Inspiration Blues
Being creative can be tricky
As far back as I can recollect, I’ve been telling stories.
No, I don’t mean I’ve lied my way through life; in fact, I have striven to adhere to truth at all costs…even when it pained me. Now that I’m considerably older, I understand “truth” can be an subjective, moving target.
But I’m not here to talk about unreliable narrator syndrome. I’m here to talk about fiction.
I have written a novel that, by all accounts, isn’t great. I have written many short stories, some of which are quite good. My inspiration (and gumption) comes in spurts. Sometimes I can sit down and just prattle on the page, generating thousands of words without pause, “in the zone”. Sometimes the act of writing is an excruciating process, drawn out too long, too forced and generally not fun.
What’s the difference between these two polar-opposite states of being? Inspiration.
Take, for instance, the project I’m currently developing. I don’t want to get into too many details, yet, but it’s a novel. I didn’t know it was going to be a novel because the idea came to me about 10 years ago and I envisioned it as a short story, at best.
My wife and I were visiting friends at their Connecticut home, a beautiful, sprawling place on a lake. They had a boat, so we’d often spend our afternoons floating, drinking and talking, punctuated by the occasional dip into the cool waters.
Now, anyone who knows me knows I’m fascinated by what lies beneath the water. (And, yes, I mean that literally and metaphorically.) Thus, I did some research—to the internet, Batman!—to discover there was something beneath the placid lake water. Something creepy and, miraculously, redolent of historical horror.
Not only did I delight in the inspiration I discovered where imagination dovetailed into reality, but I took great pleasure in divulging these facts to our friends. They knew some of the history, but not the individual details which might steer that story toward a sinister plotline…that I am now developing.
All of that is to say, be open to inspiration and let curiosity lead you farther afield than you might ordinarily traverse. As I begin writing the novel, very soon, I will share more details of the process and even snippets of the narrative here. I would appreciate any feedback you’re willing to share. Hopefully, it’ll be more successful than that first stab at longer form fiction.
Keep going.