It is surprising how one can
travel to the other side of the world only to find oneself sitting next to
someone who actually lives not far away from you. This proves the world isn’t
as large a place as we think. And can also often lead to interesting
conversations. Travel is also an adventure which will open one’s mind to many
new and exciting experiences. And, in truth, as long as you don’t look with
your ‘eyes,’ (ie your prejudices or ideas) then it will.
As an author you can benefit from
the joys of travel as it will give you the basics for your writing. It can
generate new ideas, scenarios, characters, plots etc. Each adventure is a new
story, or part thereof, in the making. As the author you are in control. Make
of it what you will.
Recently I spent some time with
my family in Australia. If you’ve never been ‘down under’ then let me tell you,
like most places anywhere in the world they have some of the most unusual names
for things. Particularly when it comes to naming their towns and villages.
Perhaps its something to do with their Aboriginal heritage. Think of ‘Palkana’
or ‘Yileen.’ Most unusual.
While out driving my daughter and
I began to put the names of the places we passed against the characters of
different animals. The intention being that I could use these in one of my
future Little Friends children’s story books. We even discussed what each
animals’ individual characteristic feature would be. The exercise proved not
only to be a lot of fun but also quite informative. It just goes to show that
inspiration for writing can come in many formats and from a variety of ways.
So, remember, whenever you get
stuck and need some new ideas for your writing, stop, look around and observe
what is happening in the world around you. It may surprise you what is
happening and how it will inspire you to write.