Many things inspire my writing. I enjoy walking among farmer’s fields, watching the stalks of corn and cattails sway in the breeze. I like picking out animals in the clouds and watching them chase one another across the sky.
I enjoy learning about history to understand the geopolitics of the time and the cultural dynamics that led to decisions, dilemmas, and solutions. For example, the Pirate Republic based in Nassau, Bahamas, wouldn’t have been as threatening had it not been for all the furloughed privateers after the War of Spanish Secession.
Conflict (interpersonal, cultural, and war) interests me. I like exploring the psychology of a person and picking apart what makes them tick. I like comparing how cultures address the same problem. It’s also interesting to see the differences in decision-making between cultures. One critical decision leads to peace or war. One piece of information shared or withheld leads to catastrophe.
What inspires me? Grand arcs and personal conflict, the one line I pick up from a conversation two tables away. A chance encounter with someone on the street leads to a short conversation that sparks a story.
Reading inspires me. I listen to audiobooks as I walk. I tend to favour historical romances, but I’ll listen to mysteries (detective, hard-boiled, cosy), sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, and non-fiction.
Travelling gives me grand opportunities for adventure, exposure to other places, and insight into different perspectives.
I’m a resourceful person. I’m good at scrounging and finding things. Through my *coughs* years, I’ve applied these skills to help people see a problem differently. I apply those skills to writing. I take two or more tropes and play around with them. I intentionally twist them in different ways to see the result. Sometimes the bending works. Other times it doesn’t. However, I view those times as opportunities to further my writing skills. There’s always a way to fix a story; I just haven’t thought of the solution yet.
Most crucial to my inspiration is my willingness to take two or more things, mash them together, and see what kind of story I can make. I do this with tropes as well as genres. I intentionally play around with settings to see what unique stories can emerge. I write a lot of historical romances, and most recently, I’ve started writing historical westerns. In the historicals, there’s a duke or an earl, sometimes a prince. In a western, there’s a ranch. What else exists in these worlds that can be explored in creative ways? I make it a thought exercise which usually turns out to be a series. I have 16 series I need to develop.
I intentionally branch out into other genres. When I took up writing again about ten years, I thought I would only write high-heat fantasy romances (second world fantasy romance). The more I wrote, the more I drew inspiration from various sources, and the more I tested the waters in other genres. I wrote historical fiction as it’s quite close in tone to fantasies. COVID struck, and my brain broke. To get out of my rut, I wrote my first contemporary romance (which will be released in Fall 2021). I was very pleased with how the contemporary turned out, and I branched out further into the western historical romance. I wrote a few sci-fi short stories and even a cyberpunk.
The more I dip my toes into genres, the more creative I get. Creativity is also based on confidence. Creativity is about taking risks and venturing into new territories. It’s hard to do that when you don’t have confidence. To keep my confidence high, I take writing-related courses. I belong to a professional association, and I network with authors. I make it my intention to get better every day.
I often get harsh but well-intentioned feedback. Is it easy? No. Does it help me? Yes. The more I understand the fundamentals of the craft, the more creative and inspired I become. I’m frustrated when I have an idea but can’t articulate it in a way that makes sense. The solution is simple—get better at what I do to ensure the words come out easier and better.
Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes. It comes at inopportune moments when I’m trying to fall asleep, and it comes at surprising moments when I overhear a barista chatting with a colleague. I consciously look for ways to be inspired and jot down notes (when my app on my phone hasn’t crashed stealing all my notes. I have a new app now, and it’s a lot like the old one *winks*, but this app backs up to the cloud. Never again shall I lose my one-liners).
Inspiration is something active. I go out and engage with the environment, the creative content of others, and people. Inspiration is work, but oh, what fun work it is.
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