Starting the Words

Inspiration is where everything begins really. It’s the point where we see something as mundane as a bicycle chained to a lamppost and wonder about it. We begin to imagine who owns the bike. What that person is like, their job, looks, attitude to the world and everything else.

The thing about inspiration is that it’s fleeting. Well at least it’s fleeting for me. Getting hit by something like a freight train and four in the morning only to end up going “hmm what was that again, something to do with cheese right?”

Then again some things stick. Some things you end up mulling over quite a bit. Today I was walking past a church. There’s a lot of them in Dublin so it’s not unusual. Then I saw the pigeons fluttering about them. Pigeons are all over cities and in particular churches. So if you’re going to hang out in church why do the whole being a bat or something. Why not take the form of a pigeon. It’s pretty usual and typical. Then again why and what would you be doing hanging out near a church in the form of a pigeon. Then what would your typical form be? So you can imagine I’ve been scribbling for hours now about a character for the novel that is a shape shifting pigeon. I reckon that they’ll change and mutate a little bit over the course of hammering out things but it’s a start.

The main inspiration for my story came from an event that happened in Dublin a few years ago now and is mixed with the city’s history. This is something you’ll find out about later on because it’s really not developed all that well.

I suppose the main issue with inspiration is the waves in which it comes at you. Sometimes you can sit and look at a blank sheet of paper for hours on end and nothing but some doodles will end up on the page. Then some days sitting in work, when you’re meant to be doing the job you get paid for, you end up having a flood of ideas. I still haven’t figured out how to kick start the creative process. When I do, I might actually be able to sit for hours and write nonstop. Until then I’ll have to settle for writing things down in my notepad and developing them later on.

So yeah, a great way to start is to just to think about the mundane then let your mind follow some logical conclusions. It’s amazing what will end up with after that.