Wake Up Your Muse!
Click Your Way to Inspiration
Are you feeling uninspired with your writing? Perhaps you need to get out of your writer box for a while and explore other artforms. Head to a gallery or concert, or take a class of some kind. But beware: this may ignite your fuse muse.
My middle son paints and sculpts, so I love to visit galleries with him. He sees differently and I enjoy hearing his impressions and insights. I’m always inspired by the way painters use colour, shape and texture, and I love the play of light and shadow on a canvas. I’m intrigued by the way sculptors build in 3-D, while cartoonists lightly sketch. And I wonder how I might weave each of these elements into my writing.
My eldest son is a professional musician. Whenever I visit, he shows off his fancy sound system and sits me down to listen to his latest favourites. Sometimes he effuses over a single beautiful note, or waxes lyrical about a rich harmony, or the timbre of an instrument. I don’t complain. It’s always an ear-opening experience. I’m inspired by the way musicians use rhythm, dynamics and tempo. I’m especially wowed by the way jazz musos improvise. I wonder how I might bring contrasts of intensity, pace and tone to my writing. And I’m inspired to experiment with jazz-like improv.
My artist son is also in his final year of studying architecture, so we often chat about the spaces we visit, or the buildings he’s designing. He uses me as a sounding board for ideas, and I love it. I’ve learnt so much, and I’m inspired by the innovative ways in which architects create space and form, transition and flow. This encourages me to take risks with the structure of my words, and to strive for the flair and style that architects can fashion.
Each artform has its own language, but there are also many connections between them.
Click Inspo
In this post I want to focus on another artform - photography. (No, I don’t have a child who is a professional photographer.) In my next piece I will introduce you to the Crazy Camera, a playful tool I use to stretch my writing in new directions. Photography is rich with lessons and inspiration for writers, and the crazy camera takes full advantage of this. But, before we go full-on crazy, let’s start by looking at how writers can use a regular camera.
A camera (your smartphone counts) can be a writer’s best friend. It can help us to see with intentionality. Observation is a crucial skill for writers. Photography can hone our seeing. And the practice of careful seeing enlivens things in our hearts. It infuses our moments with a sense of significance. We honour and savour as we make choices about what to frame. (As a side note: I also like to savour life with all the senses, unmediated by camera lens. Paradoxically, the camera can be both an aid to seeing with presence, and a distraction from full presence.)
Befriend your camera. Use it to capture moments and memories, for later writing. Photos are fabulous writing prompts. Family photo albums hold a wealth of story material, each photo an entry point to memoir. Photos snapped on a wonder walk are brilliant prompts for nature writing, or city poems. Travel photos amplify the tales of our trips. Any photo can become an exercise in descriptive writing, or an invitation to creative storytelling. Photos can invite us into a scene, help us to imagine a character, or even suggest possible conflicts, or budding romance.
So, let’s take (or find) some photos as a stimulus to writing. When we begin, we're often attracted to the eye-candy around us, the obvious Instagram shots. I dare you to look deeper. Seek emotional resonance. What do you love? What provokes outrage? What images feel visceral? Experiment. Connect. Play.
Light bounces around a room. Click. An elderly man reveals his unmasked humanity for a moment. Click. Some provocative graffiti grabs your attention. Click. Fog begins to lift over the forest. Click. A cafe sign captures you with its quirky design. Click. A group of strangers laugh in a shared moment of togetherness. Click… Click, click, click. Just follow the trail of resonance.
Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray. Rumi
Words vs Pictures
‘A picture is worth 1000 words’, they say. ‘But not always,’ I counter. ‘Sometimes, a word portrait might be worth 1000 pictures.’ It’s time for this old rivalry to STOP! Words and pictures each have their place. Each is better for different things. Here’s an activity, to prove my point.
As with your visual photos, don’t forget to aim for emotional resonance. Connect. Provoke. Feel. Experiment & play. And ask yourself questions. What captures your attention? What sparks a strong response? What subjects or styles keep repeating? What does this reveal about you?
I feel like I’ve been somewhat stating the obvious in this post. Most writers know the power of the right photo to prompt, or amplify, our words. Still, it’s worth being reminded. My next post will take this in more surprising directions as I introduce the Crazy Camera. If this piques your interest, please make sure you’re subscribed.
Stuck for ideas? I have a Pinterest board where I pin photos that might make good writing prompts. You can check it out if you want: Images to Inspire Writing.
Is your muse awake yet? Raring to go? I hope so.
I invite you to share your written snapshots in the comments below, or share a link to any post or note inspired by this article. I would love to read your work and spread the love. (I will share some of my own snapshots in future posts, promise!)
Much love,
How wonderful that your family is full of artists, Phoebe! You and I are on the same wavelength about photos as writing prompts, too; it's my favorite way to do a monthly nudge of creativity in our community. 💛
I love the idea of photos prompting writing, Phoebe. And of course, a "wonder walk" is right up my street. I look forward to your upcoming post on photography. Saving.