#IWSG Feb 2020: Visual Inspiration

Posted February 5, 2020 in Creative Writing / 20 Comments

The Insecure Writer's Support Group badge

It’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post to boost my confidence and encourage myself to engage with the writing community. The IWSG post on the first Wednesday of every month.

This month’s awesome co-hosts are:   Lee Lowery, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Jennifer Hawes, Cathrina Constantine, and Tyrean Martinson!  

Writing News

I’m still working on my science fantasy novel at the moment. I’ve written about 40,000 words on it but it but I ran into plot issues that I’ve been mulling over for what seems like forever. I’ve now decided to rewrite it all from the beginning, which is quite daunting.

I’m hoping to have it all finished and edited by September, so that I can send it off to beta readers in the autumn. To accomplish that I’ll have to write a minimum of 500 words a day from now until June. This is probably a tiny amount for most authors but I have a lot of plates spinning at the moment so I can only spare about 30 minutes to an hour each day. I’m off work in August so that will be my best opportunity to polish it.

I feel like I’ve been thinking about this book much more than I’ve been writing it, and this year I really need to crack on and just get the words on the page. Hopefully, I can make it happen this year, otherwise it probably never will.

This month’s optional question:

Has a single photo or work of art ever inspired a story? What was it and did you finish it?

I enjoy visual flash fiction prompts but I can’t think of a specific example where a picture has inspired a whole story. I tend to get the idea for a story first, then I go searching for images that fit the general aesthetic to help me visualise specific characters or aspects of the setting. I love creating mood boards for my stories on Pinterest or collages for #ThursdayAesthetic on Twitter. I do have a board of interesting images that could be used as writing prompts, but I’ve ever actually developed any of them into a story!

Tags: , ,

Divider

20 responses to “#IWSG Feb 2020: Visual Inspiration

  1. It sounds like you have a well-thought plan there, even though you’re having to endure the pain of a re-write. I hope August treats you well in terms of meeting your writing goal.

    I love a flash fiction prompt and images often spark for me. The tricky bit for me is to plan out a full-length novel – but I’m working on that! 🙂

    • Thanks, Debs. Hopefully it will turn out much better this time around. I enjoy the planning and editing stages but drafting is much more difficult for me.

  2. I’m with you, in that I think up a story and characters, then collect images on Pinterest. Having those images helps me a lot with descriptive passages. Happy writing in February!

  3. I have found photos to be inspiring, but I’ve only developed a few ideas from them into full stories, too.
    Way to go with your 40K! 500 words a day is great!
    Happy Writing for the rest of the year!

  4. 500 words a day… I bet you can do it, Tizzy. Sadly, we all know how fast time goes by; you’ll be finished before you know it. Happy IWSG Day.

  5. Hi Tizzy!
    Thank you for visiting my blog.
    Congrats on the 40,000 words you’ve written… that’s a lot of words!
    I’ve never tried developing a Pinterest visual board… just don’t have time. Maybe I should incorporate it as part of the process. As it is, getting the initial words down takes a huge chunk of time.

  6. I find that thinking about a story is important. letting it mull around in your head helps your subconscious work on some of those problems and when you sit to write, it’s easier.
    I wish I was more visual! I’d love to be able to use Pinterest boards but it just doesn’t work for my brain. I can make pretty things but it doesn’t connect to my story

    • I certainly spend a lot of time daydreaming about my projects. Often, I’m just trying to work out how all the themes and symbols can connect up and make sense.

    • Thanks, Elizabeth. I hope so. I’ve been working on this book for a long time so hopefully it will be worth the wait when it’s finally finished.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.