Writing a Book - How to Find Your Inspiration

Oh the myth of the author as creative genius. Sitting alone In a Paris' garret. Pounding away on an old Smith-Corona. Smoke curling around his head and ash building up on the floor around him. A bottle of wine and moldy cheese on the table beside a stack of paper. Starving while he creates his great American novel.

Personally, I prefer eating. And, while I enjoy a bottle of Vin Ordinaire as much as the next guy, my tastes tend to run to steak rather than blue cheese and day-old bread. Not to mention the fact that the popular myth is unbelievably sexist.

But even I admit that inspiration is needed.

I just tend to prefer a pound of perspiration and the increased probability of success. And of course, I write how to books and related non-fiction. So my worship of the muse is slightly skewed. But still, inspiration is necessary.

So how do you find your inspiration?

That's a hard question to answer. Oh not because I don't find inspiration. It's because there are so very many sources. So to answer the question, in this article, I'm going to pick on just one method. And then, I'll show you the process I use to turn perspiration into inspiration.

Because I'm writing non-fiction -- more specifically how-to books and eBooks -- my books focus on my readers' problems. In effect, I'm a problem solver. So my real source of inspiration is problems. Which is cool as it goes. But I really can't start with a question. That would be a case of relying too much on inspiration. So writing a book to solve a problem means I need to pick up the problem at the next stage. And effectively, that's my source of inspiration.

So what is that source of inspiration for writing a book?

It begins either with Amazon or with Google. Each of them has a category system. With Amazon, you can find the category system in a set of menus within the books or Kindle books departments. Within Google, you can find that category system in the Google AdWords Keyword tool. I generally use both to begin my search for inspiration.

Once I find a category, that interests me, I'll begin to search for questions in that category. I'll enter very generic questions like "Who" or "What" or "How" and the category. Sometimes, I'll enter use just the category selection. In any case, I'll end up with a list of search terms.

Well, not exactly.

What I really end up with is a list of questions which are being asked in that category. All it takes is a bit of manipulation. If I've started with the categories, I'll look down the list of topics and ask the journalists' six "W"s. Eventually, I'll find one that interests me. Typically, it will only be a phrase. So I'll need to expand on it slightly. I can do that by adding one of the questions and searching once again. Alternatively, I'll add a term. For example, Business strategy might lead to planning a trip. I could then add a word such as camping. And voila -- I have my inspiration.

Creating a Book - 5 Things to Do Before You Start Writing a Non-Fiction Book

Creating a book, especially for today's time challenged entrepreneur may seem like a daunting task. After all, what business person has the ability to spend weeks, perhaps months, researching, writing and preparing a book, let alone finding publishers, building a marketing program and all the other time-chomping details that go into a non-fiction book project? In order to leverage your time and make writing a book something that is not only enjoyable but effective, efficient and engaging, there are several things that you should consider doing before starting the writing itself.

    The message needs to be absolutely clear and concise. What is it that you want to convey to your readers and can you state it in one sentence? People buy a non-fiction book to be informed, helped, guided or inspired, or any combination of these. Having a clear message before you start will improve your writing immensely, improve your reader's experience and make your call to action much stronger. Writing out your clear message and taping it on the wall above your workspace will keep it front of mind.

    A working title helps the entire process by focusing your efforts toward your topic and message. Depending on whether you use a conventional publisher (who will probably have title rights) or whether you retain publishing rights, this might become the actual title of your book. Nothing prevents you from changing it as better ideas occur but writing will flow more smoothly when you have a good working title for your project. If nothing else, it constantly reminds you about what you are writing.

    An outline is virtually mandatory before beginning the writing itself. This will keep you on target, prevent you from missing out on key points, improve the flow and order of information. An outline will also keep you from going too far afield from your original message and topic. It shows you visually what research needs to be done and is an excellent start on the table of contents.

    A dedicated space for your book writing efforts will pay enormous dividends even if you do much of the actual writing at your local coffee shop. Having sources of information, books, research, pictures, outlines and all the other paraphernalia and things that accumulate during the process in one place, makes you more efficient and results in creating your book faster.

    The same time everyday for writing your own book will train your mind and your body to bring forth the ideas and creativity to make your time more productive. We work on an internal clock that revolves around a 24 hour cycle and you can use this to encourage your own book writing efforts. Just like scheduling your physical workouts for an optimum time each day, scheduling your writing time for the best "creative hour" of your day will pay big benefits.

Naturally, writing your own book requires starting with the germ of an idea, a need, or a message you wish to share. The benefits for today's business person can be enormous in increased market share, respect from peers and clients, along with a boost in credibility. All of this can lead to increased sales and profits. The research and writing of your own book sets up the possibility for being recognized as an expert in your field which attracts attention from media and customers alike. It is worth the effort to write a book that compliments your business life, but like any good business decision, planning and execution are paramount to your success.

Technical Writer to Fiction Writer - Categories and Genre

Categories

These are the broad classifications - you'll see the shelves in bookstores labeled somewhat like these:

    Romance
    Mystery
    Action/Adventure
    Thriller/ Suspense
    Historical
    Science Fiction and Fantasy

Genres

Genres are subsets of categories. For example, the Romance category has Chick Lit, Bodice-Ripper (derogatory), Christian (actually "inspirational"), City Girl (variation of Chick Lit), Community, Erotic Romance, Erotica, Ethnic, Futuristic, Gothic, Hen Lit, Historical, Contemporary, Mainstream, Medical, Romantic Comedy, etc.

The closer you can identify your genre, the more targeted your audience and the better chance you have of matching readers' expectations. This will lead to better marketing/promotion, better acceptance of your work and better sales.

Genres have their combinations, too. Any genre could be Young Adult, Children, Inspirational, Futuristic, etc. You can cross Science Fiction with any other category. A mystery could be Historical or a Thriller. (Mystery = Something happened; how or who made it happen? Thriller = something is going to happen. You can obviously combine a mystery and a thriller).

John Olson says readers want:

    Romance
    Mystery
    Thrill
    Adventure
    Transcendence (take me away from here)

Within reason (you rarely have Romance/Sex in a children's book), you can have many genres in one novel. You could pump up one or more, but can always mix them up.

Am I going to be stuck in a genre?

No. For example, R.A. Heinlein is known as a science-fiction writer. He started out with Young Adult (Have Spacesuit, Will Travel) and ended up in the adult science-fiction genre (Time Enough for Love). In his case, the adult writings have no explicit sex, so they are definitely not in the erotic SciFi genre. He joyfully wrote in both genres.

You must at least keep track of the genre in which you are writing your current work so you can target your audience (readers) as closely as possible. If you can brand yourself as an excellent X genre writer, you're better off.

That's not to say you cannot write other works in other categories or genres. Romance fiction is the best-selling fiction category. Whether you are male or female doesn't make a difference, but you need to stick to the Romance genre standards.

Your current work may -- and probably should -- have romance in it without being the Romance genre; they are different structures.

If you wish, you can always use a pen name when writing in different categories or genres; that's up to you. You might be "branded" as a Romance writer so your mystery work needs to have some specific wording in the blurbs to distinguish it as such. You'd shop/market/promote each as a specific type. Your reputation might or might not carry over between the genres.

Picking a genre

This could be tough. My Sorcerer novels originally started out as erotica. Shortly, though, the ideas and philosophies gained more importance, so I would now classify them as Erotic Science Fiction since the erotic aspect is an integral part of the philosophical background.

Summary

So, pick out one of your favorite works from the list you made in Is It Within You?. Can you put a classification and genre to it? What aspects of the work contributed to your decision?

Fan Fiction: Drawing the Line Between Copyright and Fair Use

Over the years, I've heard the term "fan fiction" several times, never quite understanding it and what it encompassed. I'm not a big fan of science fiction and fantasy or comic books, which are the primary genres that inspire fan fiction. However, as an author myself and someone in the publishing and book marketing business, I do take copyright laws seriously. One day I was having a conversation with an author who told me he liked to write stories using characters from "Star Wars," which he published on his website. When I asked him, "Isn't that a violation of copyright?" he replied, "Not if it's fan fiction."

What makes "fan fiction" exempt from being a form of plagiarism and copyright infringement? First, let me begin with a definition of "fan fiction." There are many out there, but after looking at several websites, I think Wikipedia has the best definition. It defines fan fiction as "a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator. Works of fan fiction are rarely commissioned or authorized by the original work's owner, creator, or publisher; also, they are almost never professionally published. Because of this, many fan fictions written often contain a disclaimer stating that the creator of the work owns none of the characters. Fan fiction, therefore, is defined by being both related to its subject's canonical fictional universe and simultaneously existing outside the canon of that universe."

What interests me about this definition is the statement that fan fiction is "never professionally published." By that term, I take it to mean that someone who is borrowing J.K. Rowling's characters from the Harry Potter series is not going to write his own Harry Potter book and get a major publisher like Random House or Alfred A. Knopf to publish it. But what is considered "professionally published" today is also hard to define. If the person self-published the book and decided to sell it online, wouldn't that be a copyright infringement? I believe it would be if the fan fiction author is receiving income from the book sales. But what if the story were published in a non-commercial work such as a free online ezine that derives its income from selling ads? Then the lines get grayer. In my opinion, the only truly acceptable form of publication for such a work is one where neither the author nor the website derive any form of profit from the work-including sales of ads. The piece should be written solely for the author's entertainment and that of his or her readers.

Numerous legal cases have arisen over copyright infringement when books have been published using other people's creations. A friend recently read the newly published "Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone with the Wind': A Bestseller's Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood" by Ellen F. Brown and John Wiley (He highly recommends the book to anyone who wants to know about the trials and tribulations involved with being an author). When Mitchell published her blockbuster novel in 1936, she didn't have to worry about people posting stories about her characters online, but she had to fight several times against people writing sequels, creating plays based on her novel, and even using her characters in advertising. She and her heirs have had to renew the copyright to "Gone with the Wind" and ultimately authorize sequels to the novel before other people took liberties to create their own sequels. Since the copyright on "Gone with the Wind" has expired in Australia, an unauthorized sequel by an American author is available for sale in that country. In addition, numerous popular classics such as the novels of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters have seen countless sequels and spin-offs appear for their books. One wonders how Jane Austen would feel about the zombies and vampires being introduced into her storylines. The authors of these sequels and even many readers will say it's all in good fun and point out that the copyrights on these novels have long since expired, but that said, is it respectful of the author to reinvent her characters?

Some authors are fine with their fans writing fan fiction, especially when it's limited to short works published on websites without any commercial or financial payoffs. And yes, there is a degree of feeling flattered and honored and that you have succeeded as an author when you inspire other people to love your story so much that they want to continue the story for themselves. But nevertheless, is it really such a good idea to write fan fiction? We all have books we love, books where we wish the author would write a sequel so we can find out what happened to the characters after the book ended. However, Margaret Mitchell purposely left "Gone with the Wind" open-ended so readers would wonder whether Scarlett ever would get Rhett back. Mitchell even said she could end the book no other way, and if she had ended the book differently or written a sequel, she figured her readers wouldn't have been satisfied with it anyway. Even the two sequels that Mitchell's estate finally authorized (and they are fairly good books considering) are questionable in terms of fulfilling readers' passion for learning what became of Scarlett and Rhett. In fact, we would be hard-pressed to find any book (sequel, prequel, or spin-off) not written by the original author that satisfies many, much less the majority, of readers.

I'm not going to cover all the legal implications of fan fiction and copyright violations or fair use laws in terms of borrowing other authors' characters, but it's fair to say that fan fiction itself only allows for moderate originality. Various authors and filmmakers have approved or fought against fan fiction. J.K. Rowling has been fine with it; George Lucas has asked only that his characters are not portrayed in sexual ways in fan fiction; Anne Rice has requested that her fans not write about her characters.

As far as I'm concerned, if you want to write about someone else's characters for your own amusement, that is fine, as long as you are not profiting off of it. But if you aspire to being a writer, isn't focusing on fan fiction doing yourself a disservice? Children who want to create stories about Cinderella or other fairy tale characters may ultimately become creative and more imaginative through the process, and for children, it is harmless. However, an aspiring writer would be better off to create his or her own characters, plots, and storylines. Perhaps in the beginning, it is hard to create a character as fascinating as Scarlett O'Hara or Harry Potter, but in the long run, your efforts will be worth it. Scarcely any writer ever became famous creating books that used other people's characters, and even if he or she did, the author never became as famous as the person who initially created those characters.

Interview With Simon Rose, Author of Science Fiction Fantasy For Children

Carma: I thoroughly enjoyed The Heretic's Tomb and I liked the way you got Annie into the past and out of the walled up room at the abbey. What was your source of inspiration for The Heretic's Tomb?

Simon:I'm pleased you enjoyed the book. It was inspired by my own love of history and I have always enjoyed time travel stories. Many novels have medieval settings, but to me some historical periods, such as the era of the Black Death or the mystery of the Princes in the Tower depicted in The Sorcerer's Letter Box, for example, are the most fascinating and the most suitable settings for a good adventure story.

Carma: What are your writing habits? Do you work on an outline before starting the actual story?

Simon: Yes I do. I always work extensively on an outline, determining all the twists and turns of the plot, before beginning the actual novel. This outline is usually at least one paragraph for every chapter and can be up to 5000 words.

Carma: What goes on inside the mind of the fantasy writer?

Simon: All kinds of things - ancient mysteries, the unexplained, the paranormal, science fiction themes, time travel ideas, parallel universes, alternate realities, weird and wonderful characters and a whole lot of 'what if' scenarios.

Carma: What advice would you give to aspiring writers who are trying to break into the fantasy genre?

Simon: Try to be as original as possible and not copy something else, even if it has been popular. Write about what interests you in this particular genre rather than jumping on any bandwagon.

Carma: Who is Simon Rose? Describe an ordinary day in your life.

Simon: I'm not sure there is an ordinary day. If I'm not traveling or at a local school or library, I do spend much of the day working on the current book project, as well as on marketing, correspondence and so on, but also have children to take care of, pets to feed, household chores to do and so on.

Carma: What type of books did you read as a child?

Simon: I became immersed in science fiction as a boy and read a lot of science fiction novels and collections of short stories, as well C S Lewis, Tolkien and other fantasy writers. At high school, I studied a great deal of history and have retained my interest in the subject up to the present day. I also read a tremendous number of comic books as a child. Pure escapism perhaps, but comic books were great for the imagination. On TV, the original Star Trek series springs readily to mind, along with many other influences.

Carma: How do you set about promoting your novel? How many hours a week do you spend on book promotion?

Simon: I do some form of promotion every day, whether for the books or for myself, usually online though the website, blog or via e mail correspondence regarding author visits, summer camps, writing services, festivals and other events.

Carma: How was your experience in looking for a publisher? What words of advice would you offer those novice authors who are in search of one?

Carma: There are lots on resources on line and elsewhere with regards to publishers, but a good thing to do is to research which houses are publishing the same type of material that you are writing. If you are writing fantasy for ten year olds, see who is doing that and then check their website to see if they are accepting submissions, Similarly, if you are writing teen fiction, see who is doing that and again be sure to check out their submission policies. There are also publishers who only deal with non fiction, prefer to specialize in regional issues, those who only do picture books or who do picture books, but don't accept stories about animals and so on. It can be a long process, but is well worth it.

Carma: What type of book promotion seems to work the best for you? Any special strategies you'd like to share?

Simon: All authors have to be prepared to do as much as they can to promote their own work. Get a website or blog or both, even before your first book is published, forge a good relationship with your local bookstores in order to secure book signing events, look into ways to talk about your work at festivals, other events and especially at schools and libraries. You may produce the greatest book ever written. However, no one else is going to see it if your book doesn't become known to potential readers.

WikiLeaks Inspires Fictional Leitmotifs Related to Core Human Existence

The unrelenting discussion surrounding WikiLeaks' release of documents triggers conscious as well as unconscious elements which are deep-rooted in the psych of individuals and societies as well. It should therefore come as no surprise that some of these elements will end-up as leitmotifs in future fictional as well as nonfictional writings.

Endless articles and books have been attempting to describe and analyze the "creation of ideas" in an author's mind. Some wonder whether creative writing begins with the writer's "sitting and waiting" for the muse to "show up", or whether it is a process of perseverance and discipline.

Whichever of the two approaches an author adopts for his/her writing, there exist several assumptions about the creative process and where it originates from:

1. It is a well-known fact that many authors "take in" stimuli from their environment (movies, new-briefs, books, theatre, street-episodes, etc.) and incorporate them - whether consciously or unconsciously into their writing.

2. It is also a well-known (and debatable) assertion that authors' fictional books often involve, to some degree or another, some autobiographical elements regarding the "good" as well as the "bad" experiences from the author's own life (whether authors agree to this assertion or not is another matter).

3. Some writers (apparently more poets than fiction writers, for that matter) attest to the fact that their dreams provide them with a rich content for their writing. This should come as no surprise, since dreams often involve metaphors, symbols and similes originated in the unconscious.

Regardless of the "source" of an author's ideas, some writers say that as they sit down to write, the story unfolds in its own way and the characters "take over". At the end of the day, they can't always explain what made the characters behave one way or another.

Given all this ambiguity over the writing process, many questions have been raised over the years, such as:

* How does the process of creative writing begin?
* What's the essence of this process?
* What is the relation between the process and the final product?
* How does the interplay between the author's internal and external worlds come into play in both the process and the final product?

As the WikiLeaks documents continue to occupy a centre stage throughout the media, it is quite certain that humanistic and societal leitmotifs which have been stirred-up in our "collective unconscious" - such as "the traitor", "the hero", "corruption", "transparency", "morality", "responsibility", "mission", "justice", "revenge", "danger" and the like - will find their place in the creative process of many writers - whether consciously or unconsciously.

Writing a Novel - Tip #7 - Drawing Inspiration From Art

Writing fiction is quite different from writing non-fiction. When I write non-fiction I immediately know where I want to begin and where I want to end. I know my premise--what I want people have as a take away

Life is not always that easy when I write fiction. Sometimes, I need inspiration. One thing that always works for me is to find a poem, novel, short story, song, hymn or work of fine art and ask myself "what does it say to me?" Then I write down my reactions, and I'm on my way.

Sometimes, I will listen to a book on CD, .mp3 file or cassette tape while I'm writing. I emulate the structure, not the content. For example, you would never know that this paragraph was inspired by listening to a part of The DaVinci Code that's two minutes into the second CD in the set.

The sound, Duke. Sounds can energize, or destroy. If you want to keep animals away from an area, all you need to do is play a high-pitched note, a note we can't hear but the animals can.

Here's a poem that I wrote for inclusion in one of my books that was inspired by a painting by Dan Donnelly's named "The Lovers." The work of art features two people, in apparent conflict, locked forever in a stance that is reminiscent of a Star Trek episode where two people are in deadly conflict. One of the people has black on the left side of his body and white on the other side of his body. The person with whom is fighting has white on the left side of his body and black on the right side. However, in this illustration, the people appear to be an artist's mannequin--a wooden mannequin where all of the joints change. The illustration is primarily beige and brown, and it has many symbols about suffering and captivity, at least to me.

Rent Relationships

Two lovers about to kiss
Conflicted
Parts of their lives
Ripping out of memory
Heads detached from their hearts
Internally attacking
Surrounded by hawks
With vultures to follow
In a moment
The world could burst into flames
Starting with someone
Placing a lit match on
The Book of Life.

Whether you like or dislike the above poem is not the point. The point is that I used a piece of artwork to jump start my creativity. Perhaps this technique will work for you too.