everyday creativity - the spark

The spark of inspiration can take so very many forms - a phrase, a bit of melody, the beauty of nature, a great book, a broken heart.  As a writer I’ve been inspired by all of these things but lately it seems that draw many of my ideas from spoken and written word.  

Growing up, I was a gangly four-eyed wallflower with my nose perpetually stuck in a book.  I was slightly-to-moderately afraid of most social interactions so I escaped as much as possible by reading.  As a teenager, I remember buying CD’s, breaking open the case, and studying the lyrics.  I thought everybody did that.  I thought that’s why they printed them in the first place. 

Because I love words, I’m always listening and looking, eager to find a phrase or expression that sounds interesting.  It happened today at the post office when the postal worker asked me what all those letters meant at the end of my name.  I rattled off my official title as a speech therapist but then quickly added, “Just a lot of letters that cost me a lot of money and took a lot of time.”  Something about that phrase struck me as interesting so I did my writer’s work and as soon as I got back to my car entered those words into my lyric idea notebook into Evernote.  

Several months ago, the phrase “bad blood” popped into my head.  Such a rich expression!  I wrote that down too.  A few weeks later, I was banging a rhythm on my guitar and tried those words out.  Here’s what it sounded like after developing the idea over a couple of writing sessions. 

So always be on the look out for those things that inspire creative thought and if you have some time, share what inspires your writing.