I’m reading stories today in preparation for my writers’ group next week. I started to wonder why we choose what we do to write about. This week has has some various offerings: one story is an adventure, replete with weapons. Another story tells of a retired couple’s “adventures” wintering in Mororocco. One writer tells the deeper history of Lincoln’s early trial lawyer days. Another has written a science fiction creature story. Most of the writers stick to a chosen genre.
I tend to write poems about what strikes me emotionally or whatever random thought drops into my head. I can’t see myself writing historical or science fiction or fantasy unless it’s a class assignment. That would be a big mental change-up for me. Which is probably why a teacher would set those assignments. I’ll have to ask the other writers what drew them to their chosen genre. Did the feel compelled? Was it a choice? I read a lot of different genres, although I prefer contemporary fiction most often. Does your writing choice align with your reading choice?
Poetiosity 
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January 9, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Sally
Inspiration and thoughts about being inspired
Before I ramble about the subject, I thought I would check out the dictionairy’s meaning of the word. There are a number of meanings for Inspiration…arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity….a strong creative inpulse…a product of your creative thinking and work…a sudden intuition. There were many more but I think I will just go with these.
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If you have ever picked up a pen and started writing…either a journal entry, a story, a poem etc. , where did you find your inspiration? Or do you believe that inspirations are not necessary to writing? Think about it, maybe we are inspired more than we realize or maybe we just aren’t good at identifying what inspired us in the first place?
Maybe we don’t need inspirations ….maybe we just need subjects. But if that subject becomes the catalyst to our writings, doesn’t it become the inspiration? How can anyone actually define unusual activity of the mind or a stong impulse ? Is it not all relative and so, two people may be at the same place at the same time and be inspired very differently . I suppose you could akin childhood memories to this concept….siblings being at the same place at the same time but remembering very different things or people in a plane crash who after have very different memories of the event. Are inspirations for writing not much of the same?
Have you ever found that something inspired you but only for a short time because some other inspiration came along that was much stronger?
So that makes me think….what exactly has inspired me to write ? Each day I blog, I suppose something inspires me to go in a certain direction. Maybe I should pay more attention to what inspires me…just for curiosity sake. I could make a list of my inspirations. But to be truthful, I am not sure that I would really know what they are or were.
I think it would it be a waste of time to make that list, instead I will just move on and wait for the next…Inspriration to hit… and get writing. What will be YOUR inspiration for today?