THE INSPIRATION FOR WRITING
The first
question I am always asked when I share my experiences of writing is, “Where do
you find your inspiration from?”. There is a myriad of answers with no one
simple answer to the question. As I have turned my hand to numerous different
styles of writing, the answer is even more multifaceted.
In the very
early days of writing, I published articles in magazines and newspapers and
these articles were always based on personal experience. Two examples come to
mind. I had to retake both my car as well as motorcycle driving tests again
when I came to the U.K. nearly 40 years ago. I decided to take riding lessons
again, mainly to familiarise myself with the traffic and road conditions in
this country. I wrote a humorous article based on this experience. We had a
most entertaining riding instructor who was a larger than life character with a
sense of humour to match.
The next
source of inspiration came from a conversation I had with a couple in rural
Austria and the rituals and traditions of weddings in Austria. I went on to do
several articles on weddings in different cultures.
As an
academic writer, both of books as well as journal articles, the inspiration
often comes from endless research and identifying the gaps in the literature.
Another avenue is to combine several themes of the literature in a particular
subject in different, and hitherto, unrelated combinations.
Again, by way
of an example is from my career as an Executive Coaching and my interest in
complexity theory. I developed a fascination for the latter when researching
for my first Ph.D. in Corporate Strategy. I continue to explore the connection
between these subjects and now share my ideas with aspiring students of
coaching.
The
inspiration for my book H.A.G.S.
with Attitude: A philosophy for ageing, and no doubt the reason why
you are reading this blog in the first instance, came from my personal
experience associated with transitioning into midlife and beyond.
A metaphor
that comes to mind when considering the nature of inspiration in writing is
that of pulling a loose thread. Once you start it rapidly unravels. When the
seed of an idea takes place, with a bit of watering and nurturing, it grows and
grows. The exciting part of it is that you never know where the journey will
take you.
My advice for
any aspiring writer is to allow yourself to follow your inspiration and see
where it leads you. I can guarantee that the destination will be very different
from what you anticipate, and you will have an exciting adventure along the
way!
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