Another month is upon us, a glorious summer month no less. It’s time for another round of The Insecure Writer’s Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of each month writers from across the web get together to commiserate, encourage, or just plain old chat about their writing lives. If you haven’t already checked out some of their blogs, click on the image above and get to it. There’s a lot of talent among our list and a slew of newly-released books as well.
On to my post for the month. In keeping with the long-standing tradition I began last month :), I have a question rather than an insecurity. My question stems from this under-utilized blog actually. I’ve been racking my brain to figure out how to meld my interests and curiosities with regular postings online.
Here are some of the thoughts that have rattled around amongst the cobwebs and dust currently taking up space inside my skull:
*I’m not a writing expert, and there are many more talented voices than I at work already posting about their writing journeys.
*I don’t have many hobbies because all my spare time is spent writing or vegging (vegging is an important part of preparing for writing I’ll have you know :P).
*I LOVE books, but I read for pleasure not for the chance to complete dissecting reviews for posting online (I save those for my CPs).
All of those truths about my life got me thinking about what I should post once I cleared the list of what I shouldn’t, and here’s what I came up with: I should post about the truly bizarre world we call reality.
Mark Twain once stated that: Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.
And you know what, I agree. I believe that the best ideas I’ve had in fiction have been culled from experiences in life. Even fantasy shorts I’ve written have pulled from mannerisms of real people, or aspects of the human condition that are inextricable from what I picture when I imagine the scenes unfolding.
So long-story short, what do my many readers 🙂 think about the idea of a weekly posting about news events? Some of them will be wacky – I can’t help it, I’m a little wacky sometimes – but others will not. I have no intention of posting things about politics or religion unless of course those are found in one the truly weird news items I find – then all bets are off. But, ultimately, I’ll be focusing on those news pieces that capture my attention and occasionally my heart.
What do you guys think?
Have you ever found inspiration from real-life events?
kimlajevardi 
I think that’s a great idea.
I’m always using strange real things in my stories, fictionalizing them and creating a plot around them.
I agree about the value of real life events. My first book started after I read a news story that piqued the right questions for me. Thanks for commenting!
I know Stephen King says he finds story ideas in the newspaper, so why not you. 🙂
Anna from Shout with Emaginette
The newspaper is definitely rife with potential what ifs, and anything that makes me comparable to King is a good thing. 🙂
Writing is just about all I do these days. I like to watch TV…while writing. And shop. Shopping is almost the only time I get away from writing!
I also do a lot more writing in summer, but shopping is fun too. Thanks for posting!
I think you should do it. You might inspire someone else.
Maybe I will. If nothing else, it gives me an excuse to look at the weird news of the world. 🙂
It sounds like a plan! I like the bloggers best who just give up the world around them instead following a constant theme. It makes them more like real people instead of truth spouting machines.
Leanne Ross ( readfaced.wordpress.com & LeanneRossRF )
Interesting take. Thanks for commenting! 🙂
I would love to see you write posts about vegging (which I agree is crucial to the artistic process). I think you should write about whatever inspires you to write. 🙂
Posts about vegging would be fun, but short. Incoherent thought is a big part of the draw. 🙂
Should work. Weird reality almost always trumps fiction. 😛
I love the weird news feature on some of the news sites. Crack me up every time. Thanks for posting!
I think it’s a great idea! You can can even call it research. I’m all for reading about this wacky world we live in. Reality is stranger than fiction.
Believe me, I couldn’t post writing tips either.
I agree, Alex! It most definitely is research. In fact, my first novel is based off of a news story that sparked the right questions.