Inspiration

Have you ever wondered where some of the storylines authors use come from?

Well, they come from a myriad of places. Some stories are born of dreams, some nightmares and some stem from the complicated imagination of the author. But it doesn't end there. Sometimes story ideas come from the simple things in life - friends, family, co-workers, pets and pop culture.

Inspiration can be a simple word or phrase or a funny situation. Now, the story that gets written may not resemble reality at all, but the point is that reality is inspiration and it is everywhere, you just have to be willing to listen, even when you think it odd or morbid. It may sound odd, but I kept a box of stuff from my grandfather's desk and a box from my great aunt's house. Stuff that everyone else considered to be junk.

Why did I keep them even though they might be considered junk?

Because, there is a story or two in each of those boxes and these items are authentic to their era. Authentic pieces such as what I kept can go along way to cementing a story in the past, making it believable. A story won't be successful if you can't convince the reader the story is taking place during the time frame you say it does. But I didn't keep them because they were authentic, I kept them because I heard the stories screaming to be heard.

Now, the boxes have been patient and quiet while I have been studying and working to become the best writer I could be, but I think I've been hearing them waking up because I haven't been able to get a moment's peace since I graduated in December and, to add fuel to the fire, I saw my Grandfather in my dreams. It was as if he was telling me that it's time to listen and time to write.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Dreams and Souls

It took me a long time to get to this point in my life. I tried to take this part of my life and put it in a box because it didn't fit with the life I thought I wanted, nor did it fit with the life others encouraged me to follow. I did have two teachers that tried to encourage me, but I was too young to appreciate or understand the compliments they gave me.

It wasn't until years later that I began to grasp just how good my writing could be. It wasn't that people told me my writing was great, it was because they told me they wanted more. More of characters mentioned only once, of an unfinished short story, or about a world I created. It was in this moment that I realized that I have a talent that I was ignoring.

When I made the decision not just to become a creative writer but to pursue it, I felt something that I hadn't felt in a long time - whole. It might sound weird or cheesy, but it's true. By reconnecting with the writer in me, I found the missing piece of my soul. I felt empty for a long time and always attributed it to the loss of close friends and family members that I experienced in high school.

Sure, the loss of those people effected me greatly and a couple of them played a big role in who I am today, but the reason my soul was hurting and felt incomplete was because I had shut off a large part of my soul from myself. Now that it has been released, I feel whole, complete, and happy. I may not be published yet, but I am finally heading in the right direction. I am not just sitting on the edge waiting for my wings to grow and wondering if I'll ever fly, I am stretching them out and flapping, waiting for the wind to catch me!

I would like to know - What is your dream? Are you living it? If not, why not? How does that make you feel?