Save the date! My first-ever book, A God Walks Up to the Bar, is due to be published one week from now, on Saturday, August 12th. It will be available as a Kindle eBook on Amazon.com.
This book has been a long time in the making, and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my friends and family and the excellent work of my editor and cover artist.
If you enjoy modern fantasy, Greek mythology, trickster heroes, and general supernatural shenanigans, please check it out!
Where does inspiration come from? Where do the writers and artists of our time get their ideas? I can’t speak for others, but I get mine from everywhere imaginable. I’ve had weird dreams at 3 AM that stick with me and coalesce into workable material. Or maybe I have a particularly memorable conversation with a coworker that captures my attention. Or maybe I’m just going for a walk and a stray thought drifts into my brain. That happens a lot, actually.
There’s nothing in the world that has a stranglehold on the source of inspiration, and there is no “wrong” place to draw ideas from. In the end, all ideas have already been thought up, every story has already been told, and, as King Solomon says, “There is nothing new under the sun.” What there is, is taking a preexisting idea and molding it into a new shape, dressing it up in different clothes, and presenting it with your own unique flourish. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and we all imitate what we know to some degree. In a sense, artists and writers are scavengers, but ones who learn to refine their tastes. We look through all kinds of sources and draw an element here and a concept there to incorporate into our own works.
I’m not talking about plagiarism, mind you. Plagiarism is lifting somebody else’s hard work wholesale, changing a couple names, and claiming it as your own. That’s just a lie, and it’s lazy to boot. Inspiration is an influence, not a theft. It gives you a core to build your own story around and craft into something that is still very much your creation.
Inspiration is everywhere. What you see depends on who you are and how your mind works. Don’t be afraid to be inspired by something that others look down upon. Inspiration can come from the unlikeliest places. An old video game from the 90’s, a funny webcomic, or an action figure – these are just as valid as classic literature and theater. I’m not ashamed of it. I absorb as much as I can, from as many places as I can, and with these I fill a deep well. When writing a new story, I can dip into that well as I need, and pull up all sorts of surprising ideas.
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It’s a question we all have from time to time. Why do we do the things we do? I’m not talking about jobs or chores. That’s just stuff that needs to be done. I’m talking about what we like to do. Why do you write? Why do you paint? Why do you fish? Why do you do yoga, or boxing or football?
It’s like the climber who was asked why he wanted to climb the mountain. “Because it’s there!” he replied. Well, while my answer isn’t quite as glib, I can sympathize with that sentiment.
Why am I pursuing a writing career?
I can’t claim to speak for everyone, but this is how I perceive it. The best way to describe it is an itch. I have to write. It’s a necessity. It’s a little nagging feeling in the back of my skull that can’t be ignored, and the alternative is … madness! Okay, okay, I exaggerate, but I’m not kidding when I say that the desire to create is very, very strong. I think everyone has a bit of it in themselves, whether they know it or not. We all want to look back at our lives and say, “Yeah, I did what I loved. I made something I’m proud of. I accomplished something that I value.” A 9-5 job may pay the bills and support a comfortable lifestyle, but that’s not everybody’s idea of fulfillment, is it?
When you have a good idea, a good story bubbling up inside you or a great masterpiece that you want to paint, or even if your dream is of the perfect fish to draw out of the lake or that Holy Grail of puzzles found in some hole-in-the-wall dollar store, then you have your goal. You pursue that goal. It makes life fun, don’t you think, having something to achieve? So, my goal is to publish good, entertaining stories. There you have it.
A tad melodramatic? Yeah, maybe. And if you’re thinking, “Gee, you kind of sound like you’re describing an addiction,” then don’t get me wrong. It’s not that kind of tyrannical need that bullies you into submission. It’s a passionate need, an act of joy. And hey, if I’m going to write, I might as well as write for an audience, yeah? Where’s the fun in creating if you can’t share it with others?
Which is where this website comes in. I’m just getting started , so things are a little spartan around here at the moment. But it’ll grow. I’ll publish stories and trace my writer’s journey through this blog. I hope you’ll tag along for the ride.
Jake W. Powell 