IWSG July

 

IWSG July

The question this month is about the source of inspiration.  

I have occasionally had an idea come to me in a dream. Usually, memories of dreams are transient, and I only remember whether they were pleasant and something I’d like to revisit, if only I could manage that. Otherwise, I have a passing sense of dread or revulsion and am extremely relieved not to be able to recall them. Most are anodyne and only worthy of being forgotten.

Other ideas, half-formed, or less so, come via reading or listening. Some thoughts seem as though they could be developed into something coherent, while others die on the page after a few sentences.

A good idea is a gift but those come along once in a blue moon. Now, there’s an idea for a title!  

Click here to discover what inspires others. 

Insecure Writers’ Support Group

 

Insecure Writers’ Support Group

 

IWSG is the brain child of Alex Cavanaugh. It is a place for all writers, of whatever stripe, to express themselves. This month’s co-hosts are  Patricia Josephine, Diedre Knight, OlgaGodim, J. Lenni Dorner and Cathrina Constantine. See other posts here                                                                 

The optional question this month is ‘If you ever did stop writing, what would you replace it with?’

The question assumes that the reader spends a good deal of time writing. Taking it to its logical conclusion, that is largely true, if one counts diary entries, tutoring a grandchild, writing plant labels, but actual good, honest, down-to-earth creative writing? (Can creative writing be ‘down-to-earth’?)

Technical writing, explanatory leaflets, recipes, instructions, court orders, musical manuscripts, lesson plans, love letters, emailed complaints to the local authority are all legitimate forms of writing but are they what we mean by ‘writing’?

I digress, as usual. If I ever stopped writing I would spend time walking the dogs, playing the piano, reading, doing jigsaws and cross stitch, bird watching, stargazing, taking photographs, but I do all those things anyway. So there you have it – I don’t spend much time writing, at least, not as much as I could.

 I admire those disciplined souls who dedicate their lives to their craft and understand that that is why they publish their work while I daydream and dabble at the edges of what would undoubtedly be a stellar career (insert ‘wink’ emoticon) I’ll never stop writing and thinking about writing and dreaming about writing.

IWSG

 

                                                      IWSG

Insecure Writers’ Support Group

What inspires me?

Is intrigue the same as inspiration? Many things absorb me, the veining on a dragonfly’s wings, the stamens in a flower, the reason for an overheard small child’s giggles, or, more worryingly, its screams.

I am in awe listening to experts speak with such authority on their subjects, yet in the simplest terms that anyone can understand. Maybe I could have been such an expert if . . . and so daydreams begin and sometimes develop and search for a framework.

Whatifery is important, for through that, and Whataboutery, we explore and expand our thoughts, our views, our desires.

Sometimes we even manage to express them in coherent terms.

And why did I change I for we?

 

IWSG

Insecure Writers’ Support Group

Well, here I am again – a day late and none the wiser.

I first started trying to write children’s books when my own children were very small. I’ve since realised that attempting to write entertainingly for children is extremely difficult. It’s easy to have the ideas, but expressing them in terms that children will enjoy and understand is another matter altogether.

Having written a story, the illustrations must be considered, and therein lay another stumbling block.

Eventually, life took over and I abandoned story-writing for small humans for other pursuits, like all the chores involved in bringing up a growing family, growing both upwards and in number. I still scribbled, but with no purpose.

I did publish on Kindle, a tome entitled ‘The Sweets and the Bitters of Love’, and the masterpiece sank without trace or acknowledgement. I comfort myself that my talent will be recognised after my demise. Who knows, maybe even my family will read my deathless prose and wish they had taken notice earlier.

Fortunately, I’m not a tortured genius, or any sort of genius, not even a vaguely dim light in the universe, but I’ll carry on plugging away, once I’ve walked the dogs, filled the domestic machines, the cupboards, fridge and freezer and maybe moved the dust around a little. After all, tomorrow is another day . . . and the day after that, and the day after that, ad infinitum or perhaps ad nauseam.

Have fun, folks!

IWSG

 

IWSG

Insecure Writers’ Support Group

Over the course of several years, I have visited IWSG, marvelled at the expertise and confidence displayed there, considered joining in and shied away. I’ve read others’ contributions and decided I can’t compete.

I know, it’s not a competition, but there’s something daunting about exposing one’s thoughts, maybe, on occasions, one’s innermost self, to strangers. I do that, though, through my blog, and everyone I’ve ‘met’ there were strangers to begin with and have been unfailingly kind and courteous.

However, I’m not a writer, not really. Well, I have a few ‘stories’ on the go, though not so much on the go now as resting in mothballs. When I have admitted to trying to write, some people have asked, ‘What genre?’ and that really makes me stop and think. Is there a genre called ‘drivel’?

So now I’ve dipped my toe in the water (sometimes I enjoy indulging my inner cliché-writer) If you’ve read this far, thank you. If not, tant pis.