I have always wanted to be an author. By looking through my old notebooks, you would find pages of hurried, unappetising lines of scrawled handwriting which appear unloved and perfunctory. But really they are precious. Inside these notebooks are a collection of passing thoughts I have, floating across my consciousness, soon to disappear into the dark crevices where the lost and forgotten are left to decay and perish. So I grasp them, capture them into single lines of scrawl, order them, reorder them, forget about them, find them again, blow off the dust, admire their creativity, despise their disorderly nature, let the dust settle again. And their they are abandoned until I find inspiration once more. Then the feathered quill is dipped in ink and I feel shudders, a consequence of not only the screeching nature of nib on fresh paper, but also because of the tingling sense of excitement a new idea brings me.
So how do I acquire such inspiration?
- Music. Music can conjure up such a variety of emotions, and these emotions can differ between different people and when in different situations. The inspiration for the fairly lights accompanying this blog post? The introduction to The Blind Leaving the Blind Mvt 3 by Punch Brothers. The intricate plucking reminds me of the serene flickering of fairy lights. Spiro's We Will Be Absorbed makes me think of journeys to an unknown place. Or perhaps a nostalgic visit to the house you grew up in, and suddenly all the memories come flooding back. Or maybe a desperately sad goodbye full of tears and smiles. Instrumental music is often best as it means your brain is not confined to the restrictions of lyrics.
- Pictures. Photos. Paintings. Sketches. A scenery which I can describe has the possibility of inspiring an entire story. The setting sky, the rising sun, the glittering stars all create new worlds where events can unfold.
- Poems. The poetic language used to describe emotions, seasons and worlds in poetry is so compelling and poignant. My favourite piece of creative writing I have ever produced was inspired by the poem 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree', a beautiful poem describing a utopian land where Yeats wanted to escape to. This is also the moment where listening to music with lyrics is perhaps a good idea, as there are so many songs with beautiful and enchanting words. Bob Dylan's 'Simple Twist of Fate' is the inspiration for the novel I have been writing on-and-off for a couple of years.
- Unusual words. Sometimes finding out new words stimulates new ideas. The other day I discovered the word 'crenellations' - which are the battlements of a castle - which inspired hundreds of ideas of a very gothic nature. Another word I love is compunction - a piercing sense of remorse. The definition is not from a dictionary, but instead from my English teacher and I prefer it endlessly. It describes the word with so much more intensity than 'a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents or follows the doing of something bad' and it inspires a much more powerful emotional response.
- Theology. I find theology really fascinating. My stories are usually quite philosophical-esque, with themes of death, the afterlife, and the meaning of life often being threaded within the storyline. I especially love learning about classical theology - the Ancient Greek and Roman Gods - and reading the myths. I find them so interesting and the significance of the morality surrounding each one often inspires the philosophical ideas which features in my stories.
- News articles. I love reading thrillers, and one day I would love to write one so whenever I find an interesting headline or unsolved mystery I write it down to use a stimulus. This way, I have an intriguing story which is also plausible.
Once you begin looking at the world from new perspectives, you have an infinite number of ways to become inspired.
