A child’s laughter can heal us all, if only we’d stop long enough to listen.
I’ve been asked by a startling number of people lately, where I find inspiration for writing. My answer is always: everywhere, of course. In my dreams. In my *ahem* fantasies. In the way I feel when I hear my daughter’s sparkling laughter. A look shared between two strangers on the street. The smell of cookies baking in the kitchen. The tickle of warm summer rain on my skin.
We all store stimulus differently. For me, a sound, or a smell, can evoke such deep emotion in me I need to let it out somehow. It usually comes out by way of the written word. A single moment can linger in my mind for a day and by the time I wake up the following morning, I’ll have the premise for a story. Though some days I’d like to be able to shut that off, most of the time I love it.
I’ve been trying harder to pause in my life long enough to smell the proverbial roses. When I do, I’m amazed at what I see, hear, and smell. Give it a try. You might be surprised, too.
“A single moment can linger in my mind for a day and by the time I wake up the following morning, I’ll have the premise for a story.”
Only once have I remembered from a dream (it’s now a complete novel). Normally, when an idea hits me as I drift off into lala land, I forget it by morning. 😉
The instant I wake up, I have to repeat the idea over and over or it’ll escape me. 🙂 So frustrating when that happens.
I completely agree – my dreams often supply me with inspiration and answers… I was worrying over a particular problem in my latest ms and I dreamed the resolution. Gosh I wish I could multi task so efficiently on everything else!
I wrote an entire novel based on dreams I experienced. That particular novel will be published this year. 🙂
I can understand perfectly what you are saying.I have a 5 years old daughter and when she laughs it’s like the world stops for a wile and i forget all my worries and problems ,it’s just the tow of us just like in a dream .