Inspiration – MarlyK's Ramblings

You know how it is. There are days when your head is buzzing with great stories… And then there are days when your mind goes blank. You’ve run out of ideas. Now what?

Woodcut from an 1840 edition of Jack the Giant Killer, reprinted in Iona and Peter Opie’s The Classic Fairy Tales

My first suggestion is to stop surfing the internet. It’s a fantastic resource if you want to find out what everyone else is reading, what’s going viral, what’s the pulse of the people. But when you’re looking for a story that’s unique, strange, or that just hasn’t been told, a search engine won’t help you much, if only because, what drives the web is traffic. And you’re looking for something off the beaten path. Yup.

It’s time to opt out of the virtual and go back to actual reality by getting a hold of the following three-dimensional sources:

Continue reading 6 Sources for Story Ideas When the Well Runs Dry

When we read about great writers’ lives all the milestones to success are clearly marked in the story: the first glimmer of talent, the years of struggle in which he or she perfected the craft, the first break, and finally success, whether it’s slow, in fits and starts or seemingly overnight. Reading all this from the outside, it’s easy to forget that what looks like a cohesive narrative may not have felt like a sure thing from the inside. It sure as hell doesn’t feel like our own careers are shaping up in any discernible way, a fact that’s discouraging. So I bring you a new feature to inspire: life lessons we can take away from famous writers’ life stories. We already have plenty of tips about the actual writing, it’s the psychological struggle where we could use some guidance. Today I start with one of my favorite filmmakers of all time, Billy Wilder.

Continue reading Life Lessons for Writers: Billy Wilder