Becoming a Writer Again

Posted by Greg Hardin

To be a writer, you’ve got to write. Simple statement; no one would argue. But how many people consider themselves writers who haven’t written yet today? Or yesterday? Or since last week? Or maybe they were a really good writer in college, and even though they haven’t done much since, they’re still a writer at heart. I’ve been there. It doesn’t really work.

If you’re not writing, you’re not a writer. You can have a knack for writing. You can be better than average at helping your kids with their English paper. But if you’re not pursuing it, it’s not who you are. An Olympic skater who is 20 years post competitive skating would not still be considered a skater. You’ve got to exercise your skills for them to stay strong and in shape.  You’ve got to write if you’re going to make anything of it.

So, write. If you were once good, you will be again. But how do you find the time? How do you get back in the habit?  That’s both the easy and the hard part.  It’s easy, because you can always go with less sleep.  You can always watch one less sitcom.  Surf the web for 15 less minutes a day.  Finding time is not as hard as we make it out to be.  The hard part is having the energy to make use of the time.

Yes, writing takes energy.  It’s draining.  After working, taking care of kids, facing the house chores and responsibilities, the last thing you want to do is plum the depths of your mind for material to put down to paper. 

To that, I say writing is the same as exercising. 90% is showing up. (Or something like that.  Maybe they just say that about yoga.  Do I sound like someone who works out?  No, I spend that time writing, now. ((Someone, remind me after I sell my first book to start exercising again.)))  If you start, something will happen.  If you continue starting day after day, you’ll continue getting better.  It will get easier to sit down at the laptop. It will get easier to plum the depths of your mind.  You will look forward to that time of writing.

Soon enough, you will be a writer again.  Not just in your mind, but in actuality.  Now, whether any of us writers will be any good, I make less than no promises.

Flotsam + Jetsam

Posted by Alex Villasante

Inspiration is Flotsam and Jetsam

I know you've heard it before, that you can go to any diner or coffee shop, nurse your third cup of joe and second slice of cherry pie and just listen. Stories will come to you, snippets of conversation that you can use as dialogue, strange situations from someone else's real life that seem perfect for fiction. 

That's never worked for me. I've heard interesting stories, unbelievable ones and sad ones. But I never heard a story that made me think - that's it, that's my inspiration.

For me, ideas come from the collision of the floating garbage in my head. Let me explain. I hear a snippet of an interview on NPR, something about albino eels and how there's a legend that killing these eels will bring bad luck. I can't bookmark the page, or write anything down because I'm driving to karate and littlest is singing the Caillou song really loud, but it sticks, that detail, just a piece of driftwood.

Then there's the fact that eldest and I are making a metal detector for the science fair. I read up on the science of metal detectors and a fragment of an idea - the ability to find things - is added to the hopper. Finally, I'm thinking about Sleeping Beauty and how something can be taken from a child (a future) or given to a child (the fairies gifts) before she's even aware of it. 

When I sit down to write, these are the kinds of details that flood my mind and, although I'll often throw an idea back into the ocean that is my head, sometimes they'll fit, like dovetails or hinges, perfectly into what I'm writing. That's how I've ended up with a girl named Mop who can't remember how to read but can find any lost thing - except the one thing she wants to find more than anything - her father. I'm pretty sure the albino eel will make it in there - at the bottom of a stopped up well. My work in progress is going nicely, thanks.

So what works for you? How do you get your inspiration? And have you ever gotten inspiration from overhearing someone in a coffee shop?