Inspiration by Wendy H. Jones

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.

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.

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 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.

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

short shrift. It seems like she took the huff, and the broch was never excavated. Having been rediscovered a few years ago they are now raising funds to excavate it. Are you with me so far – great story? My writer’s mind immediately leapt to what if our intrepid investigators were on the dig and what if Christian Maclagan was haunting it. See, inspiration can come from anywhere. Why am I telling you all of this? Apart from these being jolly good stories and fascinating, I would like to encourage you to try your hand at writing a story or article based on something you see that you may think is mundane. Cafes and buses are brilliant for this – just listen to the conversations around you. Overheard snippets of a stranger’s conversation can set your brain dancing and whirling and spitting out the most fantastic stories. Try writing that story. One health warning – as I am writing this during a global pandemic you may be living in a country where cafes aren’t open and not many people are using buses. Stay safe while you are doing your research.

Words themselves can also spark a writer’s imagination. I teach writing workshops internationally (via zoom at present. No plane journeys were undertaken in the bringing of this article). One of the exercises I do is to hand out words to the workshop participants. They may have three random words or even just one. Then I ask them to think of three different story ideas based around the words they are given. Story dice are also good for this. Story dice are sixteen dice with different images on each side. Now, I’m a wordsmith not a mathematician but that makes 96 pictures if I’ve got my maths right. Think of all the different permutations of story ideas based on that. They really do set a writer’s brain off in a different direction. So, my challenge - keep your eyes and ears peeled and your notebook handy when you are out and about – you never know where inspiration might strike. And you definitely don’t know where it might take you. Take a chance, step out and write a story. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to Qing Dynasty China.

Wendy H. Jones is the award winning, international best-selling author of the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries, Cass Claymore Investigates Mysteries, Fergus and Flora Mysteries, Bertie the Buffalo children’s books and the Writing Matters books for writers. She is also a writing and marketing coach and the President of the Scottish Association of Writers. As copy editor for Mom’s, she works hard to ensure content is appropriate and free of grammatical and spelling errors. You can learn more about Wendy on her website: https://www.wendyhjones.com/