What Inspires Me: Poem by Wordsworth

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Love Wordsworth and this sonnet which to me sings of a writers freedom yet being trapped…

Nuns fret not

Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room; 
And hermits are contented with their cells;
And students with their pensive citadels; 
Maids at the wheel, the weaver at his loom, 
Sit blithe and happy; bees that soar for bloom, 
High as the highest Peak of Furness-fells, 
Will murmur by the hour in foxglove bells: 
In truth the prison, into which we doom 
Ourselves, no prison is: and hence for me, 
In sundry moods, ’twas pastime to be bound 
Within the Sonnet’s scanty plot of ground; 
Pleased if some Souls (for such there needs must be) 
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty, 
Should find brief solace there, as I have found.

W. Wordsworth 

What Inspires Me: Reading

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Something which I have a great love for is: reading.

Being born to immigrant parents, I learned to speak English in school.  I used reading anything I could get my hands on from the local library, to help me conquer the language.

My passion for reading increased as a teen, where I started to write my own stories, after being inspired by authors like Robin Klein, S.E. Hinton and Lucy Maud Montgomery. As I got older, my tastes broadened and I fell in love with classical literature, horror and science fiction.  Authors like Steven King, Paulo Coelho, Christian Jacq, Anne Rice, Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts  encouraged me to get back to writing because their words touched me and reignited the creative spark I had been suppressing.

I’m always reading several books at a time and love to open my inspiration to new ideas whether they be fiction or non fiction. This is why I have been puzzled when I meet people who say they never read.  I find that weird…mainly because I love to read for fun as well as for knowledge.  I find reading a great self educator and feel it can help writers hone their craft or encourage them to try our new genres or styles of writing.

Whatever I am reading all I want is to get “something” out of it and even if I dislike the book itself – at least I learned that!

Feminist Fairy Tales

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I am working on a short story retelling of a classic fairy-tale, but from an ancient world mythological point of view and a woman’s perspective.

Therefore, I have been re-familiarizing myself with Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales for inspiration.

After rereading a few volumes of said fairy tales I was reminded why I became a feminist at age 4.

Those tales are full of so much sexism that it hurts my brain.

If I was one of the female fairy tale characters set in the 17th -19th century I would of ended up like this:

Once upon a time in a land far far away there lived…

An outspoken girl with no titles yet was educated and self assured regarding her own opinion.

She didn’t live happily ever after, as she was promptly executed (or excommunicated) for being a feminist.

The End

Suffice to say my re imagined fairy tale is going to come from a feminist point of view…or so I envision it that way…lets see how she fairs 😉

Writing as an ambivert…

People have always assumed that I’m an extrovert due to my friendly nature. Truth be told – those who know me on a deeper level, know I’m actually an ambivert (an ambivert is a combination of a extrovert and introvert personality).  However, when I am in the writing zone I become very introverted and live in my own world.

I spend lot of time on my own – imagining my story lines and characters, jotting down random strings of words which come to me and observing the world around me whilst remaining detached.

Thing is, I have to come out of my self imposed exile and connect to people when I want to get my writing out there and communicate it to the world.

For me writing means living in two separate worlds and hopefully my ambivert personality can continue to have a foothold in each, as for me that is the perfect balance needed for my creativity.

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Validation

Was thinking about my fears when it comes to my writing and I have realized I have worked through a lot of it thanks to some great advice.

I always used to fear not being validated but then I realized I dont need it!14189202599_fcc3da396d_b

The best piece of advice I have received from my mentor this year is:
To not give a #%$@ when people don’t support you and never share with them because its not worth it.

Its made me more confident and creative, enabled me to write more so that I have completed more work this year than ever (even with my bouts of not being able to write for various reasons).