Where do you find inspiration?
With fall fast approaching and the days getting shorter by the minute (pun intended), we have fewer hours to actually be inspired. Maybe you're the kind who wakes up in the middle of the night with an absolutely brilliant idea and rushes to jot it down on a nearby napkin or even record it on a cool device.
I tried that once, whispering into the small recorder I kept in my nightstand drawer. My croaking whispers woke dear hubby, who sat upright in bed, demanding to know who or what I was talking to.
As a writer, he didn't have the first clue about the rush of roping the greatest story idea in the few fleeting moments. You HAVE to get it written down or risk losing it in the vast cloud of ideas floating around forever in a lost universe.
But I'm getting off-track.
Inspiration: Where Does It Come From?
Whether it be the dusty rural road I live on or a crowded aisle in the local grocery store, my eyes and ears absorb everything around me. One evening, while cruising the back roads in no particular hurry, out of nowhere, a car comes barreling straight at me. He whizzed past in a blur, squealed his tires at the corner, made a U-turn, and rushed up behind me, trailing my bumper frightfully close.
My heart beat full throttle as he passed me, racing ahead and completing another turn, this time barreling straight at me.
His actions were reckless, crazy even. Furious and without thinking, I pulled onto the side of the road. My window was already down, having been enjoying a leisurely evening ride. He slowed his car next to mine, revved up his motor as if to impress me. "What do you want?"
With a booze induced grin, he peeled gravel on the dirt road and sped off.
Only a few hundred yards from home, I said a silent prayer when I parked beside the shed, hurried into the house, and bolted the door.
Later, as I crawled into bed, my imagination took over. How could I be certain he hadn't followed me home? Hubby was out of town, and I'd given specific orders to my friends and family that I wanted to be alone. I had plans to write and didn't want to be disturbed for any reason. I'd repeated this so loudly that no one would even think of dropping by. What had started off as a few days of bliss suddenly became apparent how quickly the situation could change. Two full days of solitude could do some serious harm under the right circumstances.
That became the inspiration for my suspense story, Letters From Inside. An idea so creepy it's one of my all-time favorites.
Excerpt below:
Out of nowhere, a man appeared in her headlights riding
a bicycle. His dark clothing and a knit cap made it impossible to see until her car was practically on top of him as he
pedaled on the pavement.
She swerved and narrowly missed hitting the guy, then
looked in her rear-view mirror. The man had stopped in the
road, balancing his bike against one leg, and made the lewd
gesture of flipping her off.
Her heart dropped to her lap, realizing how close she’d
come to running the guy over.
She hadn’t expected anyone to be riding a bicycle at this
hour, especially without reflectors. Linda pressed the accelerator down, needing to put as much distance between them
as possible.
Later, as she changed into her pajamas, the frightening
image surfaced again. His gaze left her feeling isolated and
vulnerable. She snuggled beneath the warmth of her quilt
and closed her eyes, but nothing could erase the memory of
his alarming reaction.
For the first time since moving back into the farmhouse, she felt uneasy and got out of bed to double-check the
doors. She crept into the living room and stood in the dark,
then sliced the curtains and peeked out into the yard.
The hairs rose on the back of her neck, and she couldn’t
shake the feeling that unseen eyes were watching her.
“Mom?” Jessie came out of her bedroom, groggy from
sleep. “Is somebody out there?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.
“No, sweetheart. Just wondering if it’s going to rain or
not. Go back to bed.” Linda moved quickly from the window, wrapped her arm across her daughter’s shoulder, and
then walked her back to her room.
Available on Amazon.
Where do your ideas come from?
