Inspirations come from everywhere. All writers are told this. All writers know this, even if we don’t believe it sometimes.
When I received an invite from Hardie Grant Egmont for the 2015 presentation of their books, I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never been to an event like this before. But when I left the event, I took with me wonderful nuggets of wisdom on where writers get their inspirations.
Photo from Danny Parker website.
Picture book author Danny Parker will be releasing his new book “Perfect” in October. It’s about the joys of childhood as we used to experience it – outdoors from morning till dusk, adventures outside with no fear, being one with nature and just having fun. It is a topic that is all too familiar to me. I self published my own version two years ago titled “We Have It All” from my own childhood’s perspective in the Philippines.
It surprised me, and I told Danny this, how similar our stories are eventhough we both come from different countries (he is originally from the UK). His inspiration came from a line his daughter told him after he asked her what she wanted to do for the day.
“Just some crayons and a place to scribble,” she said. It is this simple answer that started Danny’s train of thought.
Kids are great inspirations aren’t they? Allison Tait’s The Mapmaker’s Chronicles started out as a conversation with her son too.
Zanni Hacska’s soon to be released picture book “Too Busy Sleeping” also came out of her experience introducing her second child to her first born child. This mummy blogger and writer formed this inspiring story in between breastfeeding and taking care of her children.
Photo from Zanni’s website.
What really tugged my heart though was the story behind Patrick Guest’s upcoming book “That’s what wings are for”. The inspiration for Bluey, the dragon with the floppy wings, came from Blue the Dragon, which is the mascot for Duchenne Foundation, an organisation that supports families with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). To come out with such an inspiring story from such hardship is amazing to say the least.
It is true what they say – inspiration comes from everywhere. It is up to us to find it and do something with it.
[…] like inspiration hangs in the air and you just pluck it out. But the reality is that it is really everywhere. For me, I put things in ‘what if’ situations. Like for The Girl Between Two Worlds, I asked […]