At a PNWA Conference a few years ago, the speaker compared reading to “feeding the dragon of creativity.” Or something like that – I’m paraphrasing here. Anyway, I think it’s totally true. I find so much inspiration in literature in my genre. After reading a good book, I’m amped to start working on my manuscript.
Right now I’m reading passages from 1984 to inspire me with this upcoming chapter. I need a full on, anti-big brother zeal going before I start.
Remember that one? If you haven’t read it…You need to. Go to your local library, or get on B&N or Amazon and buy it. If you like dystopic fiction, you’ll love it. It’s one of the scariest books I’ve ever read, and arguably one of the best books ever written.
What kind of work inspires you? How do you get started on a new project? How do you find ways to keep inspired as you go on, working the sluggish chapters in the middle of your book into shining nuggets that someone might someday call literature? Or at least commercial fiction. 🙂
I read ‘1984’ when I was at school. Since it was forced upon me, I probably didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have. My first novel has just been published. I was lucky in some ways, as ideas for ‘A Second Path’ were always racing around my head. On the other hand, I knew no peace until the novel and subsequent editing was finished! Occasionally I would run out of inspiration, and I found the best solution was to leave the manuscript for a few days and go and have some fun. The classics inspire me; ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ are my absolute favourites. They just don’t write them like that any more!
I love Jane Eyre! I wrote a senior thesis on it 🙂 1984 is a bit of a hard read, I think, for younger people in general. Our fiction today is so much brief and punchy. I even find myself skimming over sections of long inner dialogue, and focusing instead on the creepy parts to inspire me. Actually, after re-reading it, I was wondering how much the MATCHED series owes to 1984, and if Ally Condie used it as inspiration?
That’s exciting about your novel! Is it published here in the US, or in the UK?