Comments To Inspiration

Janice, from Sharing The Journey, had a great post on Writers Write: Your Comments Are Part Of Your Writing Mosaic. This is an excerpt from that post:

Are you tired? Do you regularly find yourself wondering where you’re going to find the inspiration for your posts? Maybe be you don’t realise that your comments on other blogs - and the replies you write in your own comments boxes - contain gems, the seeds of whole posts. They’re your spontaneous writing, your honest, authentic, initial responses to the writing prompts that are other people’s ideas and feelings.

Janice listed a week’s worth of her own comments on some of the blogs that she follows. She says these could possibly be turned into individual posts of their own. I really liked this idea and I have started copying the comments I make on other blogs and my own blog too. I am sharing some of the best comments made on The Writer Today, that may just spark some writing creativity.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/04/create-pictures-for-your-writing.html
septembermom said
I'm very visual when I begin to write my poetry. Sometimes I will get inspiration from something I notice when I'm walking outside. Nature inspires me often. I also love to pull images and thoughts from studying favorite paintings. Pictures, Poetry and Prose has been a great catalyst for my writing lately. I think that I may start to look for photographs to help stir some new poetic ideas.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/04/artist-date-ideas.html
Roderckdhu said
I love to go someplace public and select three random people and try to make up a quick story about them. Sometimes it is a struggle. Sometimes its a flash of inspiration. Enjoyed your writing.

Dominique said
Cloud watching, always a good idea. Who knows what you'll see up there.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/04/witty-writing-phrases.html
KingdomWriter said
I like the ones 'Be nice to me, I'm a writer', and Writer's Anonymous'. Imagine if there was a group like that, with 12 steps for writers, to cope with their novels, characters and writer's block.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/04/why-articles-lack-emotion-and-how-to.html
Georganna Hancock M.S. said
Interesting notions. Hmmm. Too bad the word "psycho" is associated with violence and insanity. Could he have come up with a somewhat less *emotional* title, with something positive or uplifting or insightful? Reminds me of "gorilla marketing" (guerrilla, of course). >generic smiley face<

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/04/11-keys-to-handling-description.html
septembermom said
When I write my poetry, I try to paint the image through my words. Things strike me in a visual way when looking for inspiration. I believe in the descriptive power of a single word or turn of phrase. Like Lori, I don't like reading long drawn out descriptions in novels. In my writing, I try to convey an impression or image in as few words as possible. I look for "power" words that almost have a texture to them. Thanks for the tips!

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/05/reading-and-writing-to-escape.html
Warren Baldwin said
Yes, reading and writing does help provide an escape. But, I prefer to think of it as "envisioning" the way life can be. Words create worlds. (Think I may do a post on that!)

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/05/practicing-patience.html
The Old Gray Egg said
Sometimes patience is not needed with yourself in the writing process and activities. Those acts can at times be absolute creative bliss. I find I occasionally need more patience with the people around me that don't quite understand that I'm really "at work" when I'm writing and would prefer not to drop what I'm doing to come to their beck and call.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/06/why-we-get-writers-block-and-how-to.html
Valerie Storey said
This is a fascinating concept, one I want to look into more. So far, the best way I've tackled writer's block is to simply pretend I'm talking to someone in a conversation. I also believe so strongly in "free writing", just letting go and writing whatever is in my head. Structure, word choices, etc. can all be fixed later.

Melissa Donovan said
To become a successful or professional writer, one must overcome writer's block. It's absolutely essential, and there are many ways to do that - I start by eliminating it altogether and believing that writer's block is nothing more than a psychosomatic problem.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/06/where-does-serenity-find-you.html
T. Anne said
It's a head space thing for me. No real place on earth can offer what I find between the pages of the Bible.

Randi said
I agree, even the word "serenity" sounds peaceful, doesn't it? Like Ana, I also find looking at water to be very serene. Yet, for me, there are two types of serenity:
1. The kind where I need to settle down and become peaceful--for that I love looking at calm water, like in a small lake or pond.

2. The kind where I need to become serene about something so that I can spring into action regarding it--for that I need rushing water such as in waterfalls or white rapids.

I also find Bible reading very calming. My son asks me to read the scriptures every night before bed. It helps him wind down and helps me to remember what is important in life.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/03/getting-to-know-your-writer-10-random.html
valeriestorey said
Hi! This is a fun idea. Here are my 10 random things:
1. I make hand-built pottery.
2. But I don't like to work with mud in the garden!
3. I love doing laundry--it gives me time to think about my characters and plot lines.
4. I studied art history at the National Gallery in London for two years.
5. I've never put gas in a car in my entire life!
6. My husband and I built our own house in Georgia.
7. I dream in color.
8. My middle name is Elaine.
9. I'm a vegetarian.
10. I want to go to Japan one day.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/02/more-writing-pointers.html
Daily Jump Start Guy said
Great post, I especially like that last paragraph...first thoughts. I was taught to let it all out on the first go around, then switch hats to your left (logical) brain for the inevitable rewrite. Every writer is two persons, the as you say "unbridled" writer, and then there's the skeptical editor. Separating these two is a big leap in the process. Keep up the good posts.

http://www.thewritertoday.com/2009/01/to-pen-or-click.html
Amy Mahlum said
I do both. Sometimes I need to just write it out, because I am an emotional writer by nature and the connection and emotions I feel while writing really aid that. Additionally, though, I am kind of weird and cannot write off by myself when it is quiet, so writing long hand allows me to be a active part with the noise and chaose around me.

I have a weird thing about me, though, and I find it very difficult to write onto a blank word document. I have a blog where I write onto. It is a weird writerly thing about me, but we are writers, we are allowed that!

http://www.justtowrite.com/2009/06/blogging-vs-journalism.html
Andrew Scott Turner said
For me it depends on the blogger. I was a journalist for 12 years and I can tell you that, despite the generally accepted pejorative myth, journalists are held to very high standards regarding neutrality, objectivity, attribution, collection of facts and fair representation. Blogging, in general, does not have the editorial filters a journalist must go through: i.e., there is no vetting of the information, no way to ensure the integrity of the story. The piece that sticks for me is the editorializing that is crucial to blogging and yet does not have a place in journalism.

Here's the rub: opinion in news dissemination has grow legs over the past 10 years. Look at the influence conservative radio and television talking heads have had on public discourse. They are accepted, almost without question, as fact-givers when, in reality, they are television and radio's forerunners to bloggers. I believe journalism, as it did in the early 70s with Watergate, is evolving into something new. Opinion has crept into the news cycle and I believe it is here to stay.


How have your comments inspired your writing?