Being Inspired By Others

When I first wrote this blog (a number of months ago), the title was “Being Inspired by Deborah Jenkins".We’ll find out why approximately halfway through this piece. Feel free to jump ahead if you’re pressed for time.

I’ve been a freelancer for 12 years and as such, I am moderately well organised, because I have to be. The more people who use my services, the more I need to be on top of what I have to write, when, in what tone and with how many words. When Wendy asked me to contribute to More Than Writers last year, I was ludicrously excited. Like some kind of eager Springer Spaniel puppy (minus the lolling tongue and drool) I wrote a piece in double quick time and sent it over. 

I don’t want you to get the impression that I am some kind of over-efficient über-writer. Nothing could be further from the truth. But what is true is that ever since I was asked to contribute to MTW, half remembered-stories, fragments of articles and memories have come rushing from the cluttered under stairs cupboard at the back of my brain to whichever lobe it is that allows me to sit here tapping away.

Being inspired by others is a huge part of what makes us writers, I believe. From those earliest fairy stories and nursery rhymes, through obsessive reading in the school library to adult life with all its myriad opportunities, challenges and obstacles, the brain sponge (not a real thing) which soaks up potential content in my head has been expanding. In a rather revolting extension of that metaphor, every so often I give it a good old squeeze and out comes a blog.

Joining the ACW has given me access to what looks to me like a huge, friendly, book-lined room filled with delightful people with whom I have much in common. Some I have met. Some I feel that I know quite well from our online interaction. One of these is Deborah. Reading her blogs, I usually find myself doing one of the following:

·      Nodding while making “mmm” noises in agreement.

·      Chuckling.

·      Leaning back in my chair, gazing at the ceiling and pondering.

I like her style. I like her humour. I like her honesty and unwillingness to pretend that she is all sorted, thank you very much. I like the fact that she mentions Jane Austen moderately often. I am inspired by her.

As the great Jane herself said, “Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery” and that’s a sentiment to which I have always subscribed. There are times to be serious, of course. There are times when laughter is utterly inappropriate. That said, writers tend to be solitary animals when working, and to find someone who makes you laugh while at the same time making you think is a rare gift.

We’ve never met. Since lock down, however, I've chatted with her online and even Zoomed a couple of times. I also watched a brilliant sermon she gave, so I know what she, her husband and her front room look like. I particularly like the teal wall revealed during Saturday's online ACW Writers' Day with Fran. Funny how you can know quite a lot about someone and yet never have met them.

I hope we do meet when this is all over, but for now, Deborah, thanks for the memories! And of course, the inspiration.

 Images by Pixabay

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Ruth is a freelance writer, speaker and poet. She is married with three delightful children, runs a catering company and keeps chickens and quail. She has her first novel in the editing stage, another two on the go, writes poetry as the mood takes her, writes for a number of Christian charities and has her own business writing blogs for small Suffolk businesses. She is a recovering over-achiever who is now able to do the school run in her onesie most days. She blogs at @bigwordsandmadeupstories, covering topics as diverse as King Zog of Albania, a Christingle plagued by punch-ups and tummy upsets, and the inevitable decline of elderly parents. She has abnormally narrow sinuses and a morbid fear of raw tomatoes, but has decided not to let this get in the way of a meaningful life.