Posted in Life, Writing

Inspiration

Posted on by Penny Wilson Writes

My posting here has been sporadic lately.  I’ve written a few good pieces and think that my writing continues to improve.  But there are certainly days when inspiration is lacking.

Writing, for the most part, has simply been me sitting at the keyboard attempting to express something I’m feeling.  OR, my process for writing can be inspired by almost anything; a word, a phrase, a memory.  Very often, the inspiration is music.  I never know what will strike me.  I’m going to share a few things with you that have inspired me.

I was listening to Cher (don’t laugh) sing the song Good Thing written by Robben Ford.  The chorus in this song really struck me and I couldn’t get it out of my head.  The chorus is:  All those angels running,
Picking up the pieces,
Putting back together 
Hearts broke long ago.

I just LOVED these lines!  They sparked my Poem “Picking Up the Pieces”

You can find the lyrics  here:  http://www.metrolyrics.com/angels-running-lyrics-cher.html

One day, for some reason, I had my mother’s voice in my head as she sang the old old song Catch A Falling Star.  This sparked a piece I wrote called In The Night   If you would like to see the lyrics to the old song, you can see those here:  http://www.metrolyrics.com/catch-a-falling-star-lyrics-perry-como.html

Shattered was inspired by a C&W song I have no idea what the song is or who sang it.  But there were lines in the song that was something to the effect of “the cracks in my heart is where her love gets in”.  I LOVE this!  It wouldn’t go away.  I thought about this for days and just HAD to do something with it.

Dream Vapor was inspired by the simple words “rain on the window sill”.  Don’t ask me where those words came from because I don’t know.  But they just wouldn’t go away until I made something out of them.

Capture was inspired by the picture used for that post.  The image of “breathing in” another person.  Taking their being inside of you.  The thought just grabbed me.

Dandelion Kisses This was from a very specific memory from my youth (not music). It was one of those endless summer days.  The memory prompted THIS post.

Do you have specific things that drive you to the keyboard?  Are you inspired by one thing more than another?  

Copyright (C) 2018 Penny Wilson  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author:

Penny Wilson is a freelance writer who writes in several genres. She has written articles for WOW Women on Writing. Her poetry has been published in online journals, such as Ariel Chart, Spill Words Press and the Poppy Road Review. Penny is a member of the Austin Poetry Society. Her poetry has been featured in the publication America's Emerging Poets 2018 & 2019 by Z Publishing, Poets Quarterly and Dual Coast Magazine published by Prolific Press. You can find more of her writings on her blog at https://pennywilsonwrites.com/ and follow her on Twitter @pennywilson123.

27 thoughts on “Inspiration”

  3. Music inspire much of my writing as well.
    I can relate to this very well Penny.
    You have a great week. 🙂

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  4. I love music and listen to it while I’m writing. It inspires me in so many ways. My site is named after a song that brought me through a rough time.

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  7. Great post! Loved your two questions at the end! Me, in varies! Like most above, inspiration can come from many of the same sources, words, phrases, titles, lyrics and movie dialog as well as simple conversation. I try and save these little gems and seeds of inspiration in my Word Bank for future use, when things don’t seem to flow. One of the things that moves me a lot photos and quotes with photos. I’ll search for photos on a topic and usually find a word or phrase that triggers something. I’ve found Five Minute Friday and love their prompts. Inspiration is everywhere if you have shut down the critical right side of the brain look and listen to the world with a meditative mind.
    xoxo

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  8. Yes, Penny, I’m with you. Something about music creates the magic that reaches into the soul…past our minds– and pulls out the feelings long forgotten– or those we thought we left behind. One of those beautiful windows into the soul!

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  10. Normally I just have certain words or a particular image I want to express and then I pop on some Wagner or something equally emotive and I see where it takes me. Pictures can also prove great inspiration for me and I’ll occasionally just browse through pixabay until I find something and it can trigger an entire story

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  11. A word, a phrase, a photo, a face glimpsed on a subway or just a random thought, anything can be my next inspiration. .

    I listen to a lot of music, but I hear it as music. Even if I know the words, I just hear the voice as an instrument and, unless I make myself, I don’t assign meaning to the actual words. Which, of course, explains why I didn’t get the weird looks when as a kid I used to sing “I’m a sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania” at the top of my lungs (if you don’t know, it is a song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show) 😉 .

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    1. omg Trent, I know exactly where that comes from! LOL!! I watch it every Halloween. The scene where Tim Curry sings that as he comes down the elevator is my favorite scene in the whole movie! No wonder you got weird looks! 🙂 The WORDS have become so much more important to me since I started writing.

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      1. lol. I was only a little over half serious – I did sing the song as a kid (teen), but I knew, more or less, what it was about. I just didn’t think about it or care. During a short lived more conservative period of my life I watched the movie again and was aghast and embarrassed by my more liberated, younger self for singing it in public. Thankfully that version of Trent didn’t last long 😉 I watch the movie most Halloweens myself.

        Every so often a specific lyric does catch me, but it is often the way the words sound as much as the greater meaning. For instance, I’ve become a big fan of Bob Dylan, and I do like the message of protest songs, songs against racism, etc., but I’ll admit that I enjoy the almost abstract poetry and odd symbolism of things like “Desolation Row” more than straight up “Blowing in the Wind” or whatever.

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  12. For me it’s always feelings first, with a bit of music, photo’s, news, books, all that I know. haha
    You write when you have inspiration. That’s the best way.
    What a wonderful picture you used for the blog.

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