Inspiration!

I’ve always wondered about this house. I see it every day when I walk the dog down by the Thames. It’s so beautifully kept but the bars are always, always across the windows downstairs. Why is that? What goes on in there? Why keep it so immaculate when there’s no one there to enjoy it? Or are they in there?

Inspiration is such a funny thing. Sometimes these ideas pop into your mind, fully formed, as Nick Butterworth recently described at the SCBWI Conference in Winchester, talking about Q Pootle 5. Apparently he just began sketching and, suddenly, there was Pootle! And he hasn’t changed since.

So where do writers find their inspiration? What makes them put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard, and tackle that white page? Sometimes it can be something as esoteric as a smell or a funny light in the sky. Perhaps a dream or a thought will pop into your mind – what if . . . ?! And then you’re off, into a whole new fictional world.

And when you have them, how do you record your ideas? We’d love to know.  I know lots of authors carry notebooks around, in case an overheard conversation on a train or an interesting situation presents itself.

So we’d love to hear what inspires you. A great music album? A long dog walk? Saturday night telly? Eavesdropping on the bus? Come and tell us on our Facebook page!

Whatever it is, we, as readers, are truly grateful for it! But what is going on inside that house?