Quote of the Day: I like to write when I feel spiteful; it’s like having a good sneeze. – D.H. Lawrence
You can be a little ungrammatical if you come from the right part of the country. – Robert Frost
Grammar is a piano I play by ear. All I know about grammar is its power. Joan Didion
I found those quotes in a little book called Writers on Writing. I picked it up at a used bookstore in Lincoln City, OR, when I was visiting my sister last summer. (That’s Joy in the background looking at funny music books.)
Sometimes, I envy kids because they have so many opportunities handed to them. Grown-ups have to make their own opportunities. Take last week’s Young Authors Conference. The kids could choose from 18 different presentations by professional authors. In fact, we were all wishing we could rove around and sit in on each other’s classes. They were diverse and interesting and filled with inspiration. They could learn about Jackhammers and Mount Rushmore, sharing secrets, and writing scenes for a screenplay, to name a few. I would have loved being a kid that day.
Where do you turn for inspiration? Have you taken any classes lately? Used any online services? One place students can go is college support services. We visit blogs, read about other’s success, buy the craft books, take courses, and attend workshops.
My idea of a great vacation would be to escape to a camp for grown-ups who like to create things. We’d have theatre games, time to write, time to interact, great food, campfires with wild, imaginative stories, late night swims, and a bit of romance.
Ya, that’s the kind of summer camp I’d sign up for.
Journaling Prompt: Where do you go for support and inspiration? Do you want to join me in my virtual summer camp? Have you ever been to a camp or retreat center that nurtures your creativity? Your sense of romance?
For inspiration, I look around me at life and to wonderful bloggers like you.
I often turn to my camera for inspiration. Looking through the lens gives me a different perspective, and that change in view often sparks the writing muse.
We have a place to go every summer that refreshes every tired out part of my being. I can never write very well there, the trees are too beautiful. But when I get back, I’m ready to write!
I’d join you on your virutal summer camp!
I can usually find inspiration through certain blogs or crit partners, but at least once a year I need to physically go away to a writer’s conference and replenish that well.
Yes, I’d definitely join you at your virtual summer camp! Christopher inspires me the most, Mary. I often write in his room while he chats away. I love being in there with him. 🙂
I’d just like to escape to a little corner of silence for awhile.
Wait now, did you say something about a presentation involving secrets. Do tell more, please! (hee hee)
It is important that those of us inclined toward inspiring others also seek sources of inspiration. Great point, Mary! And good ideas.
Last week’s adventure really was a little about both, wasn’t it? I think that’s why I like that event so much. It’s an exchange.
I’ve been thinking of organising my own writer’s retreat this year, would be wonderful to get away from all distractions and just create!
Wagging Tales – Blog for Writers
Wow, I think I would have liked being a kid that day, too. I have been craving some form of writerly camaraderie and workshops lately. I think it’s BEA envy. 🙂
Hi Mary,
Those are great quotes, must look for that book. I’m such a lover of Nature, that I’d probably like to be surrounded by trees, lakes , flowers and great reads:)
Clara.