Without Inspiration, There Is No Technique
Sir Bic:
‘Method is much, technique is much, but inspiration is even more.’ – Benjamin Cardozo, United States Supreme Court Justice
There is no doubt that as writers we will all need to develop a method that works for us and procures our best work. There is no denying, however, that without inspiration there would be no method; without inspiration, there is no technique to develop.
The first thing a writer must do is become inspired. To that end, I am happy to have a share in the new chapter of Ficly blogging and I hope this blog continues to be a blog of inspiration. If we can share what inspires us and in doing so inspire someone else, then, in essence, we’ve sent a person off on their road to success.
Ficly is the medium that allows us to do just that. Here in the wonderful land of Ficly we find inspiration in the writings of others, the challenges we offer to all those who wish to participate and the comments and pencil ratings that make us feel – just plain good.
Ficly inspires me. You inspire me. – Thank you for reading what I write.
H.S. Wift:
I am extremely depressed at this moment in time. Why am I depressed, I hear you ask. Well, it is of course due to the untimely death of the ‘Inspiration’ button. I loved that enigmatic, lazy, slightly useless little guy. OK, extremely useless. But even though it did nothing by itself, it still inspired me. Who wouldn’t be inspired by a big red button that’s probably meant to do something, but nobody’s quite sure what it is?
But now it’s gone. And I guess I’ll just have to find inspiration elsewhere. Personally, I get a lot of my inspiration from books. I read a lot of Rowling, a lot of Tolkien. I just finished Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist, and I’m now working my way through The Odyssey.
I also get a lot from my crazy brain. When I see something, a chain reaction of thoughts and images kicks off in my head, which can inspire me to write.
But that’s just me. And it dawns on me that knowing where I find inspiration, better enables me to find it again.
HS out.
ElshaHawk
For me, sometimes just clicking on ‘write’ and opening up that window when I have even a whisper of an idea is enough to motivate me to start typing. More often,
the process begins when I read a great ficly by one of you and know I want to sequel it. In the words of BARomero, “We all feed off of each other, which I think is the beauty of Ficly.”
Tad Winslow spells it out: “Just having a place to go, like Ficly, where I can instantly hook up to a community of people who share my same creative interest means a lot to me. Being so easily able to be read, and heard, and encouraged is a major driving force.”
Ficly encourages us to ‘persevere’ as he puts it. We hone our craft in small bits, with constructive criticism and support. Knowing someone is out there waiting on your next installment in a series, as excited as you are, is the greatest feeling. It gives you a sense of worth.
Once you hit ‘publish’ you wait with anticipation and excitement for the first comment, or the first pencil rating. When that has been fulfilled, a rush of satisfaction (I hope) makes you want to do it again. And again.
In closing, Sir Bic’s challenge!
So I put it to all of you ficly-peeps to think about what inspires you. Just take a moment and look within yourself for the place where your brain is at its creative best. And who knows, maybe when you’re in there, you’ll find a little something to take away with you.
List of what inspires the Bullpen:
Authors or external media
Dramatic events or changes in a person’s life
Personal beliefs or ideals
Idioms:“Here today, gone tomorrow”
Dreaming
Emotion
Music
NaNoWriMo
Competition
Deadlines
Books
Beautiful Images/Scenes
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