many stories and I still don’t know how to go about it except to write it and take my chances. – John Steinbeck
15
Look at the works of American artist Edward Hopper. His paintings of modern American life have many stories lurking behind them, raising unanswered questions. People in his paintings are often isolated, even when they’re with other people, leading the viewer to wonder who they are and what they’re doing there. This is particularly the case in his most famous work, Nighthawks.
Join a friendly and supportive writing group, or form one of your own. Give yourself time and space to share your love of writing with like-minded people.
Writing is its own reward. – Henry Miller
16
Technology interrupting your flow? Here’s a revolutionary idea: turn off your iPhone, your iPod, your iPad, your iMac. Unplug your phone line – internet included (or download MacFreedom.com, which will block the internet for you). But what if I miss... No, be strong. The world can cope without you for an hour or two, and you’ll survive without watching trampolining hamsters on YouTube and checking the Queen’s Twitter feed. Really.
Don’t listen to the telly-phobes: your television is not evil, it’s your friend. You need a break from writing. You need visual and aural stimulation. You need to engage with stories outside of written text. Watch. Imagine. Think. Then write.
17
Be kind to yourself if the words won’t come. Wrestling with yourself won’t help. It’s okay that you’re not in the right place. If you take some time out, you’ll be ready soon enough.
Allow others to judge your writing: enter competitions. Not only will doing so encourage you to write, but competitions can also get you noticed. There are plenty of competitions out there, so choose the ones that best suit your style.
Listen to symphonies. Feel how the story unfolds through the rhythm and speed and volume and tone. Consider your writing as a symphony – is it quiet sometimes, loud other times? Beautiful and melodic, then bold and stirring? Slow and calm, then fast and tense? Is the writing moving along, leading the reader to an ultimate, satisfying climax? 18
Take the Roald Dahl approach and write in the garden shed. Do clear out the spades and paint pots and pogo sticks first, though, so you’ve some designated space.
Whatever kind of writer you are – one who likes to be among people and is inspired by people-watching, or one who needs complete isolation – mix it up. You can’t always write amid chaos; you can’t always write in a vacuum. Find the balance that suits you.
Your brain may need a breather. Take some deep breaths to get the oxygen flowing to your grey matter again.
19
Find light spaces in which to write. Sit near a window, or outside when you can. In the evening, opt for atmospheric lighting like candles and lamps – fluorescent bulbs aren’t conducive to creativity.
Don’t just read, listen. Play audiobooks in the car or on headphones. Visit your local library and listen to children’s story-time. Then, when you write, read the words aloud. Focus on the rhythm and the sound of the words – are they pleasing to the ear?
Prose is architecture, not interior decoration. – Ernest Hemmingway
20
Writers are allowed to be quiet and antisocial. Embrace your inner hermit. Lock yourself away from the world.
The more you write, the better you get. Look back over some of your older works and marvel at how far you’ve come and how your style has developed.
Nature. Commerce. Food. Fashion. Art. People. The world’s biggest hotdog. Get on Pinterest.com and start exploring a whole world of strange, wonderful, colourful pictures. Last time we did this we discovered mini free libraries. Awesome.
21
Find out about your favourite authors. Read their biographies. Follow their blogs. Attend author events. Be inspired by their example.
I leave out the parts that people skip. – Elmore Leonard. Take a lesson: if you’re bored writing a passage, you can bet the reader will be bored when reading it.
Plan your writing. Sketch out how your plot will develop and who your characters are. Then, when you hit a wall, refer back to your notes for a clear idea of where you’re heading.
22
Temporarily turn your world upside down. While we don’t advocate standing on your head in front of your computer, there are some simple yoga positions you could try instead. As well as helping you to relax, they clear your mind and get the words flowing. A favourite is the half-tortoise (as shown in this video www.bikram-yoga-videos.com/half-tortoise-pose). You don’t need to be a contortionist to manage the pose and it increases mental clarity – perfect.
Shove your feet in your trainers and get out for a run or a long walk. Exercise makes you feel good, it gives you energy and it sharpens creativity. Plus, this bit of ‘me time’ is ideal for dreaming up ideas.
23
Imagine a mood or scene and create a playlist of songs to encapsulate this. Listen to the music when you’re trying to capture that scene or feeling.
Writing at your kitchen table by candlelight at one in the morning when the world is silent and still is wonderfully poetic. But be sure you can actually write at that time! Exhaustion isn’t conducive to creativity.
Readers love books like One Day and comedians like Peter Kay because they draw upon everyday experiences that we all recognise. As Agatha Christie famously said, The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. Look to the mundane for inspiration. As you polish shoes and chop carrots and plump cushions and bathe children, let your mind drift. 24
Listen to inspirational and uplifting music and tell yourself that you can do it. Try Enigma’s Return to Innocence or Vangelis’s Chariots of Fire.
Suit the action to the word, the word to the action. – William Shakespeare
Trace your family tree. Know your roots – where you came from. Do any of your ancestors’ stories inspire you? Has someone in your family done something that can inspire you to want to achieve? For example, was your grandfather a published writer? Was your great-aunt a suffragette? (On a visit to the Science Museum in London as a young child, Charlie discovered an exhibit about her great-grandfather, an inventor, which fuelled her desire to be creative and gave her a sense that great achievements are possible.) 25
The maker of a sentence launches out into the infinite and builds a road into Chaos and old Night, and is followed by those who hear him with something of wild, creative delight. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Have you known a great storyteller? A grandparent, perhaps, or a teacher? Look to emulate that person. Be a storyteller. Turn everyday experiences into something more. Tell stories rich with imagery and meaning and rhythm and pace.
Tracy Chevalier wrote Girl with a Pearl Earring about the painting of the same name by Johannes Vermeer. Can you find similar inspiration in your favourite artworks?
26
Do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Try sushi. Listen to music you think you hate. Introduce yourself to a stranger in a cafe. Climb to the top of a tower even though you have vertigo. The worst that can happen is that you look silly. The best, you get braver, you learn, you experience feelings that can inform your writing.
To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything. – Anatole France
Do a cafe crawl. One drink earns you a good hour in the corner, writing amid the buzz of the other customers. Don’t fiddle about with the free WiFi; just write. When you need a change, move on to the next place.
27
Be inspired by the places you visit, no matter how mundane. Ask yourself questions. Who lived there? Why was it built? Why does it look this way? What would it be like to live there?
Take an interest in history, both ancient and contemporary. Read up on Greek and Roman mythology. Know the history of your own country. Understand the antecedents and consequences of wars. Be open-minded as you learn about different philosophies and religions.
Visit WorldsMostBoringWebsite.com. A few minutes clicking around this site and you’ll be positively fired up with energy to do something else. Anything else. Even writing.
28
Co-writing can be a whole different experience. Suddenly, writing is no longer just about your ideas or your style – you have to take someone else into consideration as well. A co-writer could be a fellow enthusiast on your chosen subject or someone you know who’s passionate about writing. They can be great for sharing ideas with and you can inspire each other to write.
People-watch from the comfort of your lounge. Log on to Facebook, sit back and see how your friends and their friends interact. Study statuses. Note the attention seekers and the publicisers. Note the ‘jokes’ and the poignant moments of connection. Feed what you learn into your characterisation.
How vain it is to sit down to write if you have not stood up to live. – Henry David Thoreau 29
Make mealtimes a source of inspiration for evocative, descriptive writing. Have you seen the film City of Angels? Watch it for the discussion of Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, and to see how eating a simple pear can be an inspiring experience.
Grab tiny moments. Write a few lines on the bus, in a clothes shop changing room, waiting at the school gates, at the doctor’s, while stirring the pasta. Not only do you keep tapped into the creative flow, with nice spans of time in between in which to dream and think, but you find the quick scribbling starts adding up to something of substance.
Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any. – Orson Scott Card 30
Everyone has songs gathering dust in their music collection. Dig out these less-listened-to tracks and give them a play. Nostalgia is a powerful source of inspiration.
Use your mobile phone as a research tool. When out and about and an idea comes, record it as a note or a voice file. If you see something that intrigues you, snap a picture or a video. And scan the list of apps available – there are some handy ones for writers.
Sometimes it may feel like a chore, but ultimately writing should be fun. Remind yourself of the enjoyment you get from writing. Spend less time focusing on the technicalities and more time focusing on the fun factor.
31
Find a writing buddy and cajole each other along on the writing journey. Set deadlines for meetings at which you’ll swap your writing and review each other’s. Celebrate achievements together (coffee and a muffin in your local bookshop cafe, anyone?).
As a writer, words are your passion, so why not adopt one? At AdoptaWord.com you can give a loving home to a word of your choice for a year. Choose one that inspires you or that you’d like to include in your writing.
Listen to how people really speak, what they say and how they say it. Use what you learn to shape the dialogue you write and make it more realistic.
32
If you start with a bang, you won’t end with a whimper. – T.S. Eliot
Don’t try to be an editor and a writer at the same time. Turn your critical brain off and focus on your writing. You can go back and edit your work later. You’re your own worst critic and this can get in the way of writing.
We’re often taught to be afraid of tangents and encouraged to focus on the task in hand. While discipline has a definite role in writing, tangents are your friend. If your mind starts to wander, go with it for a short while and see where it takes you. It may just lead you to the idea you are looking for – or a great new one you weren’t expecting to find. Just make sure you write down any inspiration you get so it’s not forgotten when you go back to focusing on the task in hand. 33
Write or Die. No, not literally – we’re talking about the excellent (and very cheap) writing software program that makes you write smoothly and speedily without getting distracted. Stop writing for long and a hugely annoying noise blares at you through your computer’s speakers. When faced with a choice between listening to a baby scream or getting on with writing, we always plump for writing.
Remember way back when you were a child and you believed there were tiny people singing inside the radio? Or when you thought butter came from butterflies? Revisit how you once looked at the world at IUsedToBelieve.com.
Goldilocks-style, try different seats. Armchair. Desk chair. Dining room chair. Kitchen table chair. Deckchair. Beanbag. Bed. Find somewhere you’re really comfortable so you can happily sit for hours. 34
Starry, starry night/Flaming flowers that brightly blaze/Swirling clouds in violet haze/Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue. Don Mclean (of American Pie fame) was inspired to write his song Vincent about the painter Vincent Van Gogh. In turn, his lyrics are very evocative and visual. Look at the language song-writers use and how they reflect their subject matter. What is it about these lyrics that paints such a vivid picture?
Try writing in the morning as soon as you wake up. Don’t take time for coffee or dressing – just write while still in the fog of sleep.
Easy reading is damn hard writing. – attributed to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway and Maya Angelou
35
Analyse your life. What’s been your happiest moment? Your lowest? Your most frightening? Your most shameful? The times when you’ve hit the very pinnacle of emotion are those that inspire the most poignant, moving, powerful writing.
Books aren’t written, they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it... – Michael Crichton
Find yourself a mentor. This could be another writer or someone who will support and inspire you, helping you to develop as a writer. Sometimes these relationships develop naturally, but don’t be afraid to ask people for their help and support as well.
36
By all means keep your writing private until you’re ready to share it, but don’t let that mean years and years slip by during which pieces of work gather dust on a shelf. Get brave. The worst that can happen when you share your writing is that the person reading it is critical. Ouch, yes. But the sky won’t fall.
Be proud that you write. Don’t be afraid to talk about it when people ask about your hobbies or how you spend your spare time.
Be inspired by the mundane. Sometimes something as simple as looking at the contents of a shopping trolley may trigger an idea. Imagine what that taxi driver overhears from his passengers. Think about the conversations people have in the queues at supermarkets. 37
Make a choice to be creative, whatever your circumstances. Choose to write. Choose to be a writer. Yes, it is that simple.
Rediscover your creative self. A book such as The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron may help you overcome any blocks you’re facing.
Keep it short and sweet. Try writing flash fiction, where stories contain many classic elements but consist of very few words. There’s no set limit, but suggestions range from 55 words to 1,000. How much can you say in 55 words?
38
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Your nose is twitching… what’s that smell? All of sudden you’re back in a summer’s memory, lost in the promise of long, warm days and balmy nights. Scents have an amazing power to transport us to another time and place. Even when the exact smell is elusive, remember the feeling it triggers and use this in your writing.
You’re not alone. You won’t be the first or the last writer to be seeking inspiration. Look to other writers, whether they’re friends or famous authors and poets, to learn more about their processes and how they write.
39
Fiction is the truth inside the lie. – Stephen King
Remember when, as a child, you drew a picture and had that crushing sense of disappointment when the end result on the paper didn’t live up to the vision in your mind? Are you paralysed by the thought that the same will happen with your writing? If you don’t try, you’ll never know.
Straw donkeys? Flamenco dancers? Greek sunsets? Do you have holiday souvenirs scattered around your house? Each one has a story behind why it was bought and lugged back in your suitcase.
40
Remember the game Guess Who? you played as a child? What questions did you ask? What would the characters have said to each other if they could talk? Ask yourself some of these questions when developing your own characters. Why not assign some background music to accompany your piece of writing? Create a playlist – or if you’re really keen, visit BookTrack.com to find out about book soundtracks.
NaNoWriMo may sound like gibberish, but it’s actually short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s an annual, internet-based creative-writing project that challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel during November. The website (Nanowrimo.org) lets you track your progress and certifies your word count at the end. Take a month off and immerse yourself in your book.
41
The best settings for writings are those that enable you to drift away. Be aware of how your writing is affecting you. Bored? Lonely? Distracted? Irritated? Move on.
Make an ongoing commitment to learning. Take a course in car maintenance. Read a book about midwifery. Learn Italian. Keep your mind active and enquiring, and fill it with all sorts of information. You won’t use it all, but you’ll be surprised how much of your new knowledge creeps into what you write.
If you’re working on a computer, print out the piece from time to time. Make the writing tangible – something you can hold in your hands. You made that!
42
Practise the art of being mindful – being present in the world, connected with it, experiencing it and noticing details. Don’t drift about robotically; be aware of what you do and think and feel and see and smell and sense. Don’t assume, ask – probe, ponder, argue, experiment. Every element of your writing improves when it’s grounded in reality.
You’re driving along the motorway late at night when you see a car pulled over and a man standing by the side of the road. Your mind goes into overdrive, wondering who the man is and what’s happening. These split-second glimpses of someone else’s story are perfect fodder for inspiration. When those moments come, note them down (although not when driving along the motorway at 70 miles per hour!) and use them.
43
Think back to when you first realised that you loved to write. Perhaps you still have some of your old stories you can look back over. Try to remember how it felt and why you enjoyed it so much. Remind yourself of that feeling when you’re writing now. Perhaps even pin up a piece of your old work so you can re-read it occasionally.
Browse the many online writing communities. Read the fantastic writing extracts posted there. Be inspired by the brilliant, insightful writing. Realise that you, too, write pretty well. Feel better about your own writing.
Browse the many online writing communities. Read the awful writing extracts posted there. Spot the spelling mistakes. Scoff at the plot holes. Realise that you, conversely, write pretty well. Feel better about your own writing. 44
It is worth mentioning, for future reference, that the creative power which bubbles so pleasantly in beginning a new book quiets down after a time, and one goes on more steadily. Doubts creep in. Then one becomes resigned. Determination not to give in, and the sense of an impending shape keep one at it more than anything. – Virginia Woolf
Everyone has a story. Take inspiration from the anecdotes that your family and friends share with you, whether it be for a character, location or plot idea.
Think your novel needs a bipolar coaster or a daddy soda? Browse UrbanDictionary.com for of-themoment phrases and words. Many will make you laugh, and some may inspire you.
45
Remember those seemingly random interview questions? If you could be a colour, food, animal or so on, what would you be? Explore those ideas in your writing. You don’t need to be obvious, but it may give you an interesting new way to introduce an idea or character.
Watch films with critical eyes. See how films are put together, how the action unfolds, the pace, the structure, the norms. Take a film studies class, or read some books on theory. Apply what you learn to your writing.
Be someone who’s interesting. Be open to meeting interesting people and having interesting things happen to you. Seek out adventure. Be dramatic. Live out stories that you can then pen.
46
The Livescribe is a pen, Dictaphone and much more, all contained in the shape and size of a traditional pen. If you’ve got a bit of cash to splash and love your gadgets, why not give one a go? You too could soon be recording all your notes and thoughts and then transferring them straight to your computer.
The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible. – Vladimir Nabakov
Don’t always take the easy route when writing. Challenge yourself and ask: Can I develop this character better? Does this plot device really work? And if you have an idea you’d like to use but you think it might be a bit hard to write, push yourself to do it. 47
Celebrate all your achievements. Completing a chapter, a poem or even a whole novel is a fantastic achievement that you should mark.
If your budget can stretch to it, rent yourself a writing studio – a little hidey hole just for you in which you do nothing but write. Scatter cushions on the floor, stick inspirational photos and postcards on the walls, stock up with gingernuts and bottled water, and away you go.
Study playwriting and script-writing. You’ll write better dialogue, and you’ll learn heaps about structuring and pace.
48
Leave books and magazines and newspapers everywhere. Stacked beside your bed, but also in the bathroom, in the kids’ rooms, in the lounge, in the kitchen, in the garden, in the garage, in your handbag, in your lunchbox, in the baby’s changing bag. The more you’re surrounded by words and reading them, the more writing feels natural.
Be a nosy neighbour. You don’t need to twitch your net curtains, but watching the people in your street can give you ideas for your writing. Why do they go out at such odd times? Why do they always park both their cars on the street when they have a parking space? Who is the man who moved in a week after the boyfriend moved out? What does the window cleaner see when he’s doing his job?
49
If the words won’t come, how about a picture? Sometimes changing mediums and expressing your thoughts in a different way can help. You don’t need to be Picasso, and no one else needs to see your squiggles. Focus on what’s on your mind rather than what you’re trying to write about, and use pictures, graphs and diagrams to get the idea out.
Don’t just picture a character in your mind, create a vivid image. Draw, paint, photograph (with people’s permission, mind!) and know exactly how your character looks.
I keep six honest serving men: They taught me all I knew: Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who. – Rudyard Kipling
50
Uninspired by your computer, on which you spend endless hours ploughing through work, bidding furiously on eBay or watching E4 On Demand? Go notebook shopping. If you’ve had it with the blinking cursor, get thee to a stationer’s and splash out on a notebook that takes your fancy. And a pen to match. If you’re paper-phobic, pick up a snazzy netbook that’s light and easy to slip into your bag for coffeeshop drafting. Now you’ve plundered your coffers for a designated writing notebook, you’d better do some writing...
Choose a writer you admire and challenge yourself to emulate their style. Look carefully at how they write and then write a short piece in their style and genre.
Turn off your spellchecker. Little red and green lines popping up as you type are mightily distracting. Just type. 51
It’s good to talk. If something is bothering you, clear your mind of anxieties and worries. Talk them through with a friend or a family member, write them down – anything to get them out of your head. Without you realising it, these niggles may have been hindering inspiration.
Don’t let a dry throat or rumbling stomach distract you. Make sure you’ve eaten and had a drink before you begin. Keep a drink next to you so you don’t need to get up if you’re thirsty.
The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. – Sylvia Plath
52
Do you find yourself singing when you’re happy? Or in the shower? Perhaps you like to drum along on the steering wheel to the song on the radio when you’re driving? Next time you catch yourself doing this, don’t worry about whether you’re in tune or not, but ask yourself what it is that’s making you sing. How does the particular piece of music reflect your mood? Use songs as a way of reflecting moods in your writing.
Woken in the night with an idea? Get up and set it down on paper while you’re in the right place. Yes, you’ll be tired tomorrow. No big deal. Tiredness is just a feeling.
Broaden your horizons. Are you normally a compulsive rom-com viewer? Do you only watch horror films? Rent a comedy or a western and explore different genres. 53
Try an experiment: for a whole day, really listen to what people in your life say. Focus on the rhythm of their language. The vocabulary. The pronunciation. How the speaker conveys emotion. What the speaker doesn’t say. Compare speakers. Then write some dialogue. See how much more realistic and colourful your dialogue becomes.
They say a change is as good as a rest and this is certainly true when it comes to writing. If the words won’t come, take a break. Step away from the computer and clear your mind. You’ll you come back refreshed and ready to start again.
One ought only to write when one leaves a piece of one’s own flesh in the inkpot, each time one dips one’s pen. – Leo Tolstoy
54
Need a gentle poke in the right direction? Visit www.creativityportal.com/prompts/imagination.prompt.html and use some of the imagination prompts provided. Who knows where you’ll end up?
When you go on holiday, take a few moments to write down details of how the places you visit make you feel. Then, when you return home, you can recapture that feeling and use it as inspiration.
Read biographies and autobiographies, and watch documentaries and occasionally (if you can bear it) reality TV. Take an interest in people’s stories, and in the various versions of a story according to different perspectives.
55
Create personal challenges for yourself. Maybe you’d like to widen your vocabulary, so why not learn a new word every week?
Sometimes the small details can make all the difference to your writing. When you hear strange noises, see unusual sights, smell strange things or taste something unusual, make a note. You may be able to incorporate this into your work. And remember, if something made you think then it will probably make your reader stop and think as well.
Embrace your inner hermit! Writers live in their imaginations. Enjoy spending time lost in a dream world or tapping away at the laptop in a quiet corner. No one to bother you. No stress. Just you and the words and the fantasy.
56
Song lyrics tell a story. Listen to them or look them up online. As a writer, you know how evocative words can be, and you may find inspiration in one line or the whole song. Try these lyrics from the James song ‘Sometimes’ for starters: There’s four new colours in the rainbow, an old man’s taking polaroids. But all he captures is endless rain, endless rain, endless rain. He says, ‘Listen,’ takes my head, puts my ear to his and I swear I can hear the sea.
As we become older, we become more inhibited. Remember how you used to act when you were young, when you’d think nothing of riding your imaginary horse down the street or going on an adventure with your imaginary friend? Recapture that spirit of freedom and adventure from a time when you weren’t held back by fear of how people perceive you.
57
Experiment with speaking rather than writing by using a Dictaphone or your mobile phone. Catch ideas as they fly through your mind, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. Keep up when the words are coming too fast, or change tack when they’re not coming at all, because the blank page is STARING at you. Record your drafts and play them back to get a fresh perspective and a sense of the rhythm of the words.
Your best mate, the novelist, churns out seven thousand words a day. And your Auntie Flo just signed a four-book deal with the first publisher she approached. So? Being competitive and jealous gets you nowhere. Just focus on your writing, your way.
58
If you have children or grandchildren or nieces or nephews, be inspired by them. Perhaps you have a child of your own you can write with to recapture the fun and excitement of storytelling. Try to see writing through different eyes.
Be nosy. Listen in to a few conversations (subtly!) and you’ll find there are ideas unfolding all around you. On the bus, in a cafe or walking down the street, you’ll often hear people chatting and wonder what they’re talking about. Trench coat and disguise optional.
Visit a local art gallery and lose yourself among the exhibits. Make sure you take a notebook with you and jot down any inspiration that comes. Don’t forget, gift shops often sell postcards of major works, so you can take your inspiration home with you. 59
Believe in yourself, in your story, in your characters, in your style, in your ability to write. If you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t expect others to do so.
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. – William Wordsworth
60
About the authors Charlie is an author and the founder of The Book Specialist editorial agency. She writes children’s picture books, poetry, non-fiction guides, humorous fiction and young adult fiction. She gets her best ideas while wandering and wondering, and she writes in her university library because she gets drunk on the smell of old books. Wenna is a professional editor and communications consultant. She writes adult fiction, children’s fiction and humorous poems. She gets her best ideas from asking ‘What if...?’ and she writes at home, surrounded by a snoring dog and (sometimes) sleeping baby. To find out more about the authors and to contact us, visit www.thebookspecialist.com.
61
