Inspired by what? by Susan Sanderson
Tools of the trade |
So how do we decide what to write about?
I can only speak for myself, although I am fairly sure that
my experience is not completely different from that of other writers. What we
read, where we go, what we look at, who we listen to and the memories, which
might be triggered by our experiences, can all provide input to our writing.
Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter books has a
wonderful magical device, which allows him to remove irrelevant thoughts from
his mind while he concentrates on something in particular – a Penseive. I had
begun the year by making myself a ‘to do’ list before a relevant post appeared
here. I have found that putting something on the list clears my mind from
having to keep remembering what I need to do. Of course it is important to look
at the list, prioritise and add new things. As I begin to write this the top
item on my (to use computer jargon) random access list* on an envelope is ‘Make
new list’. That is encouraging as so many things on the current list have been
done, that it is difficult to pick out the pending ones.
People have different preferences about how they spend their
time. I don’t watch television, but I scroll through Twitter, which I prefer to
Facebook. I regard the latter as a necessary evil.
When I sat down to write my latest assignment for the
writing group meeting this month it was a cartoon on Facebook which inspired
something I wrote. As Deborah Jenkins pointed out different creative types inspire
one another.
Sometimes we need to write to relieve our feelings. This
month I wrote a few rhyming lines in reaction to some trees having been felled
(in my view unnecessarily). It didn’t bring the trees back. It wasn’t likely to
be seen by the perpetrators, although I did share it with my Facebook friends.
Two of those I see regularly liked the post, but didn’t ask about it when I
next saw them. One ACW friend used the sad button instead of liking the post.
Her reaction pleased me the most. It was empathetic.
As writers we need to decide what to write, what form to
write it in and whether and how widely to share what we have written. As well
as inspiration we need discernment. Perhaps we should keep in mind the words of
St Paul in his 1st letter to the Corinthians Chapter 2 to inform our lives as well as our writing.
I hope you have read all this month's posts on this blog, but in case you missed it here is a link to one with a beautiful song.
I hope you have read all this month's posts on this blog, but in case you missed it here is a link to one with a beautiful song.
* In this case random access means that I can use any space
on the paper to add items and can read from any point.
Susan always wanted to be a writer. In 2012 she revived her interest in writing
with a blogging project to collect the kinds of sayings, which were much used
in her childhood.
Susan experiments with factual writing, fiction, humour and
poetry. She does not yet have a book to
her name. Her interests include words, languages, music, knitting and
crochet. She has experience of the world
of work, being a stay-at-home mum and an empty-nester. She is active in her local community and
Church, where she sings alto in the choir. She and her husband live in Cumbria .
Follow her on Twitter @suesconsideredt
I always do my writing in Word too and have got the hang of Blogger now so it's a good discipline. I always loved the Pensieve idea.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting, Ruth.
DeleteLovely post Susan and so true. Our inspiration comes from so many different places. I can relate to the point about writing to relieve feelings. I often write best when I am upset. It fulfils the dual function of producing more authentic writing and also relieving feelings. You have put this into words so well :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deborah. The verse I wrote may have been authentic, but I don't think it had any literary merit! :-D
Delete