I write this as part
of the Thursday’s Children blog hop, a weekly 'what inspires you' meme hosted
by Rhiann Wynn-Nolet of A Nest of Words. The thoughts, trivia
and tidbits she comes up with are absolutely fascinating, so don't forget to check it out. Now technically what inspired me this
Thursday actually happened a few weeks ago, when I posted this tweet to promote
my latest blog post:
Katherine Amabel @KatherineAmabel
Effective blog
content doesn't necessarily include your week at the community center learning
about stamp collections: http://beyondthehourglassbridge.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/the-follow-swap-blog-hop-effective.html
and then this popped
up as a reply:
Rhiann Wynn-Nolet @RhiannWynnNolet
@KatherineAmabel Lol. Unless it inspires a pageturner
about a stamp so prized numismatists will kill to possess it #crazedcollectors
Inspired? You bet I
was. (Once I Googled numismatist, of course). And the next thing you know, a
whirlwind of creativity took place:
 |
| Dodgy screenshots brought to you by me, the incompetent blogger. J |
And there you have
it – a piece of improvised collaborative flash twitter fiction (or the script
for an entire series of Days of Our Lives). It was also a wake-up call to the fact that one of the
greatest sources of inspiration out there is other writers. I’ve probably overlooked that a lot in the past, seeing writers as sources
of feedback and advice but not necessarily ideas, and now I’m thinking maybe we
should aim for more conversations like that. At best, we’ll get a novel out of
it. At worst, at least it makes us look busy when it’s time for housework.
So here’s an idea
for you – there’s a snowglobe on my desk. Is it smashed? Full of miniature
people? A murderer’s calling card? Tell me in the comments! And while we’re on
the subject of being thankful for our writing comrades, that brings me to the
Thanksgiving blog hop hosted by the amazing Brenda Drake!
Clearly what I’m thankful for are
other writers, bloggers, critique partners, patient-family-members-who-read-your-first-draft-before-you-realise-it’s-painfully-cringeworthy-and-shouldn’t-ever-be-read-by-anyone-including-yourself,
and all the wonderful people supporting us. One such person is Aimee L Salter, who has agreed to be interviewed this week for my Interview
With A Blogpire series, which features successful bloggers and their tips for
building author platforms. So stick around for that, and in the meantime
you can check out my first Interview with a Blogpire, starring Brenda Drake herself.
How neatly wrapped up is that?
P.S. Linky links!
Thursday's Children Blog Hop
Thursday's Children Blog Hop
The writer community is an awesome place, isn't it. Thank you for the shout out. You are AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :D
DeleteGreat post. Thanks so much for joining us on Thursday's Children!
ReplyDeleteNo worries, thanks for hosting. :)
DeleteWe did have fun with that twitter flash fiction didn't we, lol. As for your snowglobe, hmmm, I think I see a tiny elf with pointy red shoes banging against the inside of the glass. If you don't smash the globe he will drown...but if you do smash the globe, well I'm not sure what will happen next.
ReplyDeleteThat makes him sound evil! I love that.
DeleteOoo, you're so perceptive. That was EXACTLY my intent.
Delete*Cackles diabolically*
DeleteAnd I always thought Twitter was a waste of time!! (just kidding)
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome—I'd love to see more "flash collaborations", too.
The snow globe can show you your future, if you'd only reach out and shake it...
But that future is in another world....
DeleteHee hee I love the way you just added a whole new level of intrigue there. The future of an entirely different world, right there in your hands. Fascinating...
DeleteIf it's anything like my Magic 8 ball predictions, my future will suck. I will leave the future-envisioning snowglobe to the rest of you.
Delete"The tiny elf with the pointy red shoes is set free to grant three wishes to the individual who released him!"
ReplyDeleteLove the twitter story, great idea. I have an account but do no follow it. No cell phone.
I'm digging the elf idea. Kids would love it. :)
DeleteI adore twitter (and IM) brainstorming. Granted, most of the stuff my friends and I come up with, won't make it into a story, but every once in a while we get a few gems. And we always get tons of laughs. :)
ReplyDeletehahaha well you dont need twitter for these convos... Some friends and I found ourselves walking through a dark ominous park to get to a party, theories of zombies and who would get attacked first helped pass the time :) would have made a good story.
ReplyDeleteI think your people are hiding from zombies in a house but someone moves and knocks the snowglobe, the zombies turn as it slowly rolls across the floor...
ooohh creepy... and awesome!
DeleteI love when friends/family/acquaintances/total strangers give me ideas for my next manuscripts! I'm writing one right now that was inspired by a little bit of fan fiction one of my beta readers (okay, it was my sister, but she still counts, right?) wrote about my "first" novel. She fell in love with one of the secondary characters and wanted to hear her story. I laughed and put the idea aside, but it stayed with me and grew until I couldn't let it go. Now, it's my NaNoWriMo project, and I'm loving it like crazy! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! Hope it goes well for you. :)
Delete