How to Make a Story Inspiration Collage

Step 1: Gather Materials

• Clip pictures from old magazines of whatever reminds you of your story, the characters, the mood etc, or what interests you.
• Find pictures on the internet.
• (If you want) go out and take pictures of your own and print them.
• Clip out words from magazines or print any words that are related to your story, catch your eye or inspire you.
• Gather sequins, stickers or other artsy stuff you might want to use.

 Step 2: Make the Collage 

Arrange pictures and words on a piece of paper or in a journal. When you are happy with how it looks, paste them down (I use glue sticks). Add stickers or other accents. Have fun! When you are done with your collage post it by your desk or somewhere you can see it often.

What to do with the leftover pictures and words? Use them!

Writing with Music: Invoking the Muse

Do you like to write with music?

There are two groups of thought when it comes to writing and music. Some find music to be distracting and prefer quiet. I have to agree that sometimes silence is golden. There are times when the only sound I want to hear is the drum beat of my fingers on the keyboard. Usually, though, music is my best friend. It helps to create a writing mood and open the creative unconscious.

Many people find orchestrated film music to be helpful when they write. The music is composed to heighten the emotions, plus it doesn’t have any lyrics that might take you out of the writing zone.

Try various types of music and see how you feel. Different genres might have different effects. The harmonies of Loreena McKennitt or Azam Ali always seem to get my writing juices flowing.  Plus, it keeps background noises from bothering me so I can focus. Love songs help me with romance, and heavier music like Metal is great when I'm writing a fight scene.

Why not create a playlist of music that fits the mood of the story or scene you're working on? Story soundtracks can be very helpful in getting you in the right state of mind. The music can inspire and ignite new ideas for your work in progress. I have even created CDs of some of my story soundtracks to listen to in the car. 

Go On a Writer’s Walk

I love to go for writer walks in the morning; there is something magical about it. The sun’s warm rays paint the flowers and trees. The air is cool and fresh. There is a newness about the world that invigorates and inspires me.

Walking gets the blood flowing and the muscles moving. There is physicality to it. You can feel the rhythm in your feet, in your breath. When I am facing a problem I find that walking helps me process and work it out. It taps me into my inner wisdom. 

Walking is great for finding inspiration too. The word inspiration comes from the Latin, inspirare – to breathe into. Going for walks helps us to “breathe in" the world around us. We can listen to the cars whirring down the road, the birds singing, the whispering of leaves on the trees. Feel the breeze caress your skin. Stop and smell the roses, or honeysuckle, or peonies. We can watch life in action, and connect with it.  It fills our well. It renews us. It inspires.

Allow life to nourish your writing and writing to nourish your life.

Feel free to share your writer's walk and I will post it here.

Stranger Than Fiction: Writer's Walk

http://strangerthanwriting.blogspot.com/2012/04/writers-walk.html

Refill Your Creative Well

We expect ourselves to be go, go, go all of the time. We want to produce, we want to finish what we started. We don’t want to slow down. But, if we are constantly working our inner well begins to dry up and we feel worn out.

There is a natural rhythm to life. If we allow a little Winter’s rest into our soul, a new bounty of growth can come forth. Sometimes we need to take take a break from writing and have a day of renewal. A day to refill the well.

Does your well need refilling?

You feel exhausted

No words want to come out of you

You have lost steam

Its hard to think

Write Away From Home

How come being at home makes it harder to write? For me, its usually because I think of all the other things I could do. There are so many distractions.

It’s time to write! Oh wait, I need a glass a water.
It’s time to write! I need to feed the cat
It’s time to write! I have to do some laundry
Its time to write! Im too tired, I want to nap
It’s time to write! Look! Shiny!

Reasons Why Writing at Home is Difficult

• Too many distractions
• Hard to make the work/home separation
• Home can get lonely
• Sometimes you just need to be in a different environment

Stepping away from all of the distractions of home can help you to focus. There are many places that  provide enough background white-noise to occupy that piece of your brain that craves distraction. Or provide perfect quiet to write in peace. It is important to find a place that suits you the best, and encourages writing.

Letters to the Sky

I remember as a child, I would tie a message to a balloon and let it fly off. I loved watching the balloon dance in the wind as it flew up and away. I sent my message out into the unknown hoping it would go for miles before it finally landed. I imagined someone would find it on the ground and read, with a smile, all of the secrets it contained. I can’t remember what I wrote to those unknown recipients. I just remember the sense of magic I felt at writing letters to the sky.

I think it would be fun to once again write a message and send it out to the world.

• Write a message and tie it to a balloon and watch it fly off
• Put a message in a bottle and let it float out into the water
• Write a message on a post-it note and put it somewhere random - like a bathroom stall, a wall, or at a bus stop
• Write in the snow, in the sand, or on the ground
• Write something besides, “clean me” on the dusty car windshield
• Write on a fogged bathroom mirror
• Buy or borrow some chalk and write on the sidewalk
• Write a message in a card, seal it in an envelope and leave it for someone to find