Inspiration

I think inspiration is a fitting topic for a Sunday morning. Even if you’re not religious Sunday is a day we seek out inspiration. We’ve had Saturday to rest from work, we’ve had a night were we’ve gotten plenty of sleep, or not enough. Sunday can be whatever we want it to be. Now this could be any day in the week, but Sunday is the universal last day of the weekend. The recovery day we prepare for the week again.

Inspiration comes from many things. Some people find God inspiring, some find being in nature inspiring, and some find inspiration through imagination.

When writing stories I think it’s easy to see God’s inspiration on the writers. Often times the stories aren’t fiction at all, but amplified reality. Other’s write stories with a god-type figure that embodies the god they believe in. In some stories the god figure isn’t present at all, but the morals are. In any case, those inspired by God show that in their stories.

I love nature. I love to breath it in. I love to look at it. I love to imagine how it will fit in my fictional world. Looking at tree’s, hills, mountains, fields, etc. I look at them with the eyes of my characters wondering where they might see this, and how would they describe it if they saw it. I think nature takes a big part in inspiring writers.

Imagination is the key to inspiration in writing. For me, the most amazing parts of my story came to me, not while writing, but while thinking about my story during the day. When I was young I would act out the characters’ lives in my backyard, now I just imagine the story like a film playing in my head. Often this imagination dies out as we grow older. Too much real world to deal with. I know imagination is what inspires me to keep writing.

Everyone is inspired differently. These are only a few ways people are inspired. What inspires you? What moves you forward? I think when we answer these for ourselves we can move more smoothly through life.