How to Find Inspiration—Fiction Therapy
By Jim Dempsey | March 12, 2019 |
Whether you’re wondering what happens next in your story, want to write your first novel, or are about to start on the next instalment of your long-running series, there are always times when you’ll need inspiration. And it is often surprisingly close by.
‘Be observant,’ said the dramatist, Lajos Egri, ‘and you will be forced to admit that the world is an inexhaustible pastry shop and you are permitted to choose from the delicacies the tastiest bits for yourself.’
It’s that easy.
Except it’s not.
It’s difficult to suddenly ‘be observant.’ You don’t have time to sit around looking at things. You have to pick up the kids, get to the supermarket, make dinner, finish off that last game of solitaire. And you have to write!
Hemingway noted that it was difficult to be observant, but he also recognized its importance for writers. Being observant, he said in his 1935 Esquire article, Monologue to the Maestro, takes practice. ‘You should be able to go into a room and when you come out know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling. Try that for practice.’
You don’t have to memorize every object in a room. There are simpler ways to get inspiration for your writing from observing the world around you. It can start with your morning shower.
Try to use all five senses next time you take a shower. Notice how the water falls, how it splashes and goes off at different angles. How would you describe the soap smell? Does the warm water taste different from a cold glassful? Does the water feel warmer on your face than on your back or legs? And listen to the sound of the spray and how being in the shower can distort other sounds?
As your characters go about their everyday routines, try to pick similar moments in your day to gather details you can use in your writing.
Eating is another good opportunity to practice these kinds of observational skills. How do you hold your cutlery? How do you cut the food? Do you pile it all on the back of the fork or scoop it up? Stop just before you take a bite. Look closely at the texture, the shape and colors. Notice any aromas. Then, when you put that morsel in your mouth, take a moment to taste it before you bite. When you do bite, does it make a noise? Does it crunch? Do your teeth clack together? Does the food taste different when you start to chew? What kind of flavors are released?
After a while, you can start to make notes of your observations. Wherever you are, somewhere new or somewhere familiar, take time to look around and enjoy what author David Mitchell called ‘free gifts’ in a recent interview with the LA Times.
‘When I go to a place I get a number of free gifts … I’ll get five decent sentences … about the place; they’re textual photographs. If you get these free gifts, use them in the text, use them in the prose, use them in descriptions. Put them in and they’re lovely little things to find on the forest footpath of the story, of the book.’
If you do that, you too could become wonderfully eloquent when giving a simple piece of advice.
You don’t even have to go somewhere new to get your five sentences. Try to write a few lines about the room you’re in right now. Look around, in all the corners, under the furniture, to see if you can find something you’ve never noticed before. Or find new ways to describe how the seat feels under you.
Internal inspiration
It’s not only the external world that can provide inspiration. There is often a whole conversation going in inside your mind. It can be worth taking a moment to stop and listen in.
This is especially useful if you’re writing from a first person point of view.
Try to observe how thoughts arise in your mind. What are your thoughts like? Do you think in words? Do they come in complete sentences? Maybe you think in images. How could you translate them to the page?
Don’t try to change your thoughts. Your thoughts are not good or bad, they’re just thoughts. Sit there and listen. That too takes practice.
Look for moments of conflict in your own thoughts too. When you consider having another coffee, for example. Or should you write one more page first? Try to listen to that to and fro as your mind tries to rationalize the best choice:
‘I’ll get a coffee first, that’ll give me the boost I need to write this next page.’
‘Yeah, but if I write the page first, the coffee could be a nice reward.’
Try to observe this whole thought process and see if you can introduce that into your writing to make your characters’ internal conversation and inner struggles seem more realistic.
Sometimes, when you’re lacking inspiration, it only takes a sentence or two to give you that spark, to set you off again. And those couple of sentences can be right in front of you now. Just take a look.
Where do you look for to get inspiration on those difficult days? Do you have sources of inspiration that never fail? What other tips do you have to fill those blank pages?
Every month, I look at the many different aspects of fiction—character development, plot, story structure, etc.—and offer advice and tips to help you work through the problems in your novel.
I have adapted many of the concepts you’ll see here from proven techniques used in modern psychotherapy. Hence: Fiction Therapy.
If you have a specific concern about your novel, send an email to jim [at] thefictiontherapist.com and I’ll do my best to help
Jim Dempsey (he/him) is a book editor who specializes in detailed analysis and editing of novel manuscripts through his company, Novel Gazing. He has worked as an editor for more than 20 years. He has a master’s degree in creative writing and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and is a trustee of the Arkbound Foundation. Jim is fascinated by the similarities between fiction and psychotherapy, since both investigate the human condition, the things that make us uniquely human. He explores this at The Fiction Therapist website. If you have a specific concern with your novel, send an email to jim [at] thefictiontherapist.com, or visit the website to ask for a free sample edit. You can follow Jim on Instagram @the_fiction_therapist.
Jim, I discovered the beauty of observation to pull me out of writer’s block early on in my writing. It’s also made me a stronger writer because of the habit of including sensory details, critical in children’s literature. Although we all experience the world through our senses, children are much closer to it than adults. Children are natural scientists, making observations. My inner child lives in delight, in wonder, in awe.
Loved the “free gifts” from David Mitchell.
Always when I’m in the deep woods in my Smoky Mountains, I am pulled to write – such a beautiful wild inspiration.
I’ve started to notice how brilliant writers select the perfect observational detail to include–the one that says more than ten other details piled together.
Last night we stumbled across a tribute to Joni Mitchell on PBS. Chaka Khan was singing Help Me. She came to:
“Didn’t it feel good
You dance with the lady
With the hole in her stocking
Didn’t it feel good?…”
I said to my wife, “Did you hear that? The hole in her stocking. That’s it. The detail that makes the song brilliant.”
Brilliance and inspiration abound. Thanks for the harvesting tips.
Definitely a great line, Vaughn. A lot of folk music, from all over the world, has this kind of detail in the lyrics. I’m far from your typical country fan, but those lyrics are some of the best stories around, precisely because of the writers’ judicious use of detail. The trick is getting that balance right, of adding details but not too much, and adding exactly the right details.
Thanks for the excellent example, Vaughn.
All the best,
Jim
This is a truly useful post. Thank you! At speaking engagements, I am often asked where I get my ideas for my novels. The answer is that stories are everywhere. All one must do is be open to them. I also remind participants that there will be at least one story among them.
As to overcoming being stalled with writing, I follow my grandmother’s advice. When one is frustrated or drained by a creative pursuit, put it aside for an hour or so. When you return to it, whatever was causing the problem will most likely have resolved itself. I suppose this could be seen as a form of observing. In other words, observe something else for a little while to free your mind and creativity. I am not sure writer’s block really exists. I think we simply psych ourselves into killing the creativity through fear of failure, lack of confidence, negative self-talk, failure to take refreshing breaks, etc.
My advice to beginning writers is to be kind to yourself. Nothing kills creativity like negative thinking.
Great advice, Linda. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
Jim
I live on a farm with a pond which has been taken over by the geese in their yearly occupation ritual. Yesterday, they were out there quibbling over real estate, setting up a racket. I looked out my kitchen window and one of the barn cats was sitting on a stone wall, watching them. The image moved me. The simplicity of it. The realness in contrast to all the manmade mayhem cluttering up the world. A gift, indeed!! And there is, as you point out, an endless supply. On tough days, I walk. In the woods, in town. Just walk and look and breathe. It usually does the the trick. Thanks for this!
Exactly, Susan. It’s that step back, that moment out of the mayhem, that makes the difference, that gives the time to just notice your breath and observe.
And it sounds like those cats were pretty wise not to get involved with the geese. Sometimes there’s enough drama in a story without creating more.
Cheers,
Jim
You write of being observant. I have been watching things happen for almost a year now.
We have moved. Cross-country. To a temporary apartment (one bedroom) for five months, and now to our permanent two-bedroom unit.
I have been paralyzed since we started opening boxes – absolutely no place to work, nothing in its place, and no idea if everything made the trip. Plus there was a computer crash and hasty semi-reconstruction of only a few key things half-way through the move. I’ve been essentially living out of a suitcase since last May.
It takes so long for my damaged body and brain to get ready and focused for the day that it’s not worth trying to do anything until I can guarantee the setup effort will then be allowed to move into uninterrupted time for at least a couple of hours.
Yesterday, the desk finally got cleaned off. Paintings were hung on the walls. The guest bed (great for naps) constructed.
It’s surprising how being finally settled has made a huge difference in my state of mind: I’m home, it’s going to stay the way we set this up for, I hope, the next thirty years, so it’s worth the effort to get things just right.
Making sure all the temporary things get a permanent version will take a couple more weeks at most, and then – everyone please go away: I’m writing.
Sounds like you could have a lot of new things to observe in the new place, Alicia. And dreams are great for inspiration too, so, with that guest bed nearby, you seem to have the perfect setup.
Good luck getting the peace you need, and enjoy your new home and the writing you will do there.
All the very best,
Jim