Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Thursday's Children Blog Hop


How do I find inspiration? How do I not?         

I'm in constant flow of ideas, which are often met with the frustration of having my hands tied. Or my mind riddled with something else while the muse waits, and waits, until…

a) I write the notes in my notebook. b) I get right down to business. Or, c) I multi-task with projects spread around, carelessly completed.

Not always carelessly, but that's how it feels. I try and slow down, but time flies, and I have children! Not young children, worse--young teen-age boys! And they need more help than they must have needed as toddlers. I swear.

But what inspires me to write?  That is what this Blog Hop is about. I would say above all—it is PEOPLE! The Characters, shady ones, unusual traits, hidden kindness, overt cruelty, or Joe Shmo, who I turn into a Wizard on the page.

I played with Barbie’s well into the age of thirteen. Of course, I realize why, now. It was the dramatization of the characters I craved. When we moved from Cocoa Beach to Key West, I was only permitted to bring the most essential. I figured it was a good time to drop the Barbie dolls. I sure did miss them. But by writing fiction, I can still pretend and make-believe.

And having fun inspires me all the time.

A weekly blog hop where writers come together to talk about whatever inspires them. Join us!
   


8 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes, it IS hard to write with kids around, isn't it? I was an "over age" Barbie-fancier too. But, you know what? Johnny Depp played Barbies with his daughter, he said it helped him sort out the characters he plays, try different voices, etc.

K. L. Hallam said...

Awesome. I knew I wasn't WEIRD. So funny, that Johnny Depp does this. Then it's a-okay. What else does he do...?

jessika fleck said...

Mmmm...you guys had me at Johnny Depp...

Oh the kids! Mine are 6 and 8, but they're girls, though I fear the teenage years all the same!

Great post Karen :)

Chris Allen-Riley said...

I've got teenage boys, too. And they're awesome, but finding time/peace to write is always a challenge. :)

I'm so glad you decided to join Thursday's Children!

John Krissilas said...

HEY!

Sorry for the late arrival. I remember you from the Video Pitch contest.... you were the one with the creepy Facetime ghost story... OR SO IT SEEMS...

Welcome to Thursdays Children, thanks for joining us. I hope you can carve out a few minutes each week to choose one thing that inspires your writing and to share that with us. At first I thought it might be too much, but I've actually had a lot of fun coming up with a new source of inspiration every week.

In response to your post this week, the key for me recently has been focus. There are always crazy-good ideas that pop into my head... but I try to either shuffle them away for now or to write down everything and come back to it at another time. After all, a bundle of "okay" manuscripts isn't as good as one "incredible" manuscript. Try to pick one baby and make it as good as it can be.

See you next week!

K. L. Hallam said...

Thanks, for inviting me to join Thursday's Children. When I wrote about inspiration, I thought, gee, I'm inspired by so much, and wouldn't it be great to write a post about each and ever form of inspiration. Yes, focus. I tell those ideas that seep through--hold on, gotta find my pen ( and I can save you for something else) As it is now the MG I'm querying, I began writing in 2007--with about a year hiatus, until I was encouraged to continue by very dear writing friends. I believe in working on the problems at hand (as in my MS). I have a special needs child, who taught me this: Never give up!

John Krissilas said...

Fantastic. Keep working on it, and I hope we can inject you with some inspiration each week (and vice-versa!)

K. L. Hallam said...

Absolutely, John. You have already! :)