Inspiration
I was recently asked how do I come up with ideas for my stories. At first, I said memories and experiences. The next question was, what kind of experiences? This made me pause for a moment. Inspiration does come from past memories and all sorts of experiences, but also from observation of people and places, or seeing an interesting card or object in a store. Sometimes, it comes from a dream or even a song on the radio. Inspiration for stories, characters, or settings can come from just about anything.
When I wrote my first picture book, The Chewy Puppy, it was a mixture of memories and experiences. This particular story is about our dog Ree Cee. We rescued her as a very young puppy. My husband and I had gone to a farm stand called Bedners on a beautiful Saturday morning for vegetables. There happened to be a rescue event happening on the grounds of the farmstand. To make a long story short, my husband and I didn’t bring home any vegetables that day, instead we came home with a six-week-old Rottweiler puppy that had been named Reeces Pieces. We changed her name to Ree Cee. She was so small that she fit into the palms of my hands. However, her paws were huge! We said she had galoompda paws.
As Ree Cee grew, so did her proclivity to chew…on anything and everything. She was incredibly Curious and had such a beautiful soul. We got to know our vet really well due to all of our visits to Dr. Z within just a few months of adopting Ree Cee, she fell into the pool, ate rat poison, got into my school bad on multiple occasions and ate numerous pencils, pens, colored highlighters, crayons, and eventually the entire arm of a wicker chair. Somehow, she survived without a problem. Dr. Z actually called her the chewy puppy. My husband and I always said we should write a book about Ree and her adventures of chewing. Although she has since crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, her story stays with us.
My second picture book which will be released in February (yes, the books aren’t being published in order) is based on my memories of taking walks with my grandfather. My grandparents lived in Saint Albans, Vermont. When I would visit, my grandfather would take me for a walk “downstreet” to the center of town. We would go through Taylor Park and always make a wish at the fountain. We would then head to small store that sold fruit and vegetables among other basic necessities. As we walked, my grandfather loved to tell me about the weather and the different types of clouds. A favorite game was to find pictures in the different shapes of the clouds.
Although memories and experiences jump into my mind for story ideas quite frequently, others pop up in usual ways as well. I happened to visit a quaint beach town in the Florida pan handle recently. And in a craft store there was these beautifully inked cards with an octopus on each one. The way it was drawn and colored stuck with me. I started to research how different types of octopi swim, walk, change color for protection, their intelligence, and solitary life in the ocean. I’ve started to outline a future picture book about a Caribbean Reef octopus. Pictures tend to be another source of inspiration for a character, story idea, or setting. Inspiration also comes from observing people, which is so much fun! Take a minute sometime, sit and watch how people interact with each other, both the good and the bad. How they walk and talk, or the things that they carry.
Every author gains inspiration from a multitude of places. There is a wonderful quote by acclaimed American author William Faulkner would say, “If a story is in you, it has to come out.” Today I leave you with a few thoughts on writing. Write stories that give you great joy, bring characters to life that make you laugh, cry, or even ones you get angry with. Ultimately, your story is yours alone to tell. Happy writing and reading!
Cheers to the storyteller in all of us!