As I promised, here is my post on inspiration. The first and most basic thing I have to say about is that it can be absolutely anything. You simply cannot put a label on it in any way. What one person finds the stupidest and most pointless thing in the world can be something another person finds to be the biggest and best inspiration of their life. The best thing about a good bit of inspiration is that it can do many things to the person it inspires as well. For instance some things may inspire you in that they just give you a vague desire to write ‘something’, much as the smell of a summer evening does to me. On the same note some things may inspire you so much that they give you the full idea for a thousand page novel. You just can’t label it, and you can’t say that you know what to expect, because more often than not you don’t.

One of the things that gave me some of the greatest inspiration I have ever felt is a simple quote by Jules Verne. The quote lead to a 12 page short story that vastly exceeded even my own expectations and intentions upon completion. I intended on it being about 3 pages at most, but as I said yesterday, you have to be flexible. The thing that gave me the most inspiration, however is a simple 4 minute song that allowed me to literally envision the story line that became the complete basis for my Maverip series, which thus far in my career seems to be my ‘magnum opus’. It is certainly the work I am most proud of.  I developed the entire story from this song, and basically had the ending before I even wrote the beginning.

My main point here I suppose is that every writer needs to keep their mind and eyes open for their inspiration. The mind must be open largely because you cannot expect something that inspires other people to be inspiration to you, and if you do expect that you are likely to be very disappointed, and let me assure you right now; disappointment can cripple an author. Period. You can’t allow yourself to slip into disappointment in regards to your own work. But back to the point. In relation to the mind, you must keep your eyes open in order to figure out exactly what it is that does give you the inspiration you so desire. You’ve got to look at every possibility and rule nothing out. Anything can be what gives you your idea for the biggest masterpiece in your collection, from the smallest pebble to the greatest and most magnificent experience of your life. You just can’t expect or gauge what any one thing may or may not do until you give it a chance and try. Granted, the word ‘eyes’ here is relative and more metaphorical than literal, as inspiration can come from any sense or sensation.

Basically you just have to be ready for inspiration to come from anywhere at any time.  I want you to know that any item that gives you inspiration can be the thing that vastly changes your life.  Don’t ever throw inspiration aside, and don’t ever squander an idea. Granted that doesn’t mean you need to rush them, but that’s a whole other post altogether; maybe even my next one. That sounds like a good way to go to me. So look for the next entry to come in the next couple of days, based largely on the dilemma of letting an idea ‘cook’ or throwing it straight out there. As always feedback is welcome, and I hope I have helped. Good luck finding your inspiration and giving the world its next set of masterpieces my friends.