I never know where or when I’m going to find inspiration – does any writer? Sometimes I go looking, or will it in my mind, but I seem to have the best luck when I leave the door wide open and welcome inspiration on its own terms.
I’ve gotten into the habit of taking a photo and posting it every morning on my walk from my car to the building where I work. I see it as a transition from the artistic world to the place I go to earn a living. Even on the most ordinary or bleak mornings, I always manage to find something to capture and share. Sometimes they become gifts of inspiration for my writing.
One morning, the sky was full of swift moving clouds flying past a crescent moon. I stood for a moment, enjoying the breeze and the magical sight in the sky. Then I took a picture, shared it, and went inside. I thought of that image on and off for most of the day and wanted to re-live the experience somehow. I wanted to use it in the story currently in process so readers could share the experience and I could remember it forever.
I didn’t rush the image, but let it hover in my mind. I kept writing and waited for the opportunity to present itself. When it did, I inserted the beautiful, sensory moment I’d experienced. I’m sharing the passage where it appears so you can savor the moment as well.
“Lennox pulled Titus to a halt at the crest of the hill overlooking the Murray farm. He silently thanked the thin, wispy clouds racing past the crescent moon that kept the skies in near-darkness. They would help him remain undetected as he paused next to a large pine, watching for any activity in the buildings below.”
It’s just a few words that describe the sky as my character contemplates his next move. But I lived that sensory moment, and I am grateful that a moment of magical inspiration happened to me.
Every Day Writer 