the inspiration we live in

In my experience, inspiration is everywhere. As long as I keep my eyes open, as long as I’m looking—really looking—at everyone and everything that comes into my life everyday (is the word “every” losing its impact in this paragraph?), there is an almost overwhelming amount to write about. I keep a list of characters, I keep a list of places, I keep a list of things… like how, on a pouring-rainy day, like last Tuesday, the first really wet day of the semester, you see ants everywhere, and your thickest socks are bound to get wet, and how can a bright white sky be so dark? and if I stop moving even for a minute, all I want is to get under blankets and drink hot chocolate (more warm than hot, so it isn’t hard to hold, more melted marshmallows than drink) and watch something long and made by the BBC.

For inspiration, please watch this brief movie on one of the Good magazine blogs, by Kenneth Chu, asking 50 strangers in Brooklyn the question, "Where would you like to wake up tomorrow?" God, people are so gorgeous and amazing. Those are all characters, kick-in-the-head-excellent characters, but if you don’t want them, ask your character that question. Or even just ask yourself. It’s pretty revealing. This question blows my protagonist Emma’s mind, like thinking about the never-ending nature of the universe, so much so she can’t form an answer it. It made me realize how much the essential question of my novel is, “what happens after high school? How much can you, or should you, plan the rest of your life?” So Baxter’s definitely going to ask her that question eventually.

I also recommend writing when you’re not inspired. It will inspire you. This is along the same lines of the advice, "write a bad novel (/story/poem)" which someone mentioned getting or taking on the first day of class. Setting out to write a Great Novel, I think, is impossible and more frustrating than anything. When I pull from fresh inspiration, I know I’m often setting myself up for disappointment. I’m not going to do anything with those descriptions of a rainy day for a while because the experience of that rainy day is too fresh and the feeling of realizing those quintessential aspects is too good. Nothing I write will live up to it.