Welcome to The Bookish End!

The Bookish End: A Place for the Aspiring Writer

“So, you’re one of those people.” She said. And to me it was a compliment. I had just explained to a girl I was getting to know that some of my favorite things consist of ink and paper. That was all she needed to identify me with those people. How many of them do I meet? Well, I’ve met more than one young writer in the homeschool world. I think especially with the ability to self-publish, and the access to computers, kids are really taking an interest in writing novels. I knew I wanted to be a published author from the time I was around ten years old, yet I was not exactly in writing company. As I got older, I began to meet these young writers. Several things have I found in common: They carry pens, notebooks, and when you say the word “book”, their eyes light up. Yet, with so many writers, how many of us feel alone, and that we only share our writing burdens with ourselves? How many of us can be strong and accomplish great writing feats without being asked even once to open the document, yet when we are hit with IT, we are in trouble?

Writer’s block, oh writer’s block. I say the name of the dreaded disease and the writers take a pro-creativity pill and strap on a protective breathing filter.

Then, we have a wonderful conversation with a writing friend, go home and have recovered. Now, why am I making everybody nervous by mentioning the great evil? I have decided that every 18^th of the month, I will do a post specifically designed to be the “creativity pill” for the writers. Ideas, thoughts, and practical writing tips. Something to get us working. Today I am officially beginning The Bookish End. I’m going to try to inspire you writers, and hopefully be helping you. Topics will vary, but they’ll all have to do with how to practically write or draw inspiration. 

Today’s topic is on taking inspiration from your everyday lives and spinning it into your book(s). How many times have we ever sat down at the computer and then think, “what now?” We are officially STUCK. We don’t know what to write, and the inspiration faucet seems to be dripping into your empty bucket, and you have a whole desert to water. The purpose of this post is to give ideas for drawing inspiration from when you are not looking at the document and keyboard.

Pictures: Pictures are SO helpful!! Sometimes I’m searching for a picture to help me with one character, and I see another picture that just begs me to write that person. I FINALLY just figured out the name of this picture, and it made me so happy that I am sharing it with everybody. This is sort of the first reveal of one of the characters of my books!                                                                                                                                               

Bryon

This is Bryon, and he is a big part of my second book. Figuring out who he would be, his name and his purpose sort of caused a domino effect in plotting the latter half of my second book. I am super excited about him!!! When looking up a picture of a pre-written character, finding out that they have intensely blue eyes, a splattering of freckles or a certain expression of the face can really help as you edit that character. Being able to see what that character looks like as I write them is a huge help. Then, there is landscape. That can be a bit challenging all in itself. Seeing pictures that make the ocean look big, fearsome or wild can help you write the awe of it through a character better. Film is another branch of this kind of help, even audio dramas can be helpful too.

Acting it out: Yes, I have pretended that I am running from villains, sneaking through the forest, speaking with the informant who would bring me news. I remember one night that I ended up doing this around a damp area where we were burning a brush pile… I came inside and my family wondered why I was covered from head to toe with soot. I wasn’t exactly going to tell my younger siblings that. I have had countless mirror conversations, or just dressed up and pretended. I think it helps, because for a moment I am “living” my story. When I pretend to be my main character and speak with these other characters, I not only am plotting scenes that I will later write, I am also developing both characters. There are numerous scenes that I came up with while trying to go to sleep, even in the car, that I simply thought about what happened as my character slept, and what happened that she didn’t know about. Yes, I have repeated scenes and pretended them over and over, but by the time I go to write them down, I just am simply writing them down, not spinning them as I go.

Go outside: I love our swing set. It is tall like park playground equipment, and you go very high in the air. This is where I have combed out tangles in my story, imagined new characters, and visualized scenes, even writing songs for them. Feeling the wind in your hair and on your face, watching it in the trees. Just getting away from distractions and even speaking ideas out-loud is really wonderful. The thought that churned in my mind for the last several hours needs to be refined, so I go to the refinery (AKA the swing set) and think about it until I have the vague idea stamped in my head. Then I go write it. Go on a walk when the keyboard frustrates you.

See creatively: Does the high cinderblock wall in the store look like the stone wall of a castle? Does the storm blow fiercely, and amongst the shadows can you see the enemies approaching? As you scrub the floors and wash the dishes, are you the servant girl in your story, or even spying? Yes, I have imagined such things as I need something to think about while doing laundry. As you drive through the country road, do you see the wild horse chase? Can you see your characters dashing madly through the forest? 

Dreams: I would recommend to anyone who doesn’t have a writing journal to start one today. Writing journals are so helpful! I keep a lovely hardbacked vintage notebook handy wherever I go. Included in these journals, you should write down any LITERAL dreams that were interesting to you, even in the slightest degree. I have definitely had dreams influence my writings. I remember the night that I dreamed that I was playing with a pack of wolves amongst the trees. That was probably the most fun dream I’ve ever had. A whole backstory including a super sweet romance and an underground movement to be written in the second and third books of my book series was inspired by a dream I had one night. Yes, there was a lot of editing in both scenarios, but in the end, I gained inspiration from when I wasn’t even thinking about my books. Sometimes, in the morning I wake up with an idea or bit of dialogue inspired by my dreams the night before (these dreams are few and far between, let that be said, but they are helpful when one does bring something to me), I know I need to write that down. Leave your journal somewhere in your room where you can jump up and write it down for later use. 

God: God’s word, and his inspiration will always be best. While all the rest may bring about very exciting and interesting stories, the messages from his word woven throughout the story is what will make the most impact. What is your story about? What is it you want to inspire people toward? Kindness, love, purity, salvation, forgiveness, freedom? Do a word search in the Bible and find the places where those words are used. Weave the verses through your story, for his words are always higher than yours, and even basing parts of your book off of scripture is a way of giving your book the highest, noblest and purest words your book can contain. The whispers your character hears in times of trouble. They are whispers of promise. Promises found in the greatest book of all. You are not capable of writing anything better than what you can write. With God, all things are possible. Look to his word as the ultimate authority. He is the best-selling author of all time, and really, we as Christian authors have no loftier audience or writer to fan about. I have purposed in my heart that I am not going to publish any book until I have read his book. We as authors should be well-read. We should be reading the best of the best, and learning from reading the books of better writers. I do not consider myself well-read enough to publish a book until I have read the entire Bible. 

What other ways do you find inspiration for your writing? Have any fun experiences to share? I would love to hear from you in the comments!