IWSG: Wednesday, May 3, 2023 ~ Inspiration!

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.






To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are Joylene Nowell Butler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Meka James, Diane Burton, Victoria Maries Lees, and, M Louise Barbour ~ Fundy Blue!

I hope you have a chance to visit today's hosts and thank them for co-hosting.

I'm sure they would appreciate a visit and an encouraging comment.

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Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.
This month's featured question is: 

When you are working on a story, what inspires you?

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Happy May, Everyone! 

I hope you had a happy and creative April.

We had a very hectic month with a surprise trip to the Caribbean thrown in.

Terry hates the cold and the snow, 

and he was quickly looking for an escape, however brief.

He must have been desperate, because he booked us on a cruise,

something I've been campaigning for unsuccessfully for years.

So I found myself unexpectedly in Puerto Rico 

and the Caribbean islands of St. Thomas, St. Kitt's, and St. Maarten.

Shipwreck Beach

Saint Kitts and Nevis

April 17, 2023

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

This month's question asks what inspires you when you are working on a story.

Usually what pulls me into a story is a combination 

of a landscape, a character, and an emotion.

I grew up in a variety of places where human lives were intimately tied to their landscapes.

Because I lived in isolated, rural areas or very small villages and towns,

I found inspiration in nature and wilderness.  I still do.

So when I wrote my short story "Ugly Little Bastards," 

the wild Newfoundland landscape was a powerful element in the story 

as Lockie wrestled with a decision that would direct the course of his life.

A Winter Walk

Westport, White Bay, Newfoundland, Canada

1975

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Note:  This has nothing to do with the location of Lockie's story 

which is eight miles from Westport.

I updated to a new version of MacOS two days ago, 

and almost all of my Newfoundland photos have vanished.

But, as I lived most of my adult life in urban areas,

I quickly realized that a landscape isn't always rural or wild.

It's whatever environment surrounds you.

Old San Juan

Puerto Rico

April 14, 2023

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Characters come to me pretty easily, but they are always tied to a landscape

and they usually present themselves to me with a powerful emotion.

When I wrote my short story "Dare, Double Dare," 

Aimée suddenly burst into the story radiating panic.

I want to return to her as a character and find out more about her.

Replica of Champlain's habitation at the Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada 

Port Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada

Wikimedia

Writing a story is a process of discovery for me.

I have to write to figure out who my character is

and why he or she is appearing with a strong emotion in a particular landscape.

It's a slow, circular path, but it works for me.

What inspires me and helps me as I write is music.

Music can capture a place, a person, and absolutely an emotion.

Sometimes as I'm writing, I will play a song over and over until I'm finished with a scene.

I can drive Terry nuts ~ lol!

Terry Serving in Pickleball

Somewhere in the North Atlantic

April 19, 2023

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Terry's Exact Location

Isn't technology something else!

April 19, 2023

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

So, of course, I have a music video to share.

It's not related to anything I'm writing.

It's related to a powerful emotion I'm feeling now:  joy!

My Graves disease is in remission!

I feel like my old self, like I've woken up from a twenty-two-month-long nightmare.

So what if I'll likely have to have an operation to finally fix my wayward left eye!

I have energy and hope, and I'm making progress with my writing! 

I found this version of "Stand By Me," because my kitchen TV croaked,

and I've been listening to music on YouTube for hours and hours.

The song is performed by the Playing For Change Band live in Brazil.

What I see in the faces of the musicians and singers is joy.

"Fica comigo" means "stay with me" in Portuguese.

Playing For Change is a multimedia music project, 

that features musicians and singers from around the world.

It was co-founded in 2002 by Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke. 

In 2007 Playing For Change created  a separate non-profit organization

called the Playing For Change Foundation. 

It builds music and art schools for children around the world.

Wikipedia

Playing For Change and Stand By Me

Enjoy IWSG Day.  Stay happy and safe.

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com