Inspiration Is Everywhere!

Artists are inspired by everything around them.  As an author, I am always noticing little details and then wondering why.  I wonder why someone has put new siding up on one side of their house and not the other or why someone chose to paint their front door bright yellow.  At times I ask these questions aloud, which can drive my husband a little crazy because there are no answers to these musings of mine.

During a walk this past weekend, I passed a house several blocks away that had a good number of cars parked out front and across the street.  Friends of mine had attended a wedding there a few years ago, and I wondered if today there was a baby shower.  There could be a story in it.

Later along this walking route, there is a house in which I assume, given the style of the car in the driveway and the lack of toys or clutter, an older person lives. There have never been any other cars in the drive or parked in front of the house until this Saturday. For the first time, I noticed a pickup truck and a car when I walked by. On Sunday, there were two other cars, and a group of four younger people were getting into one of the cars.  So my wondering begins.  Why is there suddenly an increase of activity with different cars and people at this house? Are adult children visiting because the older person is ill or has died? Some people might think I’m nosy.  I say that I’m curious. This is how my mind works.  I’m sure there’s a story there.

Along with noticing details (perhaps I should have been a private detective), I find that watching people and wondering why they do what they do often inspires stories.

I’ve blogged before about how the cottage community on the Chesapeake Bay where my husband and I have rented a cottage for fifteen years motivated the Annie Crow Knoll series.  The cottages  and the beauty of the area are truly inspiration.  However, my wondering why played a bigger part in how the series came about.

A young couple with two small children moved back to the cottage community after living in another area of the country for years.  They returned to the location where the husband had spent his childhood.  I wondered why.  What brought them back?  Why had he left in the first place?

Although Nate and June are not this couple in any way, the characters were born from my wonderings about the couple’s decision.  I began writing a scene about (I made up the name Nate) Nate and his wife returning to the Knoll after a long absence, and the other cottagers conjecturing about the reason.  In my scenario, rumors began to fly about Nate and his wife.

This was actually the first scene I wrote, although it ended up in the second book. At the time, I had no idea why Nate would come back, but I sensed the gossipy folks in the other cottages would talk about it.  I also had no clue this small scene would begin the creation of three novels. But, voila, an entire series was born from my curiosity regarding the couple’s resolution to move back to the Chesapeake Bay.  Eventually Nate’s reasons for bringing June back to Annie Crow Knoll developed, but I had to trust the initial musings and write.

Writers, all artists, have to trust their instinct.  Many times things don’t necessary make sense, but we pick up the paintbrush, pen, laptop, camera, clay, glass cutters, guitar, or whatever tools we use and begin.   This Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quote is a favorite of mine.

I encourage you to trust whatever inspires you to be creative and to begin.

I’d love to hear about what inspires you?  Tell me what happens when you trust your inspiration.

 

 

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