How My Life Inspires Me

This is not going to be a deep moving story. But it is an example of how I often use my own life to draw from in my fiction. The following tale will make it into a book.

My husband and I got married on Halloween. This year he gave me a beautiful ring, and knowing my penchant for long baths, a bath bomb. For those of you who don’t know what that is, picture a giant cellophane wrapped ball that fizzes on contact with water. This one was named Candy Corn. Nice and Halloween-y. Last night I gathered up all my bathing equipment and planned a nice evening.

Short intermission: Gary and I have not always lived in our cozy condo by the lake. We once resided on what could only be called a homestead; a gorgeous 1920's “fixer upper” house on a huge track of land. We both realized after ten or so years that while we liked the idea of a country estate, the practicalities of said living arrangement were not so great. At least, not without garden minions. And maybe Mike Holmes. Anyway, we downsized and moved, wanting to spend our free time on things like, say, writing.

We shared our country house with various uninvited critters: mice, termites, centipedes, flies, and spiders. Big spiders, like those huge ones you see in the garden and think wow, I’m glad it’s outside. Once when I was taking a bath I swirled the water around and lo, floating atop a mound of bubbles, was one of those spiders. It was dead, but still.

So back to the present; I threw in the bomb and watched it fizz away. I took a sip of wine and looked again…thank the stars I wasn’t in there…and saw a giant spider bobbing along the warm currents. I screamed and Gary came running. Bug, I yelled. (We have an equal relationship. But in my opinion, it’s still the Man’s Job to kill insects.) He leaned over and burst out laughing.

The spider was plastic. Apparently, the makers of these bath bombs thought it would be hilarious to insert a spider into the Halloween ones. Hardy har har.

It’s funny now. And great story fodder.

Inspiration

Writers gather their inspiration from many sources: paintings, travel, a walk in the woods, music, conversations, movies, other works of fiction or non fiction…the list is endless. I use all of the above, and I would also add seasons and holidays.

I live in Indiana. A friend of mine once said there are only a few days one can be comfortable outside here; otherwise it’s too hot, too cold, too humid, too rainy. I understand, although I love the changing seasons, especially this time of year. I believe autumn in Indiana would be considered one of those few times it is glorious outside; the crisp cool air is invigorating, not to mention the stained glass leaves against cobalt blue skies.

And then there’s Halloween. I love everything about this holiday; the weather, the costumes, the pumpkin carving, morning mist, renaissance fairs, hayrides, campfires, corn mazes, and that inherent spookiness that arrives with no other celebration. My husband I love it so much we got married on Halloween.

As a writer, I often look for inspiration around this holiday. I’ve written several short stories with a Halloween theme. I often prod my imagination with vintage Halloween items, especially postcards. Back then no one seemed to think Halloween was evil…just magical, mysterious, and fun. Not to say if you're not careful trouble may find you, but that's true of any holiday. Here are a few postcards to perhaps jump start your creativity:

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There are lots of vintage postcards with pretty witches, which I think is rather neat. As Samatha on Bewitched once said, not ALL witches have warts on the end of their noses. :-) Here's a fetching example on her way to a dance...but what kind of dance? The verse says "spooks from far and wide" will be there. But who else? Her love? Is her boyfriend a spook? A story in the making.

Of course, a pretty face can hide all sorts of undesirable character traits. Get a load of this tricky witch; what could you compose about her???

An interesting Halloween tradition of times past was for women to gaze into a mirror and hopefully see their future mate. Here's a lovely woman doing just that. So...what is her intended like? Where will she meet him? He is human...mohaha.

A black cat is such a Halloween icon. This one looks like he has something up his paw. He appears quite dapper. Too dapper. I think he's an enchanted man that got too fresh with one of those pretty witches. :-)

I choose this one because it reminded me of the Munster's family car. This image is so funny. Where is this crew going? Are they all friends? Or did poor hapless Mr. Pumpkin man pick up some hitchhikers he wished later he hadn't...

I liked this one because it reminds me of Disney's the Sorcerer's Apprentice. See? I do like Disney. Sometimes. Anyway, these corn stalks could tell a fine tale, I'm thinking.

Here's a spookier one. This one gives me the creeps. What happened to this sweet child? Will she have a pumpkin head forever? Or maybe she isn't so sweet...maybe she's trying to draw you closer and closer to her bed...

Here's a spooky one about goblins. Read the greeting: The goblins are coming and they'll get you, and I certainly hope they will, for the letter you promised so long ago, is only a promise still. It makes me wonder, to say the least, why someone was so angry over an unsent letter. Did that someone have power over goblins? It sure looks like it. Brrrrrrrr.

I liked this one because it's spooky and because I think it looks like Transylvania. I can see ghosts floating over this darkened metropolis, honing in on its towers and spires via the glowing pumpkin.

This one is cool because it seems like a transition between Halloween and Christmas. Wouldn't the combination make a great story?

I love these postcards. I think I'll do it again for the Yuletide season.

What’s My Line

I had a fellow writer ask me how I get so much done; he was bemoaning that many days he did not feel like writing, and how lucky I was to have so much inspiration.

I had to consider that for awhile. I do feel fortunate that I have stories running all the time. I love thinking about my stories, painting my stories, and researching my story ideas.

I also don’t mind writing them down, but that is work. I positively detest doing the editing. However, all three activities are part of writing. I never have to force myself to come up with story ideas or run them around in my head. It is hard some days though, to write them down. When I start a new novel I know generally where it’s going, but not the specifics. I have times when I get stuck. And like I said, to edit I have to really force the fingers to go.

But I make myself. When I decided writing was going to be my career I treated it as such. When I worked in corporate America I got up every day and went into work; some days I didn’t feel like it, physically or mentally, but I did it anyway. I do the same for writing.

If I’m truly stuck, I have a couple of tricks I use. I might tell myself if I can just get my character to the next place she needs to be I can stop. Most times when I start writing I keep going. Coffee is also a good motivator. :-) If I’m flat out devoid of ideas, there are other things I can do to forward my career; I can check my novels and stories that are at publishers and see how much longer I have to wait, I can send out a rejected story to someone else, I can research new markets, I can write in this blog.

That’s not why I’m writing today, though. Really.

The point is, some days I can write a whole chapter, some days I can’t, but every work day I do something to further my career. If being a published author is your job, that’s what you do, inspiration or not. You don’t want to ping-pong the other way and never leave your seat, but making yourself do something even if you don’t feel like it make you a…writer.