Forgotten Inspiration

A Past Practice Brought Forward

A few weeks ago, I was backwoods camping in Canada with my husband. It was an amazing trip for many reasons. I had more time to read and write than I imagined and the lack of distractions was such an incredible gift that I had a hard time releasing when transitioning back to the US.

I had two books I could read. At first, I thought I only had one (physical book) and realized after a day of rain that I would run out of reading material by Tuesday. Luckily, my Kindle app works on airplane mode and allows me to read the book that is downloaded.

Most of what I wrote in my dedicated notebook was about the experience I was in and the sensory details of nature. I also did a lot of reflecting and planning since I was not being bombarded with emails, looking up books, laundry and other things that are just part of every day life. [The emails caught up though. I had over 750 when I returned.]

One day I wrote about how I don’t miss much about teaching public school. I quit two years ago and had been burnt out for a long while before that time. External circumstances allowed me to not go back and to become a full time writer all year, not just in the summers.

Teaching reading and writing to young children were loves of mine. There was a time when I knew about the new children’s books coming out and who the authors were.

I go to the library at least three times a week. The children’s section is on the second floor of the library and it would be easy for me to wander up there check out the books on display and on the new arrivals shelf and reacquaint myself with what is current.

Part of the fun for me when I was teaching was reading and interacting with the kids. I had a writing prompt ready for them to use or “chuck out the window”. I always encouraged students to write in response to the reading in whatever way moved them, even if it didn’t go with my prompt. The writing was better and they knew they had a choice. They knew we wrote every day and sometimes had a story at the ready.

Here is something else I realized in the silence of the Canadian wilderness….my writing was more imaginative when I was around students because I was writing to my prompts as an example for them. Some ideas were just for the example to get them started and sometimes they turned into flash pieces.

I decided to help myself and take an -

Artist Date

Tuesday when I went to the library, I chose a stack of books and read them at one of the desks. I made some notes in my notebook and then brought them home to write in response to each one.

I am in the middle of a story challenge I imposed on myself so these ideas will fuel the stories for the next few days.

I will share my thoughts and notes from two books from the experience.

Book 1

Not only did I like this story, but I also loved the illustrations. There were some cute ones that I doodled on my Daily Diary page.

This author was new to me. When I looked her up I discovered she has a book called I Had a Favorite Dress as well.

I Had A Favorite Hat

First line:

I had a favorite hat that was my bestest hat ever.

The last sentence of the book is on the last page and follows a pattern repeated throughout the text:

I’m not so sure that my new hat is a win, but I do know with a little of this…and a little of that…my new hat can be anything I want it to be!

After I read the book I made a few notes in a document:

I like the idea of writing a story that is led through by the holidays+ into a circle.

The hat begins as the beach hat and she changes it with a little this and a little of that to make it a new hat to suit her needs.

Spring Beach day hat
Halloween costume hat
Birthday hat
Dress up hat
Holiday winter program hat
Valentines day hat
Easter bonnet
Scarecrow hat
New beach visor (because the hat blows away)

Prompts:

If you had to create a birthday hat…what would it look like?

Would you make it part of a ceremony?

Is there another hat I would like to create to be an object that carries through the story? I could start with the first line of the book to get started.

I was reminded of the birthday crowns from Bridgerton. I like the idea of a birthday tiara.

Book 2

I am obsessed with Paris right now so this gem caught my eye.

First line:

The sun shines in Poppy’s window, warming her face.

Poppy and her dog, Baguette, take a journey through the city looking for the light that is the biggest and brightest of all.

This book follows Poppy and her dog Baguette through all the famous sights in Paris and is told in a container of one day.

Poppy discovers at the end that the people are the light within Paris, not a light outside of themselves: Everyone who loves Paris helps make it shine.

Prompts:

When I first read this book at the library I thought it would be fun to make an adventure book through the city I live in. I decided it would be more impactful (and interesting to me) to write about the places in the Region I live in.

The city I live in is known for being the place where Orville Redenbacker resided most of his life and we have a popcorn festival but that doesn’t light me up right now.

Write a tour of a city/region with specific spots in a container of a day.

Write about a search for light.

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I had so much fun with this practice I may do it every week!

Happy writing!