Dreaming up ideas

I don’t know about any of you, but I quite often find myself literally dreaming up my ideas for books and potential stories. Some of these dreams have been planned and ideas worked from them… and some have even turned into full-blown novels. I am writing this post, because at the moment, I keep dreaming about this one particular story I have churning over in my head.

Dreaming of Oceans

There are people who believe that each dream means something significant in your waking life. They issues in your life can be represented by an object inside a dream, or even how you feel about the dream can mean something different. They say that dreams are just reflections of your waking consciousness. I’m not so sure that I actually agree with that, but I’m no expert. I have no doubt that there are probably many meanings behind the dreams I have. I can only take what I can from my dreams… and I’m not going to spend huge amounts of time trying to define what a dream actually means in my real life.

I read quite a good article on dream theories that says: “While many or even most of these ideas may be nonsensical, if even a few of its fanciful products are truly useful, our dream time will not have been wasted.” Now that is a passage that seriously gels with my line of thinking.

There is just something rather magical about dreams that just carries you away with them. Your mind drifts into some pretty bizarre places within the subconscious. Some dreams are far beyond reality, and some are just far beyond any sane reality. In other words… you probably wouldn’t base a book on them.

Over the years I have kept notebooks in my bedside table, just in case I happen to have that subconscious idea that potentially inspires a bestseller. Not so long ago, I was cleaning my bedside cabinet out, and found 18 different notebooks with bits and bobs scrawled throughout them. A bit of overkill if you ask me. I remember thinking at the time that if my husband knew I was hoarding notebooks in my bedside drawer so that I could write down my dream ideas, he would probably kill me.

Within my dreams I am looking for storylines, interesting characters, scenery that is inspiring, and dialogue that is catchy and sticks with me. I have had some amazing experiences when I wake from the dream, immediately grab my notebook, and I either start drawing, or jotting down ideas from the dream. I can even start character profiling. But since this is all immediate brain-dumping, it obviously needs quite a few kinks ironed out before I can actually start writing a book based on them.

There are many other authors out there that have written books based on ideas from dreams. Some of these books have even hit the bestseller lists. Some of the more well-known are:

• The Twilight Series, by Stephenie Meyer
• Misery, by Stephen King
• Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
• Stuart Little, by E.B White

I’m sure that there are plenty more out there as well that have been inspired by dreams, but I thought that this small list was substantial enough to give you the general idea. Oh yes, Jane Eyre was another book as well.

So where do you get your ideas from? Have you ever had any come to you within a dream?

I know that I’ll probably keep hoarding notebooks in my bedside drawer just in case. And who knows – one day there could be a bestseller scrawled in there somewhere. (I know… I should probably just keep dreaming.)

 

Inspirational creativity

There are some incredible artists out there. Some that are so inspiring, that you just can’t help but get a little creative yourself when you see or hear their work.

Incredible wall sculpture by Nicholson Blown Glass. This image will take you to their website.

Some of those artists are musicians, painters, sculptors, writers, poets, graphic artists, etc, etc. My favourite historical sculptor and painter is Michelangelo. He once said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” I have this inspiring quote in the signature of my work email. I love this quote, and I adore Michelangelo’s work, whether it was paintings or sculptures. This quote consistently makes me want to try harder… work harder… and become better over time. After all, Michelangelo didn’t carve the angel in one day, did he? He was not an overnight success, and nor do I believe I will be either.

Once upon a time when I used to paint a lot, as soon as I started painting for the day – I would to listen to U2′s Elevation. I always found that this song would clear the rubbish from my head, and allow me to get amped up for a days worth of painting for 7-8 hours. These days I still use music to amp me up for writing. But I don’t just use it for writing. I use it for any sort of work to help motivate me. Exercise, writing, house work, not to mention my Evil Day Job.

There are writers and authors around the world that inspire me every single day. These are the people I look to help me keep going. Some of these people are my peers, and some I love from afar. But all of them inspire me to stick to my game plan and keep going. Often my close friends say to me, “I don’t understand how you can be so motivated? You work a forty hour week, and then your spare time, you dedicate all those hours to writing as well.” Yes. Yes I do. Why? Because I am passionate about literature. Once upon a time I wrote for my eyes only. Now I have slightly bigger goals in that department.

And with bigger goals comes a bigger responsibility. More time dedicated to perfecting your craft… more support and understanding required from your friends and family… more of yourself. But no matter what is going on, I can always turn to those that inspire me to keep me motivated to reach my goals and dreams.

One day I hope to inspire other creatives out there… just like me.

 

Monday Musings

Well, this morning I get to sit here in my stripy jammies and dotty dressing gown, with my big doggy slippers on, and write my Monday Musings post. My Mum is here at the moment, and since she is here for such a short period, I thought that I would take the day off and spend some quality time with her.

I did get up early though to get in some uninterrupted editing time, and catch up on the emails. So… what’s on my mind at the moment?

1. Editing and revising. Oh yes, this will be on my mind for quite some time, I fear. No, it’s not a bad thing… in fact, I love it. I cannot understand how people hate editing and revising. Okay – if I was under a tight deadline, then I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t be so happy about it. But I’m not, so I’m good. I’m getting through it slowly. I need more dedicated hours and time to it though, and then I will get through it faster than I currently am. I just want this last revision and edit – to actually be the last major one on this book. And when I finish, it’s going out for a final read for some nit picking, and then I’m going to start submitting it to publishers.
2. I only ever considered getting an agent once… and I put that notion out of my head when I decided to approach the smaller publishers first who accept unsolicited manuscripts for consideration. Once upon a time, a very long time ago – I dreamt of publishing with one of the Big 6. I still dream of that, but I am definitely in no rush. For me, it will be approaching the smaller publishers first and hopefully publish with them. I don’t want to try and tackle approaching a huge publisher straight off the bat… Since this is a career for me, I want to build it up. If I make it to one of the Big 6 one day, then I will know that I have succeeded with my publishing dream. Dream – not goal.
3. My Mum bought me the most gorgeous book yesterday. Seriously. It’s a children’s book called….. ‘It’s a Book’ by Lane Smith. Here is a short video clip about it… J http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4BK_2VULCU

 

Written in Ink

Some of us are writers. Many of us are readers. But most of us, at some point in our lives – we, as humans, are inspired by the written word. Sometimes this inspirational written word will be in a magazine… a newspaper clippping… something you have read on the internet… a song lyric… often a book… and if you were like me as a child, you would have been inspired by every book you could get your hands on. Imaginations would run wild, treehuts/castles were created, wars fought, and at at the end of the day, the princess was alive to tell the tale.

from Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

Some people even get words that inspired them tattooed on them.

I came across this neat post today by a woman who is inspired by words: A Permanent Relationship With Words: Literary Tattoos and I just had to share it with you all.

It amazes me that as a writer, I could potentially write something one day, that people would want to tattoo on themselves. We all could. It’s a bit of a mind-boggling concept. It makes me wonder how many people have tattooed themselves with Harry Potter quotes or images, or Shakespeare, or Jane Austen, or e.e. cummings. How many teenagers of today will do it with Twilight quotes, or The Hunger Games. I can see it now. Millions of Mockingjay images tattooed around the world, after all… it is now a literary symbol of freedom from suppression for anybody who has read those books.   

from Peterpan, by J.M. Barrie

I like the idea of writing something in permanent ink on myself. There is a Shakespeare quote that I have always loved: What’s past is prologue. Definitely a quote that I can see myself getting one day. I like the fact that I could have it in white ink even more. You wouldn’t see it in Winter on me, but it would show up nicely in Summer. I suppose it would be more like a part-time tattoo.  And if I didn’t want it anymore, I would just have to make sure I didn’t get a tan.

Anyway – have a look at this amazing little tattoo site – The Word Made Flesh. It’s an entire site of literary inspired tattoos. You never know… Some of your words may end up on that site one day. Now how awesome would that be?

 

Emperor of the Coast

Apparently the area that I live in has caught the attention of international media. Why? Because of a little penguin, on a big journey.

Emperor Penguin on Kapiti Coast, New Zealand

Three days ago, a young Emperor Penguin landed on Peka Peka Beach for a rest, a few kilometres from my place, Now, it’s really not surprising that this wee fella wanted to stop fo a rest. After all, he has travelled over 3,200 kilometres from his home in Antarctica. Now, that is a hell of a journey for a 10-month-old.

The incredible thing, is that the last Emperor Penguin that was sighted here, was in the deep south of New Zealand in 1967. I guess that this wee fella was much more adventurous. And if you are going to come to New Zealand, why not come to an amazing part of it. But can you imagine what it’s like for this penguin at the moment? This is most likely the first time it has ever felt sand, or the air and waters as warm as they are. The first time it has ever encountered humans, or dogs, or probably even boats. Our conservation department has decided that it would be too much of a traumatic journey to transport this Emperor back to Antarctica at this time of year. So in the meantime, our little coastal community has a guest staying.

Our current beach guest

Emperor Penguins are amazing animals in terms of communities, parenting, mating, and hunting. They do everything in packs, and groups. They journey across the ice together, and they coordinate their hunting. The males look after the eggs once the females lay them, and they mate for a year and then switch. In a way, they are very much like humans. Apart from the males looking after the eggs.

Which makes me wonder what this little nomadic penguin was thinking when it decided to swim to warmer shores. What is the real story behind the journey? Was the penguin out hunting with his pack, and got lost? Did a big nasty seal interfere and scare the penguin, bearing in mind that this penguin is not very old. I think it would be wonderful to be able to communicate with these animals on some level to actually find out what their stories are. Especially the story of a traveller like this one. Could be an awfully good little children’s book series.

And just in case anyone is really interested in the annual cycle of an Emperor Penguin – here is an image care of Wikipedia.

Emperor Penguin Life Cycle

 

Inspirational things

For many years I have collected and saved things that I find inspirational in my life. In fact, I think I might be an ‘inspiration’ hoarder. There are things like this all over my house that I just need to look at and find something that makes me happy within them. These are things like photographs of my grandmother who was an incredibly talented violinist, my grandfather’s war medals that I have the miniatures of, candles that I light when I am writing, artwork, and of course there are many, many books.

I do have this small angel ornament that my mother gave me once, that I particularly like. She sits on the shelf in my library, and she’s blowing a kiss. I’m not sure why I’m so drawn to this little figure. I can’t decide if it’s because of the glitter on her wings that reminds me of magical fairy writing dust, or if it’s the fact that she is always sending me love. Whatever it is, I like it, and it inspires me, (even if I did accidentally drop her once, and broke her leg. Yeah… I still feel guilty!)

Inside my computer, I have even more things that inspire me electronically. There is music, random photographs, quotes, friend’s book covers that are about to be published, arty images, and videos of inspiring people. I often like cruising around my computer’s hard drive and rediscovering all these amazing things, but it can be an incredible time waster.

So while I was sick, I decided that a few of these things should probably be shared, and hosted in the one spot so that I stop cruising around my laptop for hours on end. I felt that the best place would be on my new website, which is now properly up and running (although there are a few more things that need fixing in there.) So I created an Inspiration page there so that everyone can feel inspired.

I think that there are amazingly inspirational things everywhere that we all find uniquely inspirational to us as individuals. I am always on the hunt for more that can inspire me, and as artists, I think we all are – whether it be a line spoken, a painting, or even a lyric. These are things that inspire me, and things that I save to muse over later. If you know of anything that I could be interested in then please send me an email. I would love to see whatever treasures you have… especially if it helps inspire my writing.

 

The lyrics are inspirational

Being a great lover of music, I am always listening to it. I have tons of the stuff. (Addict.) But the reason why I am always listening to it is because much of the time I find the lyrics are truly inspirational.

Some people listen to it for the catchy melodies, others for the lyrics that they like. I listen to music, partly for the good of my soul, but more for the development of my characters. Each of my characters has their own ‘life soundtrack’ playlist, which I play at the time when I’m writing them.  I find that this helps enormously with their potential reactions to the different and dangerous situations that I’m throwing them into. Even when they are emotional, just by playing one track that is close to that character’s heart helps. And believe me, those tracks are far from my favourite, but my characters have their own personalities and taste in music, and therefore they life music that doesn’t particularly tickle my fancy.

Yes, I guess these are the ramblings from a neurotic writer. (One day I might tell you what else I do for my characters… besides giving them their own soundtracks. Trust me, it gets worse.)

Now, I have a good friend whose favourite artist is Leonard Cohen. Now, a lot of Leonard’s stuff is quite dark, (I think he suffered from tortured artist syndrome,) but a lot of what Leonard is voicing out to the world are emotions and beliefs that some of us are just too scared to say out loud. These lyrics are awesome for tortured characters!

But, first and foremost, Leonard Cohen is a poet. I’m not saying this out of adoration for the man, but out of truth. I recently found out from my friend that Mr Cohen was a poet and a writer long before he was a musician, or a lyricist. He had his first book of poetry published when he was just 22 years old, and he wrote his heart out until the age of 33, when he released an album. I was having a conversation with my friend the other day about Leonard Cohen (he comes up in conversation a lot) and my friend said to me, ‘It’s unheard of nowadays to embark on a new career as a musician so late in life. And to be so successful at it.’

And so on that note, I am going to leave you with an inspirational little poem by Leonard Cohen, and you can make your own decisions on the creative pathways that you or your characters walk. I know that this is a little cynical and crude… but he’s right. And he’s probably one of the only people in the world who will say it so bluntly.

The fifteen year old girls

I wanted when I was fifteen

I have them now

It is very pleasant

It is never too late

 

I advise you all

to become rich and famous.

 

Climbing the mountain

Last week my grandmother phoned me and asked if I would like to go and climb the highest peak on the Island just off our coast. Since we have been trying to go there for the past two years, I jumped at the opportunity. I was delighted to find out that my cousins would be joining us for the journey.

So early on Sunday morning we set off for our family adventure. Kapiti Island, off the coast of where I live, is a wildlife sanctuary for native birds and bush. It has a lot of history linked to it – much to do with settler trading, whaling, and Maori leaders, and it also has a great spiritual association for many New Zealanders. 

Looking south towards Kapiti Island

It stands majestically, rising out of the sea, often with misty cloud surrounding it. There is nothing quite like standing on our beach, looking out at it. In fact, there have been times when I have driven the car down to the beach, parked up, and opened my laptop to write.

But despite the fact that I can write on the beach while overlooking the island… while I was there, I did not feel the inspiration to write. I’m sure that it would probably inspire other people to write there. I can imagine that there are oodles of poetry out there about the island.

My focus wasn’t on writing (like it usually is), but entirely on getting my backside up the mountain. It was the challenge that I was mentally prepared to take on. Not only that, but my 82-year-old and legally blind grandmother wanted to get up there as well. It was the drive and passion of my grandmother that got me thinking about writing. Here is a woman who raised a her siblings in the guts of war and the depression, married, took on the raising of her husband’s split family, had more of her own children, and now has a lot to do with all of her grandchildren’s raising and education. A busy woman all of her life, yet she still makes the time to walk and hike some of the hardest trails in New Zealand. In the past when I have asked her about how she has managed to do it, she has turned to me and said, “Oh, you know, one walk at a time.”

Rex - the Kaka parrot on Kapiti Island

This is the same for a writer’s journey. One word at a time. One story at a time. One book at a time. It’s a bit like climbing a mountain with each novel written. At the start, it’s all uphill and hard work. I would say that the ascent would take approximately two thirds of the book to write, and on the way you have met many different characters. Then you are at the peak, and your writer’s spirit is peaking. You know that as you look down, you know how far you have come. And there is only one way back, and that’s downhill. This is your home straight – even if the pathway isn’t actually that straight.

You have done all of the hard work getting up there, and now you deserve to reward yourself with the satisfying walk back down. Looking at those points and pathways that you have already covered… tying everything together, and trying not to trip over any rocks and tree-roots that are constant obstacles to navigate. And then once you get back down to ground level, you look back at that great achievement.

You know how hard the journey was, but you have accomplished it. Yes, you are a bit battered and bruised. Muscles that you never knew you had, are kindly letting you know that you have worked your backside off. Climbing a mountain is like writing a novel.

It has its peaks, troughs, and challenges. But one step at a time is equal to one word. And you can only move onwards and upwards. Keep climbing, keep writing, keep dreaming.