Drawing on inspiration from a writing board

I keep a bulletin board over my desk. I use it as a sort of inspiration location for my writing. I tack up things that are useful, helpful, thought-provoking, or just pretty. I'm constantly out of space on it, so there are layers like an archaeological dig. You can see where I was a year ago in my writing just by excavating down a few levels.

Here's a quick peek at what's on my bulletin board today:

1. A bookmark from a friend's wedding featuring some of the dialogue from The Princess Bride, which is honestly one of the best films ever made. The book's not bad, either. I use it as an example of a frame story with others, since it's a well-known film (the book is less known, but uses the frame as well.) The misspellings on this bookmark are a great reminder of the complete insanity that is the english language. 
2. A pin we got by supporting a Tamora Pierce crowd funding campaign last year sometime. It's the crest of the Lioness. We have two others, too, but they are currently deployed as pins on the kids' bulletin boards. (Sidenote: One of my bulletin board tricks is to use pins from various travels and clubs as my pushpins, rather than just dull everyday pushpins.) Tamora Pierce is very inspiring to me as a writer, so this is a great everyday reminder. 
3. You can't see it, but it's a graphic of The Hero's Journey. Always a good reference point and helps me shore up plot when I'm dragging. 
4. An image I used as inspiration for my unfinished but in-process fantasy novel False Magic. 
5. I love these Characters for an Epic Tale images from Tom Gauld's website.  Great source of ideas when the well runs dry.
6. The library at Trinity College, Dublin. This room in particular is called The Long Room. Apt name, eh? We have visited it twice, and I imagine being lost among the stacks when I'm daydreaming.  It's inspiring both because…books. And because it reminds me of our travels, which I find particularly inspiring for writing (and another proser recently blogged about.) 
7. A concept map of beer. Not exactly directly related to writing, but concept maps are a pretty nifty writer's tool. And, well, beer. All good writers need a vice or two, right?
8. Another image I printed when brainstorming and outlining False Magic. I regret I didn't record the source, as these two images were key in helping me form ideas about setting and in writing one particular scene. I'd like to accurately reference them. Lesson learned, in the future I'll include a reference on the back of images I print for inspiration. Sidenote: I've been using a pinterest board for travel planning lately, and it occurs to me I can and should do the same thing for writing. If I had done this for False Magic, I'd have the links right there on my pinterest board (it's entirely possible I DID do this, will have to check!)
9. Lovely Day for a Guinness. Reference #7. ;) 
10. Yes, that is a dagger used as a pushpin. I got a set of them for the boy child for the holidays a few years back. Household favorites. He has the rest on his board. I think the axe is my favorite. I find that integrating whimsy and fun things into our lives in general helps me be a more creative person. 

I have all kinds of bag charms and keychains clipped to my purse, wallet, keychain. A LEGO Gandalf, a miniature red telephone box, a small skull from our trip to Stratford-on-Avon. These little things, touchstones in my daily life, act as daily sources of inspiration and creativity, and best of all FUN!

I encourage you to find ways to incorporate the elements that most inspire you, make you feel most creative, or even just bring a smile to your face, into your workspace and daily activities. I have a set of measuring cups shaped like Russian nesting dolls in my kitchen, a coffee mug that looks like a large camera lens, and more t-shirts with silly geeky pictures and sayings than you can shake a stick at. All part of my master plan to live a creative life. I challenge you do to the same! 

So -- what's on your bulletin board?

P.S. I have a new non-fiction piece that went live on BookTrib last week. Would love it if you checked it out! It's titled Don't be a Junk Food Vegetarian.

The Magic of the Ordinary

Fantasy is, all in all, about the unreal, the unusual. In a way, one basic definition of fantasy could be thought of as, “Anything that is not possible becomes possible.”

But in some ways, I think that fantasy can be at its most memorable when it goes a little bit in the other direction. When the stories aren’t just about dragons and wizards and enchanted swords, but about ordinary, mundane things.

Think about it. How many people have had their picture taken by a certain wall between platforms 9 and 10 in London’s King Cross Station?  Or paused an extra moment at the zoo to admire the owls? 

Junior postmen in training! 

(Photo taken by Artur Mikołajewski (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), 

CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.0  (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

How many people, after reading Alice Through the Looking Glass, peered extra hard into their mirrors, looking for that other world? And how many children have poked around at the back of wardrobes, looking for other worlds? 

You could argue that urban fantasy does this a lot. And yet, I don't find myself checking around street corners for vampires (though one time, there was a zombie walk in San Diego that I hadn't heard about, and I was a bit surprised for a moment to see some blood-covered people shambling down the street...). I think there needs to be a balance. The ordinary objects need to be something that stands out among all the magic, so that they are the exception rather than the rule.

And when that balance is right, I think it can get at the most powerful potential of fantasy, of any story: to take us out of our regular lives, and for one moment, put us somewhere magical.

What objects have books made magical for you? 

On Art and Science

A few weeks ago, in those odd unplanned theme weeks we occasionally have, we went back and forth on thought and magic and art. I joked to Melanie that even my subconscious is a scientist. She laughed and advised me to make it work. And I do make it work – when I can remember to stop worrying and actually write.

Jokes about subconscious aside, I actually have a very disorganized brain. For a short time, I’m happiest letting my thoughts wander in no particular direction. But that (as is typical of my personality type) leads to chaos and disorganization, and feelings of dissatisfaction.

Contrary to my disorganized mind, my brain produces results most effectively in lists and numbers. For example, I’m a better baker than a cook. Baking is all about precise measurements, the perfect ratio of flour and salt and water. A triumph in baking to me always seems a triumph in measurements, in proportions. Not in talent, like those cooks (my stepfather, my brother, Lawyer Friend), who can throw together any random set of ingredients and make magic. If I try cooking without a recipe, I can’t hold the process and the flavors together in my mind, and the dish falls apart.

But even when my structure is imposed, and the rules are in place, there is room for so much more. Take bread baking. The measurements are very precise, because otherwise the dough will rise too little or too much. And yet, some things are not exact, like the way the dough changes in your hands during kneading. There is art between the measurements, and the bread is better for it. As is writing, and any truly innovative scientific project.

Art made possible through science: Hubble Telescope Image of the Orion Nebula. Courtesy of NASA.

Perhaps I have to prepare my over-thinking scientific brain that we’re still safely surrounded by numbers and facts. There is an organizational pattern there to avoid too much distraction. And then, once those rules are in place, creativity really flows, without anxiety, and without limits. I can take the step back and feel the story change in my hands, until it feels light, until it reaches a place beyond numbers.

It’s more easily said than done, and all too easy to lose sight of. That’s where the scientific brain lets me down, and why I have to occasionally write blog posts to remind myself of why the method works. But that feeling of pure, effective creativity is what I aspire to in writing--even more than getting published.

How do you find your magic – by imposing rules and structure, despite them, or ignoring them altogether?

Sparks of Creativity

I usually write my blog posts on Thursday so I can let them sit awhile before I publish them on Friday. But yesterday was crazy. All my kids are home for summer vacation now, and yesterday we went strawberry picking. In my old house, we lived pretty close to a strawberry field, and so we would pick up a quart or two whenever we wanted some, and go once or twice to buy enough to make homemade strawberry jam (once you've tasted it, you can never go back to store bought). But we don't live anywhere near a strawberry field that lets you pick your own now, so when we went yesterday I knew it might be my only opportunity. 40 quarts of strawberries later, I thought we might have enough. J

A LOT of strawberries 

It was hot and humid yesterday, and we spent the entire day hulling strawberries and turning them into jam. Did I mention that this year's strawberries seem to be smaller than usual? Every now and then my heart would flutter with panic at the thought of writing a blog post. Usually I've got a topic in mind a few days before I write, but not this week. If you could have heard what was going on in my brain, it probably would have sounded something like this:

I really need to think of a blog post topic. OK brain, think of one. Good heavens, I can't even think of one. Usually I have a handful of ideas by now, and I can't even think of ONE. Come on! Blog post topic, blog post topic...

It turns out that's not the best way to think of ideas. Who knew?

Creativity is not something that you can batter into submission, whether your deadline is a blog post or a looming deadline set by your editor.

8 Ideas To Spark Creativity:

Just get started: 

Yesterday, before the strawberry picking, I got out of bed determined to exercise. I really didn't want to, but I forced myself out of bed, got dressed and turned on the DVD. When I heard Jillian Michael's voice say, "Let's begin with arm circles" I felt a surge of relief. I'd finished the hard part--getting myself there. Creativity works the same way. Brainstorm ideas. Pull up that document you need to edit. Start writing, and don't let yourself stop even if you're only typing "I don't know what to write yet" over and over. The magic can't happen until you begin.

Start a routine: 

When parents are training their children to fall asleep on their own, experts recommend a 5 step routine to get them in the right frame of mind. A bath. Pajamas. A snack. Teeth brushing. A few stories. A prayer. A drink of water. Some songs. Cuddling. Whatever works for your family. The same pattern can work with getting yourself in a creative frame of mind. Meditate. Listen to music. Get a drink of water. Read a chapter of a book (ONLY if you have the self discipline to put the book down after one chapter!). Look at pictures. Stretch. Go on walk. The possibilities are endless.

Get moving: 

Ah, snow! Doesn't it look lovely?

"Vigorous physical exercise helps your creative process by forcing you out of left brain dominant thinking. In addition, exercise improves blood flow, while increasing oxygen to the brain. The brain therefore functions more effectively and efficiently when one exercises regularly. " (from naturallysavvy.com)

My best moments for creativity occur when I am hiking or snow shoeing. The mindless nature of putting one foot in front of the other, the physical exertion and being taken out of my daily routine all combine to open my mind up in a way nothing else can.

Do something new:
Several of the blog posts I looked at suggested that you should live abroad. This may be extreme. But doing the same thing day in and day out can numb your creativity. If you can't fit living abroad into your life right now, even little chances to break out of your normal routine can pay big dividends. Read a book in a genre you wouldn't normally choose. Take a different route to work--or a different form of transportation.  Listen to new music. Write with pencil and paper. Take a class.

Be repetitive: 
Mindless tasks allow our brain to wander to far-flung places. Some of my most brilliant flashes of insight come while I'm doing the dishes. Other people swear their genius comes while they are in the shower. But in order for that to happen, you've also got to:

Unplug:
Sheena wrote: "Being bored is a gift...Every single one of my novels/story ideas have come from me entertaining myself when nothing else is happening. Boredom is food for creativity."

Lately, I've been filling my mind constantly. I listen to audiobooks or music while I'm doing dishes. I watch TV while I'm folding the laundry.  I've become almost frightened of my mind's own chatter. It's only now, as I'm writing this, that I see the correlation between that and my own recent lack of creativity.

Perhaps if we'd spent yesterday hulling strawberries in silence instead of turning on Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes, this blog post topic wouldn't have been so hard to come up with. (Or maybe it would have been even more difficult, since my children would have deserted en masse and left me to do it alone.)

 Sleep on it: 
It's almost miraculous the way sleep works. I've seen my children have panic attacks over a difficult piano piece or math problem, and yet the next day they can do it with ease. Panic is a particularly awful state in which to get something accomplished, but perhaps even more importantly, our subconscious minds keep working on problems while we sleep.

"Sleep helps generate new ideas in several ways. During sleep, the brain consolidates memories. That act of consolidation actually reorganizes thoughts, much like organizing bookson a shelf. The new arrangement can help extract knowledge and generate newassociations. And that half-awake period right before you fall asleep or whenyou wake up may also help you focus on a problem." (npr.org)

Relax and play:
Perhaps this is just a variation of the "do something new" idea, but it's important enough that it is getting its own entry. Henrik Edburg said, "Go out and do somethingwith your friends or family and just relax and have a lot of fun. Doing thisfor a day or an evening can recharge not only your creativity but also yourmotivation and general sense of well-being for days or weeks to come. " (postitivityblog.com)

Don't forget: laughter boosts creativity. Find ways to make yourself laugh every single day.