Where To Get Inspiration For Your Writing

I couldn't find inspiration to write today, so we strolled around the flea market. It's a place where things happen, weird things. Sometimes funny things happen. It's not a world where many people consider spending their time on a weekend. 

If I'm not writing, this is where I visit in hopes of finding potential subject matters or situations I can include in my WIP. Talk about being on location. My expenses are minimal.

Have you ever considered a character like this one, maybe in some sort of romance novel? This I experienced at 9:00a.m. on a Sunday morning. I don't know whether he has a drinking problem or he's just soaking up the rays. I'm going with the latter for my inspirational post and Character of the Day. 

I have to use my imagination a bit, just to set the mood. Must remember to forget those socks, too. Look out ladies, me thinks he has the potential to be the next Christian Grey.

The Adonis

The sun's rays danced across his muscled torso, exposing a chiseled and tan eight-pack no woman could resist. The heat blanketed his body and forced tiny droplets of moisture from his pores. 

He lay there, skin glistening and inviting, oblivious to the woman who watched as every muscle in his taut body formed this exquisite monument before her. She wondered, oh did she wonder, what tautness lie beneath the netherworld of his groin.

Goodness! I need a change of location. This is killing me and I'm not getting anything accomplished. So, where are some of the places you visit for inspiration?  

B is for Bravery, Brevity, and Brand

If there is anything I'd like to say about the pleasures of reading, the 3 B words: bravery, brevity and brand come to mind. If your work employs these three things while creating content, I will stay tuned! Let's explore each.


Bravery

When a writer is brave enough to throw it all out there, we readers are in awe. It is very difficult to put what's in your head into the public view, even if it is under the safety net of being considered "fiction". If you wrote it, your brain created it. There is the risk family and friends will read it and pass judgment. How do we make fiction feel real if we don’t add a little truth? Therein lies the problem.

We invoke thoughts and feelings from our characters and make their actions as real as any human would be inclined to make during candid moments when nobody should be witness to them. A writer who wants to be honest with her audience would express these things. She must engage on a level which I believe requires a certain amount of bravery.

There are moments a writer must consider the human condition, exposed, and not become inhibited by his fears of judgment from those who may turn out to be his biggest fans, the very people who would uphold his fictional creations against the moralistic standards of his peers.

It is the very reason 50 Shades of Grey is such a hit. It is brave to put your work out there, not knowing if there is an audience who will support it, thrive on it even. I haven't read it, but I will defend it because it worked.


Brevity

Have you ever received an email and wanted to close it right away because it was so long and had very few instances of white space? I have and it’s rather annoying. That’s why it is important to keep things as brief as possible. The last thing you want any reader to do is put down your work because it was just too cumbersome to read.

Tell us what you wish to convey in as few words as possible without having to struggle with long drawn out sentences. Every word I read, which I feel I didn’t need to read, makes me a little grumpy.

Don't tell me her skin was dark brown and she wore blue eye-shadow and her skirt stood out in shades of yellow and orange, and all other colors of the rainbow, in folds of chiffon patterned fabric, while she moved across the dance floor sashaying and twirling like a ballerina.

Just tell me she looked like RuPaul auditioning for the lead in Black Swan.


Brand

But what’s going to keep me coming back? I think for me, it is your brand. I can pick up a book by Stephen King or Dean Koontz or Danielle Steele and right away I know to whom it belongs. That sort of connection is what you want your readers to feel. I want to pick up your work (or visit your blog) and go, “Oh yeah, so-and-so wrote that!”

How does that happen? Consistency is the key. Do you write once per month, once per week, or on a daily basis? Do you provide funny stories with artwork like Super Earthling (sorry, had to plug one of my favorite blogs)?

It is the thing which makes you rise above the many others who do the same ole thing.

So, are you verbose or brief? Are you brave or still concerned about your privacy?

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Editing Tips For Your Draft

It’s Grammar Time!

I've been reading more posts about how we process revisions on our manuscripts. Well, I don't have a manuscript yet because I've been procrastinating for the past 5 years! However, I do have many short stories, blog posts, and essays which have had their share of "polishing".

In the past 3 years, I've received much feedback from my critique groups and my instructors at Gotham Writer's Workshop, but I’ve also learned to critique with what I call my 5 Scans.

1. I scan for ' you'

Notice the space before. My intention is to find all instances of "you", "your", and "you're" without picking up words like “bayou”. When you write, I'm sure your mind isn't on every single use, or misuse, of words you may have typed. This is why it's important to do this scan. I cringe whenever I see these types of mistakes published, so I'm sensitive about finding them in my own work. And, I do find them!


2. I scan for ' the'

Notice the space before. I do this because my intention is to find all instances of "their", "there", and "they're". However, I don't want my word processor to highlight "bathe". I do this for the same reason I do the first scan above. If you don’t understand these first two scans, please email me.


3. I scan for 'ly '

Notice the space after. My intention here is to find and eliminate as many of the "ly" adverbs as I can. My instructors hated them, and now, so do I.


4. I scan for 'start' and 'began'

If written in past tense (obviously I will scan for 'begin' if I had written in present tense). There are so many times we want to write things like:

It started to rain.

Well then, did it stop right away or did it continue? If it continued then it didn't start to rain, it obviously rained.

Likewise:

He began to sing and his voice was heavenly beautiful.

He sang, didn't he? If you heard him sing and his voice was beautiful, then he didn't just begin to do it. He did it. He sang!


5. I scan for ' that '

Notice the spaces before and after? How many of these irritants do you think I found in the last critique I did? 82!

If you're referring to an object, switch it out with "which" and if you're referring to a person, switch it out with "who" or "whom", whichever applies. Better even, if you can eliminate it altogether and make it more active, do it.

The blue boat is the one that won the race
The blue boat is the one which won the race
The blue boat won the race.

He was the one that met me at the park.
He was the one who met me at the park.
He met me at the park.

This is the dress that I wore to the prom.
This is the dress I wore to the prom.

So those are the 5 scans I do, no matter what I've written. My drafts always have these basic mistakes, but I don't want to worry about them while I am compiling and being creative. However, I don't want them to slip through the cracks, causing me a great deal of embarrassment.

Do you scan your work? And if so, what words do you scan for and why?

Independence and Slavery Blog Chain

The July2012 Blog Chain theme at Absolute Write is Independence and Slavery. I hope you enjoy!

Young Fursious felt his calling to be of greatness and might. He found his heart called into the service of Lord Belphegore, God of Battle, Rage and Fire.

He approached with vigor and arrogance. He fought hard and he was dutiful in his worship to the Lord. But, his loyalty to the faith was not enough for he often found himself faced with failure. This was too much for young Fursious and so he sank into deep depression, turning his back to the Lord. He sought the comfort of complacency and peace so that he might nurture his wounded soul.

Lord Belphegore cast down his fury onto this mortal and demanded that he look deep inside and find his spark to fight these demons who weakened his mind and destroyed his hopes. Sorrow and self-pity were not welcome in Lord Belphegore’s church.

Fursious drew inspiration from Lord Belphegore and found his path once again. He learned fast and discovered his inner strength. 

Sorrow, oh sweet sorrow for myself has been my prison and the shackles of my soul. I will not let it stand in the way of serving my Lord. I shall prove to be worthy. I will unleash the fury that shall set me free from this bondage of self-doubt. I will fight again.

Lord Belphegore welcomed this mortal back into His church, proud as any God would be.

In response, Fursious cried out, “I will not be oppressed by my sorrows!"

And with that goal in mind, Fursious set out to rise above and prove that he can strive and be on top.

Fursious fought honorably, he fought with conviction, and he stayed true to all the ethical standards that were ingrained within his heart and taught from his youth. He fought with all the fury that burned in his soul, and the confidence in knowing that his life was not for nothing.

In the end, he did not have the riches that he’d sought as a young man. But on his death bed, he felt his heart swell. He was finally happy. Tears, not of sorrow, but of glory, flowed down his cheeks.

He had won the battle, for beside his bed were all those he inspired in life and the numbers were great and more than he'd ever imagined.

If you enjoyed this month's theme, please visit the following participants and their posts:

Participants and posts:

orion_mk3 -  (link to this month's post)

knotanes -  (link to this month's post)

meowzbark -  (link to this month's post)

Ralph Pines -  (link to this month's post)

randi.lee -  (link to this month's post)

writingismypassion -  (link to this month's post)

pyrosama -  (YOU ARE HERE)

bmadsen -  (link to this month's post)
Poppy - (link to this month's post)

areteus -  (link to this month's post)

Sweetwheat -  (link to this month's post)
Tex_Maam - (link to this month's post)
MelodySRV -  (link to this month's post)

Tomspy77 -  (link to this month's post)
dclary -  (link to this month's post)
ThorHuman -  (link to this month's post)

Sisterhood World Bloggers Award

Thank you, Ms. Kelly Hashway, for awarding these to me! The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers and Tell Me About Yourself Awards I graciously accept. 

I can't believe how fortunate I am to be thought of whenever a chance comes along to bestow the awards upon a handful of deserving bloggers. I'm very grateful. And with that, here are seven things about me I'm supposed to tell you.

1. I once wet my bed when I was 19. I know, TMI (I'll mention it was New Year's Eve).

2. When I was 12, I shot wild rabbit, skinned them, fried them up and ate them.

3. Here are 5 more things about me.

Yes, that's called cheating. :)

So now, here are the 7 bloggers I'm passing the awards on to:

Katharina Brendel 

K.E. SKEDGELL  

rasfast  

Lauren Waters 

The Desert Rocks 

The Enchanted Writer 

L G Keltner