Where do you find your inspiration?

Where do you get your inspiration? I get my writing inspiration from many different sources. One of the ways I get inspiration is through watching old television shows, reading old books, and watching old movies. I'm sure you get the idea. The reason I go to those things that are old is because they help me see a different perspective than what I would see in what is in vogue today. It helps keep me from regurgitating the ideas of others. I like to look at what was written in the past and see what I like about what I'm reading and what I don't like about what I'm reading. What elements would I like to include in my own writing? What elements don't I want to use or how would I use the events in what I read in a different setting than the one where it is used in the old book?

I love to observe people and I find inspiration from their experiences. I like to try to see things from the eyes of a person that I know who is of a different age group. I can gain insight from anyone. The elderly, the teenager and the child all have unique ways of looking at life. I love to listen to the stories of others. There have been many stories that I have picked up from my father and I have taken advice from my preteen daughter.

I gain inspiration from places where I go. I often like to go into my own backyard and experience the moment in time. I close my eyes and listen and write what I hear, what I taste, what I smell, what I feel. I go through it until I write down every sensation.

I can also use this same sensory inspiration when writing about places that I've been and even places that I've only read about in books. I imagine myself going there and experience the location and write about it through all the senses.

I am inspired by dreams. Several of my books have been inspired by dreams. I have been awakened with an idea that simply wouldn't go away and from it I would create a story. Soldiers Don't Cry the book that I am putting out in June 2011 was inspired from a dream.

I have gained inspiration from my own personal experiences. Many negative experiences that I have had to work through have been fodder for some of my best scenes. I think that 'sharing' these experiences with my characters helps me create not only better scenes but it creates more real characters that not only I am able to identify with but others can identify with as well.

Finally I find inspiration simply by asking questions. I write them down and then search for the answers from within. That is how this blog post was written.

Now I present this question to you. Where do you find your inspiration?

The NaNoWriMo stats are in

The NaNoWriMo official stats are impressive. Take a look:

* This year, we had 167,150 participants, up 40% from 2008's total of 119,301.
* We wrote a total of 2,427,190,537 words, up 48% from 2008's collective word count of 1,643,343,993.
* This averaged out to 14,531 words per person.
* We had 32,173 winners, up 48% from 2008's total of 21,683.
* This gave us a 19.2% win rate, the highest in modern NaNoWriMo history. (Last year we had an 18.2% win rate; in 2007 it was 15.1%).

Trouble Redefining my Stride

I haven't written anything for the new Book WRAPS since my last entry. I have written a couple of articles for the newsletter I'm helping put together and I have worked with my husband on creating text for a brochure for our ministry. Maybe the fact that we are working on this big ministry project is getting in the way of all the writing projects I've got in the works. If you'd like to find out more about our ministry, check out Jeff's blog called Seeking the Kingdom

Limbo

Did I mention it seems strange that the NaNoWriMo is over for this year? I have new projects starting but I'm having a difficult time getting started. Maybe its because the days are so short and maybe there's a little bit of seasonal affective disorder going on. Maybe its just the adrenalin rush from that last surge to get those last few thousand words out so that I could qualify as a winner in the NaNoWriMo isn't there. I'm not sure but I do know that I just don't seem to have the energy I would like to have and I have only written about 500 words for the past two days. I guess that is better than most people but it is definitely not what I've become accustomed to writing during the past month.

WRAPS is started and I've also got a deadline on a newsletter and a brochure that I need to get out so I'd better get my butt in gear if I'm going to make that January first deadline for WRAPS.

The Day After

Today I didn't have to work on my novel and it seemed strange. I'm actually feeling guilty for no reason. I did start the outline for my nonfiction book today however. It's a short simple but powerful little book. I hope to have it written, edited and published by the first of the year. So far it's only 415 words long.

Yesterday I cleaned the house then today I did a couple of projects I avoided during November. Today I cleaned the refrigerator and reorganized my files. Then I started working on adding names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses to the computer address book. I'm trying to get things organized before the first of the year.

We have a Winner in the 2009 NaNoWriMo!

That's right folk! This morning at about 9:30 CST it became official. I am one of the winners of the NaNoWriMo for 2009. I took the time to read a little of what I've written and even though it's still quite rough. (I think that's why they call it a rough draft). My official word count is 50063.

I really enjoyed writing this book. It truly is amazing how much you can get done in a month when you've got a goal and a deadline. They say that the hardest part of the process is during week two and even though I was pressed during that time, I think the hardest part for me was those last 1000 words. I thought I'd never get done. (The truth is, it really didn't take me any longer to write those 1000 words that it did to write any other 1000 words. It just seemed like it.)

This afternoon I straightened up the house and tomorrow I begin another project but this one won't be as strenuous. Tomorrow I start working on my nonfiction book--WRAPS. It's going to be a much shorter book (75 pages)and the process won't be as intense.(I only plan to work at it for a hour per day.) My deadline for this book is the beginning of the year. This one I will self publish and self promote. I'm going to spend January reworking a lot of When God Turned his Head. By setting goals and deadlines, I am finding that I can do amazing things.

Day 28 of the 2009 NaNoWriMo

The book is coming along quite well, I've less than 4000 words to write and two days to write them in. I'm just coming up for air long enough to write this blog to show that I am indeed working and that I really haven't dropped off the planet. I've missed a few days of writing here and there for various reasons throughout the month but for the most part I have written every day. I've learned so much. I can't wait to finish and bring myself into the 2009 NaNoWriMo Winners circle.