April's first inspiration station..

It's been a while, so here's a recap. Inspiration station serves to provide material to get you started. Today there's three different settings. You can begin by engaging your mind to how your senses would react to create a character's overall feeling in the space. My suggestion is that you use only one image, but if it takes a few jotted notes to get you going then of course...do it!

The all inspiring beer!

Hello All! Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

This Inspiration Station today is short & sweet. It's about settings. Some people I have spoken to struggle to describe settings. The best thing I find is to think about our SENSES when describing settings. If you write to your senses, you will awaken the audience from the get go. So take yourself to a place, get something to eat/drink and think:
-What does it look like? What adjectives can I use to describe? Can I up it a little to use some figurative language like metaphors and similes?
-What noises can I hear? Listen for all of them; people, nature- birds, wind, rain drops.
-How does my beverage or food taste?
-What is its texture like in my mouth? How does it make me feel?
-How does the whole place make you feel?

After a while it gets quite simple, quick and easy to do. Don't worry if it takes time, its really quite relaxing just soaking up time enjoying the quiet and pondering life for a bit. Here's one I did on a Friday afternoon at a pub.





"Beer- delicious after a hot day in the sun. Thirst immediately quenched. Cool hits the back of my throat. Meanwhile the breeze sends my hair flying, drops temperature, flickers clothing on my body for moments at a time. Birds nearby are chirping more delicately than the aged drinkers cackle. The refreshing quench of liquid gold leaves no question of why you'd have more. Folded umbrellas sway in the returning breeze as the grass fronds dance between the hip hopped tiles leading to a quiet blue table- desolate."

Now here is an approximate image of what I was looking at whilst I was writing this little piece (I forgot to take my own because I was enjoying the quiet too much!)

Please note images are courtesy of Google images.

It's only just begun...the first story starter

When I say I promise I mean it. So I said I would endeavour to provide you with a beginning/ a start to the Inspiration Station images that were posted yesterday, so here goes. Share with me where it takes you..or if you can it and go somewhere else. I'm an open book & certainly have LOTS to learn still. Enjoy!

It was the day after. I'd awaken from the shelter, walked to the end of the street and decided to see what the aftermath was of the torrential rain that I'd experienced the day before. I can remember how rushed my mind was as I filled my bag with the essentials while the water was quickly rising higher  in my bedroom earlier that day. Our town was lucky, we were given plenty of warning to be prepared but with the trouble with storm water drains and living close to a river it still came sooner than we thought.

As I walked outside the shelter and down the street, along the bike path I noticed how tranquil the town had become so soon after the flood had come and gone. The leaves were so beautiful scattered across the path showing their array of colours, the birds were singing delightfully in the trees and the trees once windswept in cyclonic motions now peacefully still. As I lifted my head towards the immediate horizon I noticed a boat. I wondered how it got there, what was it's story. Did someone use it for rescues the night before? And why was it placed near this swollen billabong? I suppose it was one of many stories that would emerge from the flood waters. .......(YOUR TURN!)

Inspiration Station...a gallery of images

I hope you like the images...you may notice some of the pictures and you may not. The bottom image is of AFL- Australia Rules Football, the game of Australia however now played in several other countries. This week you may choose to research some things before you write or you may choose to just write descriptions and go from there. Still stuck? Sometimes I connect images to my own personal experiences and then go from there. Let me know how you go!

Inspiration Station strikes again

This week's Inspiration Station- you might notice that this is from a statue in St Pancras Station in London. This image depicts much of what I began encouraged to write about when I first arrived in London. I'd love to know what you are writing though, words are meant to be shared in my opinion! Here's what I wrote when I saw people heading off to work in hoards. No offence intended of course to the Brits, after all I would be insulting myself considering I am British as well, this is just what I noticed in comparison to what I was used to in Australia.

'Monday to Friday I ride the train to work with faceless zombies, on Saturday the lights come on in peoples' eyes. The zombies turn to children, hoards of children filled with joy, laughter, expression and excitement. Everyone has suddenly discovered they are human again until Monday blues start to precipitate on Sunday evening.' (Julia Trask 2012)

So what are you encouraged to write about from this picture?