This week, I’ll be sharing with you some of the inspiration for my writing this week. Via the wonderful Steph Bowe I discovered “We Heart It“, and have been sourcing a lot of inspiration from there.
So here’s kind of an inspiration journal for the last week:
I’ve also taken inspiration from an old chair I used to own. It was big and red, and I bought it with one of my best friends for $25 – he bought the matching one. He still has his, but mine broke. I have a lot of memories that go with that chair, and they’ve been inspiring me.
I’m reading Jane Austen (still) and her language has been creeping into mine. It’s frustrating to know I absorb things like that, I’m so unsure of my own voice. It becomes really obvious when Jane Austen shows up in my work, I wonder how much more subtle stuff gets past me. I don’t know if it’s inspiration so much as influence here…
I’ve been playing with my hair all week. I got it cut last week and I’ve been trying to make it work for me. Not there yet, but the attention to myself for however long it takes each morning leaves me feeling a little better about myself. Self-confidence inspires me.
Sam van Zweden 
15/07/2010 at 10:24 am
Beautiful pictures! I love the first one. Unfortunately it makes me think of a rather unpleasant picnic I once attended, but that’s not the pictures fault. Also, while the scene is painfully pretty, I bet the grass was itchy.
I wouldn’t be too worried about the whole Jane-Austen-imitation thing. I’ve been in love with the book The Bride Stripped Bare by Nikki Gemmell for years, and after the first time I read it everything I wrote imitated her style (it was particularly obvious to me at least, because this book is written entirely in second person). I grew out of it. But I don’t think it was wholly a bad thing.
How are you finding the book? For me, getting through Jane Austen novel takes a lot of dedication.
15/07/2010 at 1:35 pm
Thanks, I thought they were lovely too… “We Heart It” has tonnes of this stuff, it’s so good for when you hit a brickwall with writing, usually sparks something or provides a jump-off point of some sort…
I loved The Bride Stripped Bare – second person is hard, she did it well.
Austen – tough. I wish it wasn’t, it makes me feel bad! But it does take discipline and concentration.
15/07/2010 at 1:52 pm
I can empathise. I think people feel bad when they can’t get into these types of books because they’re ‘classics’ and part of the Western Canon, but they’re often a bit unenjoyable. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice before, and I recently read Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. I did actually like a lot of the remake, but it took me a really long time to read it. I think it has something to do with the level and type of description, it feels more drawn out than contemporary works.
15/07/2010 at 2:12 pm
I’ve actually found her punctuation really halting. There’s been a bunch of sentences I’ve had to read six times before I understand what she’s trying to say. Commas in very awkward places, maybe uses that have gone out of style.
Also very wordy – weren’t writers then paid by the word though?
15/07/2010 at 11:02 am
I like this kind of post, saying what’s inspiring you.
Those images are really vivid and often photography like that helps me. As well as music or writing – and of course some political event or debate.
If I post something that’s like “I feel inspired by…” will sure to give you cred for the idea.
15/07/2010 at 1:36 pm
I’d like to see a post like that from you, it’s always interesting to see what inspires people!
16/07/2010 at 5:30 am
Pretty pictures! I do the same thing Sam, get influenced by a book I’m reading . I don’t necessarily see it as a bad thing because to me as long as it inspires me to write something especially opens up my mind to play with language or perspective I hadn’t thought of before. It is hard when reading stuff like Jane Austen though to not have her voice in your head because its so strong and distinctive. I’ve been reading Beloved for the past few days and the southern accent and the topic of slavery is my head. Its good when you enjoy a book but I think when it consumes you too much (maybe trying to read it quickly) then it does your head in a bit too much and you can’t see past it!..