I want to share with you the story of how I re-learned what’s allowed to feed the writing fires. It may be something you’ve experienced, and will inspire you to find out or rediscover what can feed your writing fires.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. – Albert Schweitzer

The Whole World is Mine to Draw From

You ever wonder how writers come up with ideas for their material? I wondered that too. Part of my quandary has to do with the label of writer and all the dread that title brings with it. It’s something I’ve turned over in my head from time to time, and a lot lately. In fact, on my last trip to my hometown I gave it a lot of attention and came up with an answer.
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Often times when I’m working on a project, I’ll get distracted by another idea that intrudes. Why does this happen? Well, it seems to be the way creativity flows.

Based on great posts and books I’ve read and my own experiences, once you prime your creative pump, it flows toward your project at hand and can overflow to other subjects.

Sometimes I find the ideas that come to me are tangentially related. And that’s not so problematic. Other times, though, the new fodder seems completely unrelated.

What difference does different make? The challenge with unrelated fodder is the distraction it can present because of how much it pulls you away from what you’re doing, so you can record it clearly.

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Tell me if this is familiar to you. Sometimes I can’t hear what I want to write. I have a story or poem that’s blocked and I have trouble reaching through to pull it out.

In these times you may hear no ideas, feel like you have no creativity, but look a little closer. The problem may be that you’re stuck in a different gear.

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Listening to a child tell a fanciful story is like listening to a daydream.

Do you ever think about thinking? About daydreaming? What does it do for you really?

We All have Choices

Either you need a topic, or you need a way to begin writing about the topic you’re given. You stare at the blank screen, and stare becuase the pressure is on to finish. So really starting is not where you want to be for long. You have to choose.

Daily we have to pick from a wealth of opportunities and ideas; divine moments is what Erwin Raphael McManus calls them. Kirk Byron Jones discusses how we have been imbued with free will for a reason; throughout our lives we have choices to make. It’s not a new idea that we get to choose, it’s newly gaining acceptance.

It’s not just the brilliant, the genius or the well studied and not just writers. We all have choices available to us. The question, then, is how do we choose.

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I read regularly Joanna Young’s blog, Confident Writing. On March 14th, she posted a group writing project that appealed to me. The guidelines are simple: write four sets of four things that inspire me to write, due March 28th. I thought it would be fun.

The same day I read the post, I wrote my first draft. Then yesterday I rewrote my list. It was interesting to note that everything from the first didn’t show on the second draft. The changes of course offer fodder for another musing day.

I know there are many things more than on this list that inspire me. What I’ve included are things that open my creative pathways to my idea palette. They provide me spirited time away, out of my workspace, which helps me to write more. I return with ideas spilling out of my head and I am challenged then to capture them as fully and quickly as I can.

4 x 4 Writing Inspirations

Here’s my list of things that get me writing. It’s not definitive, but certainly a great representation of my sources that continue to pour into my writing wellspring.

Nature: When I have time to sit and take it in, it infuses me.

1. The majesty and awesome fullness of weather: a good rain or a shimmering sunny day
2. The profound serenity of trees
3. Birds swarming, swimming, dust bathing, visiting flowers
4. Plants that I can grow

‘Other’ activities: These next activities made the list because their writing mojo is in the distraction and exertion they deliver.

1. Stretching
2. Playing
3. Cooking
4. Drawing

Permission to mess up: When I know it’s okay to write badly, then I can get beyond the voice that says Don’t even try.

1. When it’s only a first draft and there’s time to revise
2. Writing in my journal knowing no one will ever see it
3. When I can’t think of anything productive to write and I have to begin the action of writing
4. When I’m taking notes collecting information, my thoughts and ideas

Photography: I’m inspired by pictures that speak to me, both mine and other photographers’ work.

1. Magazine and blog photos
2. My photographs that return me to where I shot them: The picture that adorns this blog’s header section is one example; it takes me back to Boston, Massachusetts where I took shot it
3. People, candid shots: Below is my brother Kemic and his baby daughter



4. Taking pictures: I immerse myself in getting the right composition and perspective to capture the story inside the shot, and I revel in the fact that it often boils down to luck

I can turn to these activities, or sit with a picture, and it takes me out of place, giving me room to breathe deeply and regroup. They each give me a break from the work of writing, which is the only way that I can do my best. As writer, Dr. Kirk Byron Jones says, “No sitting, no soaring.”

This 4 x 4 Sources of Writing Inspiration: Group Writing Project really was a lot of fun to do. Thanks again to Joanna Young for sharing the activity. It’s always good to know how to spark your inspiration—for times when you just can’t sit and wait for it.

If you’ve not yet done so, think about it and let me know what you do to fuel your writing fires.