Influence and Inspiration

I can trace the birth of my inspiration back to a 12 year old me, picking up a book on a whim called "Girls In Love" by Jacqueline Wilson. This was the book (and the trilogy that followed) that made me want to write stories of my own. Her quirky writing style spoke to me and made me feel like I was not the only young teenager to have these thoughts. From this, I began to write stories of my own, some from own perspective, others using a character I had created. As I grew up, so did my writing style. I began to look in more detail at the world around me, and I saw just how much I had missed as a young girl. I now feel I can take on darker subjects and add my own twist to them. 

I also felt very inspired by John Cheever's "The Swimmer" in his anthology. Its surrealism truly interested me and the unstable feeling it gives us of not knowing exactly when or why this is happening. I am a great lover of stories that take the reader on a journey, and this is certainly one of them. We follow this character and see his social demise as he goes from an upper-class, respected man to a nobody, at the bottom of the social heap. This is often how some of us may see our own lives, finding it difficult to maintain our position in this competitive world. 

In my mind, frankly anything can inspire us, from taking a walk in the park to experiencing a life-changing incident. I say, anything like this that you feel inspires you to write and brings you enjoyment, then do it.