Know Jack #502 Where Do Books Come From?

Like most authors, I’ve often asked where I get my inspiration. I wish I knew. I don’t think inspiration is one of those things that a person can “get” or find by searching for it. Having been a nurse for so many years, my preferred definition of the word is “the act of drawing in”. Although my Christian experience convinced me of that before I became a nurse.

I believe inspiration finds a person rather than the other way around. Creation was spoken into existence from nothing, and as such, inspiration inhabits everything. We have only to be open to it and draw it in. Both elements must be present for inspiration to come to life.

I belong to groups that study the unexplained, the paranormal, and the supernatural. There are three positions people take concerning these subjects. I know a fellow who sees Bigfoot in every stump and shadow. There are others who would refuse to consider such a thing existed even if it walked up and shook their hand. The rest fall somewhere between and have some degree of openness to the possibility.

Openness to possibilities is the portal to inspiration. It is the thing that moves us to ask, “What if” bound only by imagination. When we draw in and entertain the possibilities, the answer to “What if” takes on a life of its own. Writing down the answers we come up with is what authors do. So, you see, inspiration is just something that happens to us. If there’s something special about authors, it is their openness to “see” possibilities in everything.

A song lyric says, “She’s not there”. What if she’s a ghost? An old saying tells me, “You are what you eat”. What if cockroaches from outer space landed on Earth, and began sampling its creatures…or man? The dog is excitedly barking at the door. What if it’s because there’s a rougarou on the other side? A dog and her newborn pups are found in a box on a trash heap. What if a Bigfoot carried them to someone’s door?

Something, anything, sparks an idea that becomes a question, that becomes an answer, that becomes a story replete with characters, setting, and plot. And that’s where books come from.