The Storyteller - the wit and wisdom of Frank Coughlin
 
Picture
I was fanning through the pictures available through Weebly and Flickr, when this one jumped out at me. (the one to the left).
I liked the way it looked - sort of stained glass effect - but I also wondered if it could do the job. The job of course would be to inspire me, the author into writing something.
Initially, I would say no - it is not inspiring me the way say a picture of a talking dog would. Also, just about any picture with a person in it could be inspiring. This picture however does not seem to have anything tangible in it. How could it possibly inspire me. I had to think about this, but not much. The above picture could inspire a story about windows in a church or an art gallery painting. The picture above could inspire a story about dreams or alien spacecrafts ( the aliens are gaseous creatures glow different colors to communicate). The picture could be what the inside of a talking dog's brain looks like. Well you get the idea. There are seemingly infinite inspirations, one can get from this picture. Many don't make sense to other people but they are not the writers, you are - so you get to choose what meaning you want to get out of this picture.
Writing, especially creative writing is all about Inspiration. Use whatever inspires you, even if it is something drab like gray clothes. Even if it is something ordinary like a can of spinach (that might be scary to some). Even if it is something boring like doing the laundry. You can't force inspiration - you have to do what the Beatles said "Let It Be."
"There will be an answer - Let It Be." Just write about whatever pops into your mind - no matter how insane it might be.
I have to go now - I am going to write about being held captive by aliens who look like dogs. Strangely they only speak English and they love abstract art which is why they came to earth.
Earth being the only place in the universe that has abstract art that looks like stained glass. Their UFO looks like a frisbee and smells like their waste disposal unit is broken. They offer to pay me in dog bones (the universal currency) but I refuse. That is when they kidnapped me.
See how easy it is to be inspired !!! Run with it - whatever it is. Run Fido Run.