Inspiration by Wendy H. Jones Last month I gave you an insight into the mind of a writer and talked about where we find inspiration. This month I thought I would take you even deeper and tell you stories about how I develop these ideas into stories. I also want to challenge you to do your own piece of writing, more of that at the end. As an author, people often ask me where I get the inspiration for my books. I usually say, “Straight out of my head,” which is true. Then I follow it up with, “As I write mysteries my head is a worrying place to be.” Whilst that is a fun answer the reality is much more prosaic although equally as interesting. I get inspiration from literally everything and everyone around me – in other words inspiration is everywhere.
Egyptian dagger exhibit. Most people would think, what a lovely dagger. My mind immediately turned to – I wonder if the dagger is cursed and what would happen if it was stolen. A writer’s mind is exceedingly strange indeed.
Let me give you some examples. My Picture book series is called Bertie the Buffalo. Bertie is based on the true story of a baby water buffalo who went missing from a farm in Scotland. Yes, I appreciate that a water buffalo isn’t very Scottish but, as the saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction. So, I wrote a rhyming picture book based on this story. I used my imagination to fill in the gaps as to what he might be doing and what other animals he might be meeting, while he trotted around Scotland for a couple of weeks. Now, that was fun and allowed my imagination to run wild. Once you have your inspiration, those gaps not only need to be filled in but sealed with bricks and mortar in the form of words.
The idea for the second book came from a small paragraph in the local newspaper about Scotland’s Lost Broch. You what? For those not in the know, a broch is an ancient stone dwelling of which there are many in Scotland. They are usually fairly large, and one would think it would be not only difficult but careless to lose one. After all, they aren’t exactly portable. Apparently, we managed it. Therefore, I did what any good writer would do and investigated. My investigation led me to a Victorian lady named Christian MacLagan, a spinster of the Parish in Stirling. Our Christian was both independently wealthy and a keen archaeologist. She also did a lot with slum clearances, ensuring citizens were moved into decent housing. I digress. Christian found a Broch and like any keen archaeologist let the Scottish Society of Antiquarians know of her find. This being the early 1800’s, despite being ruled by a Queen, Victorian gentleman were not going to be told their business by a woman. So, they gave her
My Young Adult series, The Fergus and Flora Mysteries, is a mixture of fact and fiction. The historical elements are, on the whole, factual, and the contemporary storyline is fiction first to last. Book one came from a visit to the British Museum and an - 78 -
