What is Inspiration?
Waiting for my light bulb moment.
What exactly is inspiration?
Merriam-Webster has several definitions of inspiration.
a : a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation
b : the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions
c : the act of influencing or suggesting opinions
I always receive inspiration at the strangest times by the most random things or occurrences. For instance the first page of my novel Written in the Sky –Rise of the Wadjet Witch was inspired by a mid-day visit to the nail salon with a friend. Unlike the main character, Memphis, I was not approached by a gypsy before meeting her. I did have to dodge a few fund raisers which got me thinking of other types of solicitation. And there was the first chapter of my novel.
This weekend the same thing happened. A routine trip to Target had me running home to hit the keys. I thought of the perfect story which will hopefully become a great summer read. I’m going to keep the premise to myself for now, but stay tuned for updates. Most likely one of my upcoming trips will be related to the plot in some way.
Have you had a light bulb moment which led to an entire novel? What inspires you? I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime.
Read, Write & Create.
J*
This is going to be a weird comment, but actually the shower is where I get most of my ideas….Strange, right? I don’t know why that is, maybe it’s the relaxation that clears the way for inspiration. I do, however, also love to read and watch a lot of what I write about, which gets me to thinking about how to take things places they haven’t been taken before. Dwelling on past experience is also great, it usually inspires musings that lead to great plot bunnies.
May 1, 2012 at 1:50 PM
Ha! Not strange at all. I often get that “aha” moment with the help of a little steam and good water pressure. And I agree with you on back tracking– thinking “What if…?” leads to a lot of possibilities.
May 2, 2012 at 3:06 AM