Inspiration Comes From Unexpected Places

To my thinking, writers connecting with writers, either online or face-to-face, is imperative. Writers take on a lonely business, armed only with a pen and blank sheet of paper, or computer screen, and our imaginations. The wonderful thing is that these elements, combined with research and the desire to create, can take us as far as our minds and stamina are able.

So far this year I have attended one writers conference where I gained information and inspiration and submitted five entries to writing contests; however, my critique group is on hiatus, so my impetus to create something new every week has stalled. Add vacations, family time, and a recent surgery, and the result: my weeks have been chopped up into fragments with precious little to show.

One thing I always make time for is reading, and writing ideas down as they come, often at the oddest times. The most recent quote I wrote down is by Frodo Baggins from one of Peter Jackson's films in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien:  "He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, Sam, but it did." Context: Frodo is speaking to his comrade, Sam, after Gandalf's untimely death in the underground caves. Their future looks bleak, because the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring has seemingly perished, and their grief is so deep that they fear the worst: utter defeat.

Frodo's observation gave me the inspiration to bring out a writing project I had been working on for six months, but put aside because it had become too difficult, too painful to continue. It was inspired by a true life situation that has caused our family much pain and stress over the last year. But from experience, I have learned that those are the best kinds of projects to tackle, because challenges, the hard things in life, are what make us stronger, teach us valuable lessons, and result in inspired writing.

So, thank you, Frodo, for reminding me that life isn't always easy, and to remember that I should never give up and to not admit defeat, no matter how daunting the task that lies ahead.

Inspiration, Perspiration, Determination

A writer looks for inspiration, but often inspiration finds the writer. That's what happened to me three weeks ago. Real INSPIRATION hit me when I least expected it.

I had just resumed editing my novel that was started a good while ago, but I set it aside when new thoughts came, most unexpectedly. They came so quickly that I stayed up late; I wrote in the middle of the night, early morning, whenever I walked by my computer. A real-life experience, one that isn't pleasant, cried to be heard. The interesting thing is that this painful subject makes it possible for me to tell another story too - a story that I had promised to tell, but one I wasn't ready for. The second story is a story of unconditional love, loss, healing, and redemption. The two are intertwined.

I'm only on chapter four, but if things progress as they have so far, I hope to complete my new memoir in a few months. I'm thankful for inspiration, for the gift of words, and the mysterious way it all works together.