When people ask where I get Inspiration I always say on the corner near the passport office. There would be a point, as I walked past the passport office, that ideas would pop into my mind. Whole stories appeared, or, at times, characters would speak and chat about what they were up to.
At work we talk about evidence and I finally realised I hadn’t reviewed all the evidence of the reason for my inspirations appearing at the corner of the passport office. It’s obvious surely that all those emotions of all those people and passports, all their stories somehow made their way into my mind as I went by.
When we moved offices I worried that I’d miss my inspiration corner. Walking a different route, the inspiration still comes, but at another point around the same time in my walk as the passport office was. It dawned on me it wasn’t the passport office but the walking. I know, yes I am apparently an intelligent individual yet I wanted the passport office to be my inspiration and believed that it was. Now I realise 20 minutes into a walk the more creative part of my mind will have it’s day.
Have passport, will travel. As I keep writing and meet more people, it makes me want to travel more and hopefully it won’t only be my characters that need their passport. Here’s to more use of my passport over the coming years!
What’s your passport office equivalent?
My AtoZchallenge posts are about writing, parts of my novels or some research I need to do for them. I’m not allowing myself to write about anything other than topics linked to the books, my books. The current titles that I’m writing about are ‘Bags’, ‘Holiday stories’ and ‘Dream Gardener’.
lynnelives 
Hmm…I wrote about muses for ‘M’ in the A to Z — and a passport office or other iconic building never occurred to me to list. But sure, why not? In your case, any spot about 20 minutes into your walk, so physical activity (a certain amount of it) is your muse. 🙂 How great.
Jagoda
Thanks Jagoda, I’ll go take a look. It doesn’t take much for me to get the ideas flowing. Sitting talking about nothing for 5-10 mins does it too!
The shower or my bed are my spots of inspiration. Which is highly annoying since I don’t have aquanote (why haven’t I got them?) or I’m trying to sleep. I don’t need story ideas right then! Why not when I’m sitting at my computer? My muse has a horrible sense of humor.
Yes Patricia, why don’t you have an aquanote? Don’t we all? (Never heard of one!). it seems many of our muses are things that are inappropriate for us.. hmm..
I love that you’re inspired by the probable stories and experiences of people that somehow moved through the passport office 🙂 Cool.
I get my story inspirations when I’m stuck in a traffic jam or on a long drive and like Patricia before me, strangely enough…the shower. LOL
Apparently doing something repetitive and doesn’t take too much brain poser or thought allows the mind to create. The things you describe seem to fit. Thanks for popping by and commenting.
The coffee shop. I love sitting there at the local coffee shop, sipping at my favourite drink, and watching people.
Ooh Lynda me too! Only my favourite place and shop closed a few years ago and I’ve not found another one. Thanks for reminding me of that, I must go find a new place to people watch.
Another great post Lynne. I’m with Patricia – for me it’s nearly always as I’m falling asleep or waking up – but I have written lots of songs in the shower, continually singing them over and over so I don’t forget before I can get to my phone to record them.
When I hit the bed I’m asleep! As for waking that’s usually when I meditate. Trying to get things remembered in the brain before they disapper, if we’re not able to get them ‘down’, seems a constant struggle for many of us.
I usually get inspired when I’m in the throes of insomnia. You know, brain churning and all that. I haven’t yet figured out whether inspiration strikes because I can’t sleep, or whether I can’t sleep because inspiration is brewing, but either way, the golden insight always seems to emerge from a really, really tired brain. Weird, right? Great feature, love your persistence with AtoZ. XXX
Thanks Nicky! Weird.. yes!
Thanks for your lovely comments as always. Now I need to persist with editing.. And must persist in getting copies of your books to read!
Taking a walk and, like a few other people here, taking a shower are my two nearly surefire jogs for a stuck brain.
According to a tv prog I watched we should be able to put childrens bricks into colour coordination for inspiration to hit too! Ahh that explains why I have colour coordination in my wardrobe!
My best ideas are when I am falling off to sleep and I am too lazy to jot them down. By the morning they are usually gone. Maybe I should wake my husband!
I’m sure he loves you enough.. Or you could tape them.
I did wonder why the Passport Office was more inspiring than any other gathering place of mixed individuals. The Post Office queue sometimes does it for me. My problem with walking is that I’m usually chatting at the same time and that’s not so good for writing inspiration.
Anything that is something but not too much seems to work from what everyone’s saying. Our post office has reduced their queues so I’m glad I’m not reliant on that one!
This is a reminder I need to get a passport. You just got to take inspiration where you can find it. Stratoz goes from A to Z
Thanks Wayne and glad I was a reminder. Go get that passport!
My ideas fall together in the shower. When I’m stuck with my writing, that’s where I park myself!
Damyanti, Co-host, A to Z Challenge 2013
Twitter: @AprilA2Z
#atozchallenge
The shower seems a common place for inspiration like the topic which I seem to have stumbled on a few times already in AtoZ…