Finding Inspiration

by Allison Pang

I'm on vacation this week for my regularly scheduled escape to the shore, so at the moment, my inspiration is currently limited to refilling the creativity well via long walks on the beach and sitting in the sun.

That being said, the picture here was supposed to have been an egret standing on the post. But even though my camera was lined up and ready to go, I waited too long trying to get the perfect shot and a few moments later something spooked the bird and it flew away.

Sometimes I feel that way about ideas. I can get them easily enough for the most part - inspiration can and does come from anything. And I'm not always in a rush to write them down - I've found it can be better to let things percolate and see what sticks strongest.

(I've probably made this point before around the same time during previous years, only with seashells or

something - there's always one more shell under the waves - it's hard not to try to collect them all - but then it can be *so* hard to decide which is the best/your favorite and that can lead to a sort of idea paralysis.)

However, ideas that don't get written down don't become books. Inspiration aside, waiting too long to create the perfect story usually means it never happens - better to get some notes down or a basic outline if nothing else. Even if you're not quite ready to write it, at least you've got something to come back to.

So while I'm not doing much actual writing during this trip, I am doing a fair amount of idea percolating. (Surprise, most ideas are ocean related, but there are obvious reasons for that.) >_<

I might even be writing some of them down.