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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Surround Yourself With Inspiration

The bulletin board above my desk holds all sorts of treasures: 
  • Irene Latham's Plot is a Verb postcard
  • a flyer from my first author event
  • a photo of a statue erected to honor pioneer women
  • two quotes from J. Anderson Coats
  • a silly VIP name tag from my 2007-2008 fourth graders (they gave me a "most likely to be a famous author" award)
  • a great last name  -- Folkenflick (any NPR listeners recognize this?)
  • an anonymous, kind response during a First Pages reading session at SCBWI-MI 2004
  • a card Schwartz and Wade sent along with my very own copy of May B.
  • a song called Why Do We Hunger For Beauty? that always makes me cry
  • a faded purple 3x5 that holds May B.'s original plot line
  • a picture of me as a mid-grader
  • pins for various books and debut author groups
  • a tag from a Caroline Rose jacket...too fun to throw away!
  • a heart necklace on a yarn chain
  • my portrait, drawn by my younger guy when he was nine
and my latest addition, four words Sheila O'Connor shared with me after attending a writing workshop. They're what all writers need:
  • endurance
  • patience
  • commitment
  • passion
In surrounding myself with things that inspire, I find the courage to keep plugging away.

Where do you find your inspiration?

12 comments:

  1. Awesome inspiration, Caroline. We all need to remember to keep things to keep us going through the hard times, which there are at various times in our career.

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    1. Yes! And even in those easier times, it's helpful to be surrounded by encouragement.

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  2. I had a similar "board" when searching for an agent. Maybe I should resurrect it when looking for a publisher. ;)

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  3. I have a motivation board and my books are all around me. Literally.

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    1. When surrounded by "friends" like that, you're sure to make great strides!

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  4. I love your board!! I don't have anything visible like that with regard to my writing. Great idea!!

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    1. Thank you! I neglected to mention the quotes on my walls, the ones on my desk, and and....

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  5. I love this!

    I was just thinking about J's quote of "Write this book."

    Now I want to designate my next chunk of writing time to making an inspiration board - ha!

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    1. "Learn how to write *this* book" is the most freeing piece of writing advice I've ever gotten.

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  6. Yes! Each one is such a different process. Always surprises me.

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  7. love your board! Sometimes I put together a character board of pictures I've found that look like my image of the characters. It helps make them more real in my head. Only problem is the time it takes to search out the images!

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!