There are times where I need to write, and I have no idea where the inspiration is going to come from. What I have learned from these short pieces, is that they’re about so much more than what I thought or originally intended.
I’ll provide a couple of examples – you can read the entire pieces on my WordPress blog if you’re interested in the details. Anyway, I was making chocolate chip cookies one afternoon, and the simple ingredients, number of batches I’ve made over the years, as well as the recipients of these baked wonders transformed into a blog that spoke to family, generosity, and manners. I titled it, “Chocolate Chip Legacy.”
I love ball fringe. One time I bought 25 yards of it because I loved the color and size of the little, fuzzy globes. I think I got the idea for this blog during a trip to a different fabric store (and another ball fringe sighting). “Ball Fringe – Order in a Chaotic World” touched on the way my creative mind works and the basic notion that I love structure and predictability within the realm of creative expression.
What I’m trying to say is that I had no idea where these pieces of writing were going when I started writing them. I just sat down and let them tell me what they wanted to say. Turns out, it was a lot more than just talking about chocolate chips or fuzzy spheres strung together.
These pieces are great release valves for me when I’m in the depths of writing a book and need to come up for air. I find them quite helpful if the scene in the book is particularly difficult or heart-wrenching. I can step away and find something normal, safe, and pleasing to divert my mind for a while.
There’s a bonus for me when I take these diversions – it clears my mind a bit from the story I’m working on, and sometimes there are bits and pieces to glean from the blog and insert into the story. Perhaps not a cookie or a bit of fringe, but an emotion to convey or a lesson to impart upon a character that needs a bit of a shaking up.
I never discount the value of these short side-trips. They always have something deeper to say, and I am always surprised at where we end up.
Image credit: Anne K. Hawkinson
Every Day Writer 