Anne Faye

In the July/August edition of Writer's Digest , Donna Baier Stein writes about using art as inspiration for writing. Inspiration can come from anywhere, but visual images can be an especially powerful source of writing ideas because they appeal to our senses and are in themselves a creative act. Stein offers some suggestions about where to find images including museums, online art collections, local galleries, books of art from the library, and collections of poster prints. I would add photographs to that list. We are bombarded with photo images today and every one has a story. When using these images as Ask questions about the image. Who is in it? What is the backstory? Can you think of an alternate backstory? Many works of literature have been inspired by art (and no doubt the opposite is also true). And yes, I have done this myself. My novel The Rose Ring was inspired by the wallpaper border in my kitchen. I spent years thinking I wanted to write a story about someone who l...

I'm engaging in some leisure reading right now and enjoying The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans. In his Prologue, he writes of his inspiration for the story. I like this line: "I lifted my pencil to the page, not because I had words, but because a blank page beckoned." So much of being a writer is writing even when the inspiration seems far away. It comes. It always comes, but you have to put yourself in a place to receive it. You need to be willing to do the work, to open the notebook (or the laptop) and start writing.

Dr. Suess, aka Theodore Geisel, was an iconic children's book writer. Who among us is not familiar with the Cat in the Hat or The Grinch that Stole Christmas ? Born and raised in my hometown of Springfield, MA, our city features a sculpture garden in his honor. Right now, The Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History is featuring a special exhibit, "And to Think That He Saw It in Springfield" illustrating the many sources of inspiration that he found in this city. All writers seek inspiration. It can come from many sources, but the places that we live and work can be especially fertile ground if we can see them with fresh eyes. This exhibit compares some of Dr. Suess' fancicul drawings with photographs of the actual places that inspired them. For more information on the exhibit, please visit: And To Think That He Saw it in Springfield

I was doing some work last week formatting my manuscript. As I read the expanded version, I decided that I really didn't like it very much. The parts I added were alright, but they just didn't add to the story, they changed the mood of the whole manuscript, and I really don't want that. I liked the story as it was. I'm facing the realization that I wrote 20,000 words for nothing (other than the experience of writing them). So, where does that leave me? I haven't heard back yet from the publisher looking at my story, so that is still a hope. If that falls through, I'm not sure what to do. Unless a story is 80,000 words, an agent won't go near it. I'm praying about the whole situation. I guess my best hope is to start another story, but honestly, I am a bit tired at the moment. It is both emotionally exhilarating and emotionally exhausting to write a fiction piece of length. I need a bit of a breather. Plus, a new idea would be helpful. Therefore, I am k...

After posting about all the places novel ideas come from a couple days ago, I decided to start an "Idea Notebook." I grabbed one of the one-subject notebooks I had picked up at Staples for 1 cent each when school was starting. (That was just way too good a deal to pass up!), scrawled my name and "Idea Notebook" on the cover and put down the two ideas that had been bouncing around in my head the past couple weeks. I was listening to some 1990s country music tonight while I worked, and was inspired with a couple more ideas. Who knows if anything will ever come of any of these, but if I write them down, at least I won't lose them. Do you keep an idea notebook? Have you found it helpful?