Discovering Inspiration Along the Way

What's the most unusual thing in your writing space that inspires, entertains or humors you?
I've been thinking a lot the last fourteen days about what I'd write about today and been coming up with very few inspiring ideas. After ten plus years of writing, I finally have my own writing space and what have I done to make that space inspiring? Not much.

After two moves in the last three years I've been living out of boxes with a few stacks of books making their home near my desk. I have come to a point in my life of starting over. My third child has left the nest and I've taken over her bedroom as my office area. After a year, I still feel like I'm trespassing in her room and while it thrills me to finally have space that is my own I've been struggling with truly making it mine.

I do have plans and ideas for this space of mine but I think it will be built a little at a time as I rediscover myself and refocus on becoming the writer I dream of being. I hope to someday have pictures of heroes and heroines on my walls, screaming out at me to write their stories. I've always wanted to develop a better plotting style as well and have writing and plotting boards to help my stories past that first blank page. It's a fun journey thinking about what really inspires me. Who am I and what would I like to have around this space that will motivate me to move further along my writing path.

But for right now in this moment in time, on my desk I have a teddy bear and a small pink convertible. The teddy bear was a gift from a very special person who has shown me that romance truly does exist in the world. My fluffy bear inspires me every day to write about that love that for a very long time I didn't really believe in. The pink convertible was a gift from a friend after the 2007
RWA conference in Dallas. It brings back memories of friends and fun and gives me hope that some day I'll have a car and drive again and go to other conferences and meetings.

As I continue my life and writing journey, I have my teddy bear, my pink convertible and my secret stash of peanut butter M&M's. I am inspired, humored and entertained, but I am never finished growing and learning.

What about you? I want to hear some of the things other writers have in their space that inspires them to give me some ideas of what to do with mine.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

music seems to inspire me most. I've been trolling youtube and I have enlisted a college friend that lives on youtube to find me material to write to. Each book has several layers of music from fun, to sexy, to angsty. Fun!!

Trish J

Paisley Kirkpatrick said...

It probably won't be a surprise to you, Tammy, that I have posters of Gerry Butler on the ceiling (it's A-frame) and photos around my monitor. He always inspires me. ;)

I ran a fan club for country singing artist Kevin Sharp and still have one wall covered with our times with him. It always makes me smile.

My office is actually a loft and I can see out of two windows running alongside our rock fireplace. The beautiful view is of pine and fir trees. I have two desks, four filing cabinets, a work table and my hubby built a beautiful oak bookshelf into the short wall. It is a very nice place to spend time dreaming and writing my stories.

OH, one more very important thing - my teddy bear dressed like a Scottish cowboy from my dear friends at The Writers Playground for selling my first book. :)

Rox Delaney said...

Hi Tammy! We're so happy to have you back with us at WARA. Thanks for joining the blog and becoming a part of Bits & Bytes.

Good luck with making your office your own. Taking it slow sounds like a terrific idea!

Anonymous said...

Hey Rox and thanks for the welcome back! I'm really good at taking things slow... too slow sometimes. ;-)

Hey Paisley and Trish! Nice seeing you guys. Thanks for the comments. I definitely need to get back into listening to music. It does always inspire me and I'd forgotten how much. I want some of your posters of Gerry!! If he doesn't inspire me nothing will! Have to admit I'm just a tiny bit envious of your loft as well. I want one of those some day.

Joan Vincent said...

My office was a daughter's bedroom at one time. When she left it was a guest room of sorts until I decided to claim it. The first thing I did was paint it a different color and I did one wall in an English floral wallpaper from a sale rack. That made the room mine, but it took a few years to get the rest put together! Love the bear, Tammy. It looks a lot like the Boyds bear reading a book that my daughter gave me. The bear is sitting on a book entitled, "Love's Journey." Wishing you a wonderful love-filled, writing-filled journey as you develop your space.
Welcome to the blog--great to have you join us!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Joan! Very happy to be here. Painting sounds like so much work... lol, but definitely a good idea. I love my bear, just wanna hug and squeeze him all the time.

Betty Hanawa said...

Hey Tammy,
My office was once my son's bedroom. It took a couple of years for it to feel like "my place." Take your time. Once of my oddities when I start a new project to find a stuffed toy that represents something in one of the character's lives. I've written dragons into two stories, the hero's son in another had a stuffed Jerry Garcia doll. I also like to make a picture collage that becomes my computer desktop background with the pictures becoming the screen saver.

Enjoy the journey

Anonymous said...

Hey Betty! A picture collage sounds like fun. I might have to start working on something like that for this new book I'm trying to get going.

C.L. Wilson said...

Music inspires me. My offices are a mess - lol. But I'm a "file by piles" person. I do, however, have little knick knacks about that make me smile - pretty blown glass perfume bottles, tiny treasure chests of semiprecious gemstones, little carved stone tairen in black and goldstone.

Angi Morgan said...

Tammy, you should definitely do the inspiration collage. If you can, get a couple of other writers to meet and each do one. They seem silly at first, but when you stare at them in those moments when you just can't get a word on the page... I don't know, it's like something clicks in my brain and I remember WHY it's there and words start flowing.

Love 'em.
~Angi

Anonymous said...

I like your style C :-) Files by piles sounds like how I've been doing things the last few years. As long as you know which pile is which, right? Angi - a collage party!! sounds like fun huh? My kids would really think I'm crazy then, but crazy in a good way I'd say.

Thanks for stopping by guys!

Reese Mobley said...

Hey, what more can a girl ask for? A convertible and a teddy bear. Sounds good to me.