I don’t know about you, but isolation has sucked . . . the inspiration out of me. For over a year, my creative mind has lain fallow, completely barren of ideas. The closed lid of my laptop has gathered dust on my work desk while I used my big screen monitor across the office to binge watch on Amazon and Netflix, play card, and post silly memes on FB. Fulfilling the obligations of the two social media blogs I participate in was the closest I came to creative thought. I just couldn’t muster the energy or enthusiasm to . . . write. I’m 45K into a romantic suspense so it’s NOT like I had nothing to work on. Just no interest in walking those five steps from one keyboard to the other . . . because I had nothing to say.
Oh come on! When does a writer have NOTHING to say?! Perhaps I just had nothing to excite my imagination. Bring in one of my critique partners and her also-a-writer sister who arrived unexpectedly to creatively ‘kidnap’ me.
Those who know me know I am the least spontaneous human in existence. Yet when my two visitors took me to lunch then suggested a trip to Chicago for a writing weekend, I shocked all three of us by saying “Let’s go!” Whose voice was that? Surely not that of one who never goes to the store without three lists. And yet I was packed within fifteen minutes, and with computer in hand, out the door, stunning no one as much as myself.
How to describe that weekend? A (masked) breath of personal and creative freedom from the weight of day-to-day sameness! We had our laptops fired up, our creativity firing on all cylinders, and . . . words, sentences, paragraphs, then pages appeared. We didn’t just write on our own projects. We worked on each other’s plot problems, talked PR, set up a book launch, and . . . we shopped. Hey, it was the Mall in Chicago! So – many – strange people! And so much fun.
And once I’d broken free, I couldn’t remain a prisoner. A weekend writers’ Retreat hosted on a lake by my local Romance Writers of America chapter. And now, two weeks of plotting nirvana at the home of one of my critique partners (along with Amazon and Netflix. We’re not savages! Inspiration has to come from somewhere!). That neglected W-I-P won’t know what hit it!
Moral of the story . . . inspiration needs to be fed. If not by personal contact, then by new experiences (Try one of those freebie 7-day cable trials! Bingeing 6 seasons of OUTLANDER over a weekend had that fire blazing!) If you’re leery of personal contact, take a walk outside! Stand on your porch (now that it doesn’t have 8” of snow and ice on it here in MI!) and breathe deep! Take an online writing craft workshop. Journal. Do writing sprints. Push that flabby mind until it cries “Uncle!”
And once you’ve dipped into that cool, refreshing well of inspiration . . . let the words flow!
And if you’re looking for something to spark ideas, try reading outside your comfortable literary carrel. Might I suggest sinking your teeth into something . . . paranormal . . .So happens I have just the thing, and on SALE, too! A weary vampire tricked into taking a human bride to keep his secret safe in Turn-of-the-Century New Orleans? For only $0.99 . . .?
(FYI, when I was searching for “well” graphics, most of them had that creepy girl from The Ring crawling out of it. Ewwww! That’s not the place I go for inspiration . . .)
Happy Writing!!
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Nancy Gideon on the Web
2 comments:
It's interesting how the pandemic affected everyone differently. I wasn't busy driving the kids and myself around since we were restricted from going places, so I found I had more time to write and more time to plot out the ideas in my head. While my kids still live at home, they are old enough to mostly take care of themselves and stayed on track most of the time with their online schooling. Had they been younger or no longer living at home, I'm sure I would have found pandemic life much different.
I'm glad you've found your inspiration again! All the best with your new stories!
Sorry for being late commenting on your post, Nancy. I could've written that first paragraph. I'm still dragging my feet on my wip. Instead of writing in good chunks of time, I write in spurts. Discipline took a hike. Glad you found something to get your fire going again. I'm looking forward to reading that romantic suspense.
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