Inspiration for Writers

I just finished an amazing course in picture book writing from the Picture Book Academy. It was both informative and inspirational.

Every artist and writer needs an inspiration boost sometimes. Here’s a list of resources to keep handy. I’ve used most of them at one time or another and am looking forward to checking out others I haven’t tried.

If your favorite book, podcast, or video isn’t listed, please share it in the comments!

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• “Warm-up Poems”
• “Quiet Trips”
• Linda Armstrong’s Portfolio
• Zazzle Fine Art Prints and Products
• Contemporary Print on Demand Art

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A Great Blog Post About Creativity

The High Existence Blog offers great resources for creators. Click on the link below to read the post. It will help you get going and keep working.

9 Toxic Habits That are Killing Your Creativity

An Old Poem about Masks and Intimacy

I have been looking through old manuscripts. I don’t believe how many I have! You probably have too. At any rate, I have decided to post  some of my old (very old) poems here. They are from the 80s when we lived in Los Angeles. In case you are wondering, the “I” in each is a character, not me.  They are fiction. You, as a fellow author, know how these “people” take form from words and images. That is the greatest delight in writing.

The title of this particular poem is “Mask.” We all have many of them, each suited to a different occasion. They are our most important social accessories, but sometimes, they come off.

 

Mask

The face of my fear bares

broken spaces, primitive

patterns for appearances

before fire.  It throbs

in shadows, patterning

memory and hope.  You lift

it off like cured plaster:

It pulls.  Cool air washes

my cheeks;  blood-light

floods my lids.  We hang

the casting on a wall

and I see why I stayed

so long on that seductive

shore where death wears

parrot wings and orchids.

Now sweet night slides

through this room

like a river and I ride.

NaPoWriMo Day 12

Vincent van Gogh [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I’d like to say, but never would, that

I am

worth

just

as much

as

you.

2013 April PAD Challenge: Day 12: Write a “Broke” Poem

By Greg Lundeen [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Today, write a “broke” or “broken” poem for Robert Brewer’s blog.

2013 April PAD Challenge: Day 12 | Write a Poem a Day Until May | WritersDigest.com.

Mine is a wish for friends in the upper midwest currently enduring round after round of snowy storms.

The storm
has broken
at last,
Across the
valley
swings the
broken arc
of a rainbow.
Listen!
An overjoyed
finch has
broken into
song.

Day 11, NaPoWriMo: Write a Tanka

Vincent van Gogh [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In nearby orchards

frosted blossoms have withered

pink petals drifting

on a breeze too late to save

their promise of abundance.

2013 April PAD Challenge: Day 11

By User:Vassil (File:Sépulcre_Arc-en-Barrois_111008_12.jpg) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Write an in case of_______ poem.

2013 April PAD Challenge: Day 11 | Write a Poem a Day Until May | WritersDigest.com.

In Case of Loss

In case of loss,

look the last

place you

would expect,

the one

you would say

“Why on

Earth there?”

Always works.

Day 10, Donna L. Sadd’s Prompt: Write a Poem About Heart

By Jerry “Woody” from Edmonton, Canada [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Today’s prompt on Donna Sadd’s blog is to write a poem about heart. Here’s mine:

The token

in my story

was going to be

a golden heart,

until I heard

every book

crossing the desk

centered on

that symbol

of life and love,

so I decided

to move a beat

further into

another constant

of life: change.

For Day 10, A Poem About Suffering

Henri Théophile Hildibrand [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

Today’s subject for Robert Brewer’s blog is suffering. Click on the link below to read the contributions of the community and add your own. Mine is below. Don’t worry about me, LOL, the speaker in the poem is suffering. I am fine. I wanted to get inside the feeling and went back to periods in the distant past when I experienced it.

2013 April PAD Challenge: Day 10 | Write a Poem a Day Until May | WritersDigest.com.

Suffering

I am

at the bottom

of a well.

I have

always

been here,

though

I suspect

I have not.

When I look

up, the

night is

starless

and I imagine

clouds.

The stone

walls of my

prison are

slick with putrid

moss. I

can see

no hope.

I can see

no hope.

Noir

She steps

out of the

fog that

hangs around

until noon

every day

this time

of year, furtive,

turning to

see if he

is still following,

the one who

knows about

the stain on

her best coat,

the one she

left under

Santa Monica

Pier.

By RHaworth (Roger W Haworth) (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons