Tag: inspiration
Writer’s Quote Wednesday – David McCullough
Welcome back to another Segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading. This week, I draw inspiration from David McCullough. I wish I could like this in a post over and over again!
So true! Which is why I research as I’m writing :).
About The Author:
“David McCullough has twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams, and twice received the National Book Award, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback. His other acclaimed books include 1776, Brave Companions, The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, and The Wright Brothers. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.”
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That’s it for my segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday. I think the quote pretty much speaks for itself.
Writer’s Quote Wednesday – William Wordsworth
For this weeks segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, I draw inspiration from William Wordsworth:
This quote is brief and to the point and I think it is most important. When you sit down to write, the focus should not initially be on proper grammar, sentence structure, whether the words rhyme, symbolism, or any other technique outside that thing that beats through your chest. Initially, the purpose should be to fill the paper with what’s truly in your heart. You can always go back to edit, but a page soaked in truth is more than likely to speak to people more so than proper grammar. At least for me, I try to make sure that my passion is first in my writing life, and that what I give you is coming from my innermost being. My goal is not to sound like I graduated from Harvard; my goal is to tell the truth.
About the Author:
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads. – Wikipedia
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That’s it for me today. Yall be great :).
When Inspiration Comes
I thought of you this morning and knew that you would come. I thought to write about you then, but I tend to learn all too late that there is a time and place even for thoughts; a succession of images and ideas, some brighter than the others. Some wait patiently for me to notice the size and shape of their existence, while others show up between the colors of rainbows after the rain. Shiny pieces of ambition threatening to either cut or spark curiosity amidst the heart, causing it to act. Action, it is what I demand of these visions both beautiful and stubborn alike. They must all remember that while I love them, dreams and realities are opposites and only action makes them whole. Offer me not death on a silver platter, champagne taste against beer breath. The motivation to be inspired, it always comes at a price. In what way will I choose to spend this currency of influence now upon me? These fragile ideas of ours, this soaring hope, it must be handled carefully. Dare I let the concept of failure steal away my beating heart? When the inspiration comes, I know that it will either bend or break at my command, which will I choose?
It’s Hard
Ten Seconds to Stand
You stand an awkward 5’3, and barely 140lbs to this 10ft over 300 lb. monster of a circumstance. Your back is against the rope. Body leaning, and tumbling over an agonizing blow to the face, body, and jaw until finally you topple. Come crashing down a lifeless breath of humiliation and shame. Through bloody and blurred eyes you see the referee coming, a glint of mercy. Here comes the slow count. You have fallen down. You have been defeated. You have been humiliated and you’ve got 10 seconds to stand back on your feet. Yes, only 10. You have been knocked out cold by life and mercy isn’t as tall nor does he appear to be as strong as this circumstance, and yet here he is. This tiny stature of a man, who doesn’t seem to know the taste of the ground or the enticing sound of “Give Up” but he is here. Approaching your situation with iron style arms and a dove for a face. What will be your decision? There’s only ten seconds to make one. Will you stand?
Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Aldous Huxley
For this week’s segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, as hosted by the lovely Colleen of Silver Threading, I take inspiration from Aldous Huxley:
“Every man’s memory is his private literature.” ~Aldous Huxley
The influence of memory in our lives is thought-provoking. Even if it’s just the name of a character or birthplace, memory plays a part in what we write and often even how we write, which is what makes this quote so interesting. A lot of the stories in my books, for instance, take place in Chicago because I know Chicago. This is where I am from, where I was raised, and it is the city that I know. I do not have to make up the names of streets and towns and shops because I know them. I’ve been to Ford City, shopped at the Food & Liquor on 63rd and Western (it’s closed now), and lived on 47th Street. I’ve rode the Red Line through the loop, touched the people, smelled the food and heard the voices. As long as I have memory of Chicago, I’ll always have some story to tell.
About the Author:
What I enjoy about this weekly prompt, in addition to the inspiring voices of authors who compel us to keep writing, is the search and discovery of new authors to explore. Sometimes it’s best to understand more about the quotes you use. I discovered for instance, that Aldous grandfather, Thomas Henry Huxley, was known as a controversial naturalist in his time, nicknamed as “Darwin’s Bulldog”, which made me think twice about whether or not to use this quote since I don’t believe in anything with the words Darwin in the same sentence. But anyway, I decided to play nice though and let Aldous hang around a bit longer, so here’s his background according to The European Graduate School website:
“Aldous Huxley, was a British writer. He was born on July 26, 1894 and died on November 22, 1963. He would become most specifically known to the public for his novels, and especially his fifth one, Brave New World, written in 1931 and published in 1932.
Aldous Huxley would come to be known mostly as a novelist and essayist but he would also write some short stories, poetry, travelogues and even film scripts. In his novels and essays Aldous Huxley would always play the role of a critical observer of accepted traditions, customs, social norms and ideals. Importantly, he would be concerned in his writings with the potentially harmful applications of so-called scientific progress to mankind”
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That’s it for this week’s segment. Be sure to check out the other #WQW posts from other bloggers this week. Just look for “Writer’s Quote Wednesday” in your readers :).
http://silverthreading.com/2015/08/12/writers-quote-wednesday-roald-dahl/
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