I have been asked to do a reading and discuss the inspiration behind my writing with a group of seniors. That has me pondering a bit.
I have a lot of inspirations. There’s a common “be careful or I’ll put you in my novel” sort of thing with novelists. It’s true that there are several plot elements that reflect events going on around me.
For example, when my Communications 12 class was regaling me with some of their more foolish adventures, they described the infamous time that one of them had leapt from the top floor down into the open atrium below- some 20 feet. That became a scene in the book. An evil character leapt to attack Grace. At the end of the semester when they convinced me to read it to them, the young man in question laughed and shouted, “That’s EXACTLY what happened!” even though I had merely taken the fact of the jump, and imagined how it would play out.
One scene happens at a wedding. The events described are true. I attended that wedding, and experienced that strange radar. The context of the event is different, as it fits into the story to explain something about a character.
Of course, I’ve already explained to you the germ of truth behind the concert scene.
Then there is the whole use of mythology, which came after reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, and realising that incorporating mythology solved all my plotting issues.
What about the inspiration to actually sit down to write? That was that niggling saying, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” That aphorism has ticked me off for years. Finally I thought, “Well then, I guess I’d better ‘do’ and prove it wrong!”
So many inspirations!
- personal experiences
- stories from others
- desire
To be honest though, there is something more than all of that. It’s as if the characters needed to live, and they asked me to record their voices. They came into my breath and became part of my world.
Shawn L. Bird 