Friday Inspiration: The Gift of Inadequacy - Taylor Gahm

Inspiration for the weekend

Hope you enjoy the song and video as much as I do!

Creative Writing – Ideas & Characters

Here’s some more creativity and inspiration videos. Today’s post is focused squarely on writing and writers.

Both of these podcasts are by Keith Gray and are part of a series. The rest of the series can be watched on YouTube, courtesy of the Scottish Book Trust.

Writing Experiments, Finish Year and Other News

New Technology, new experiments
No, I’m not referring to the Higgs Boson announcement, but to my own experiments with Pinterest. I have started using the boards not only for “pretty things”, but also for pictures which inspire stories (or may in the future) and now also things or people which reminds me of a WIP or finished work.
The first one for which I’ve tried making a separate board is the WIP called “Spilling Beans”. You can see the board here. Started after finishing the drafts, I find that these pictures, textures and people help me to get a firmer “hold” of the picture in my head.


Maps, maps and more maps!
I’ve been drawing some more Airthai maps – one for the Argavér and one of the southeastern part of the Southern and Eastern Lands of the Continent. This shows a closer look at the countries which are featured in some of the earliest worldbuilding I did for Airthai – and which are also being posted on Kammastories bit by bit before I translate these for Hersenskim (these were originally written in Afrikaans).

Map of Battle of the Shadow Plain and Argavér

Map of the Eastern Lands 

All the Airthai maps can be looked at over here. 

Finish Year
I’ve started on a new short story, known at the moment to me as “the clock story”. I’m writing the first draft before completing all of the research about the inner workings of clocks simply so I can get the story down without being side-tracked. However, some inspiration may just follow over here when I get the chance. I’m also submitting the short story “Spilling Beans” in the coming week for publication. I hope I have good news about it soon.

On the study front I am still busy with the paper I’m to give at the beginning of September. As this will only be twenty minutes long, I am a lot more focused on length than I usually am. I am enjoying myself thoroughly though. I guess that’s proof that I’m still on the right track!

"Library" by Louchiere

A tough decision
However, to place more focus on writing and studying, means that I have to scale down my blogging in order to be able to deliver proper posts, especially as I am also working on Kammastories. I have made the following decision: I will still do worldbuilding posts every Wednesdy, and then alternate Mondays and Fridays. This means that I will have sixteen posts per month (both blogs together), instead of twenty four. I think all bloggers can respect the time that this will open up for me. Thanks for all the readers who remain so supportive while I’m finding my blogging and writing feet.

"Library" courtesy of Stock Exchange. 

How to be more creative

Check out these videos I stumbled across!

Talent and Imagination

I found these three videos, which I thought was perfect for a Friday – especially for those who are also spending the weekend writing, studying or simply creating.

I’m busy listening to the audio version of this book – thanks to Audible – and I’m finding it fascinating. Here is the book trailer for Imagine:

Of Fingers, Pies and Inspiration

Sometimes, there is such a thing as too much pie. Especially when you have fingers stuck in them. Although I picture the ones I have fingers stuck in more like a range of different kinds of pie and some of the experimental fillings aren’t working as well as I’d hoped. And now I’ll stop with the pie-metaphor and get to the real news:

Kammastories*
Kammastories will be a new blog filled with stories and spinned yarns – but these will all be (as far as possible) in Afrikaans (if you are new to this blog – Afrikaans is my mother tongue**). Many of my shorter pieces of Airthai worldbuilding and fiction were first written in Afrikaans, but, while this blog has some Afrikaans content, I find that my readers predominantly have English as their mother tongue or as an additional language, but do not understand Afrikaans. Therefore, rather that simply having the same posts in both languages on one blog – which may become very confusing – I’ve decided to split them, but still have some of the same blog posts on both, or the same story in both languages. I also want to write more fiction in Afrikaans, and this will give me a specific platform for those pieces. Which brings me to “Small Mercies”.

This short-lived blog – which I just feel does not work on its own – will rather be incorporated into my usual posts here on Hersenskim and will give me more freedom than just saying that I’ve been surrounded by books for another week or to stay on such a narrow subject. That said, I am not quitting my Finish Year list, but will just go about noting progress on finishing that list a bit differently!

Plans for Hersenskim
The format (or, rather, the order) of the posts here will change slightly – I’ll start Monday with some Inspiration†, Wednesdays will remain days for Worldbuilding and Fridays will have posts about fiction, book reviews, writing and other bookish endeavours. I’ll also give a short update on Finish Year at the end of the Friday post.

Weekend Inspiration
But, to get everyone in weekend mode and give some inspiration (albeit a bit louder than usual), music by a wonderful South African band called Prime Circle. Here’s their song “My Inspiration” – enjoy!

*”Kammastories” means “fantastical stories” or “fantasy stories” in Afrikaans. Cue evil laugh of glee!
** Or now you now why my “Friday Inspiration” posts also have an Afrikaans translation…
† Simply because you need inspiration more at the beginning of the week than at the end of it!

Stock photo courtesy of www.sxc.hu