“What inspires your work?” is a question that authors hear often. I admit I feel as though I disappoint others with my responses. I wonder if they want me to reveal something profound. Perhaps thinking that inspiration is similar to a recipe. Just take element A, sprinkle in emotion B, add a dash of C, and of course, don’t forget to stir with a hint of D, bake mentally for thirty minutes, and BAM, you’ll have a story.
My answer is that at any point, anytime, anywhere, anything can inspire the thought, “I want to write about that.” The real question is, “Will that inspiration stick?”
I’m not a plotter. I’m a “write by the seat of my pants” kind of author. Once I’ve completed my daily word count, I’ll review and edit, then move on with other tasks. It’s in that space between walking away from my story and tomorrow’s next writing session begins that the answer of “sticking” reveals itself–and if it accompanies me while partaking in my favorite hobbies, then I know we were a match. My imagination will pick up where it left off, and naturally, “what happens next” will reveal itself.
I’m blessed to be a lover of fishing and surrounded by an abundance of wonderful lakes. I always take a notebook with me and a book to keep me occupied while my pole sits in its holder, waiting patiently for the tip of the pole to begin dancing.
When I was writing Immune, I sat on the shore of Lake Pactola, named after the town that they flooded to create it. There are still a few intact buildings underwater, and I hear that when the water is low enough, you can see the rooftops from your boat. How can you not be inspired? While there, my imagination floated out the questions: “What would it be like to come out of the zombie phase and remember everything that happened to you?” That’s when the next phase of the book began. It drifted away from the standard zombie narrative. The group, “inflicted,” came to be, and they soon took over the story.
Through several more fishing trips, the inspiration continued, and I fell in love with one of the secondary characters, Helen Olsen, who eventually becomes the director of the ISC, the CIA’s replacement, and she took charge of the war against the Immune, of which the main character, Wyatt, was a member. All while having to keep her partner, Tamera, who was Immune, a secret from the Inflicted. Just like Tamera kept Helen safe from the Immune when Helen was still a zombie.
Fishing is not the only hobby that yields results. Don’t underestimate the power of walks. When writing The Interim, I had already created my antagonist–Leopold. But what about the protagonists’ youth who were going to vanquish him? I wanted them to be strangers, but how to get them to converge and meet?
I was walking around my neighborhood when I entered a small park. There was a basketball court that sat empty. The grassy lot around it was in desperate need of mowing. That’s when it came to me. I would have each one start their day out individually, and their circumstances would cause them to converge on a basketball court in the park. As they start playing a game together, they form the necessary bond that will carry them through the rest of the story.
So, what inspires me? Anything. But what keeps it flowing are my hobbies, which allow my imagination to take a break, recharge, and produce what occurs next. It comes naturally, and I never question it. If it doesn’t happen, then that inspiration was not meant to be. I love to compare my imagination to my body. It needs nourishment–reading, exercise–writing, and it needs rest to recharge–hobbies.
So, next time you feel stuck, lace up your sneakers, grab a pole, and if neither of them tickles your fancy, find something that helps to keep those sparks in your imagination alive.
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