Write On Wednesday: Inspiration

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what inspires us to do what we do. Whether we’re writers, designers, accountants, or whatever. What drives us to get up every day and keep facing the world? I decided to list some of my inspirations for my book, as well as what inspires me to keep going.

1) My funny husband

I have a plethora of embarrassing pictures I could put up here to demonstrate exactly what I mean, but it’s not just his silliness that keeps me going, although I laugh more than a lot of people, I’m sure of it.

But he loves this book as much as I do. And he is constantly giving me ideas on how to make it better, what I should change, and what is good about it. He also loves to demonstrate the action scenes for me. If any of you have done the Plyometric DVD from P90X, think back to the flying Heisman move, and that’s pretty much how he shows me what my characters should be doing.

For those of you who haven’t here’s an example:

Now imagine him saying “So she’s looking at him, all intense-like, and then BOOM she turns around and attacks, totally catching him off guard! And then he’s all like, whoa! I wasn’t expecting that!” etc. while jumping back and forth from leg to leg. He loves action, and while it’s pretty humorous to witness, he genuinely helps me with those tricky-to-write scenes.

2) Google Images (aka The World Around Us)

I know this sounds silly, but when I have an idea in my head of what a setting should look like this is the first place I go. And I usually find something similar from some random website that I never would have found otherwise.

Here are some examples of pictures that illustrate some settings in my book:

This is what the world looks like after a major evil catastrophe. Only there’s no ocean at the bottom, it just goes on and on forever. Woosh.

A forest clearing where a LOT of the action scenes go down. This is almost exactly what it looks like in my head, only there’s a stream gurgling between the trees on the perimeter. The stream is VERY important. 

3) Other Authors / Designers

Especially lately. I’ve met so many amazing people through blogging, and have been so encouraged and uplifted by formerly complete strangers. It’s so nice to know that success CAN happen, and that as long as I keep trying and staying true to myself, I can find the path that’s right for me.  And even better, it’s nice to know that success isn’t based on how many designs you complete in a month, or how many books you have published, but it’s in the realization that you are better today than you were yesterday.

4) This Face:

She makes every day brighter than the last, and I'm constantly reminded that everything I do, I’m doing for her.

So how about it? What inspires you?