Tuesday, March 11, 2008

In search of inspiration




In my never-ending search for inspiration, I have turned to several Yahoo groups. For those of you who are familiar with my writing, I absolutely love Native American culture. Researching native cultures, whether through the Internet or books, is such a joy for me. Since beginning my second novel, I felt compelled to take my research a step further by getting in contact with the very people I love to include in my manuscripts. Hence, I turned to Yahoo and found myself joining not one, but three groups moderated by the same person. Fondly referred to as "talking circles", these groups have provided a constant source of inspiration. Not only do I gain fodder for my writing, but I have made some wonderful friends and gained new insight into the First Nations people as well. My heart has harbored an intense passion for these awesome people, their culture, and history for as long as I can remember. I know this passion was put there by God and I see Him directing my life to new and exciting adventures. Do you have a passion for something? Do you find yourself habitually writing the same basic theme into your books? Do what I did: Sign onto Yahoo and do a search. You might be pleasantly surprised by whom you might meet.
~*~ Linda Strawn ~*~

2 comments:

Delia Latham said...

Excellent advice, Linda! I'm glad to know you're still delving into the Indian culture, etc. What a fascinating topic to research!

Anonymous said...

Linda,

I spent the weekend in Dallas (Plano/Frisco areas) where I got to visit my Dad for my birthday. When we got to his house, he pulled out a song that he used to sing to torment us kids in the morning - "Git up you lazy cowboys."

I remember him singing that song every morning, very early, in attempt to get us lazy cowboys out of bed.

Now my Dad is a very unique individual, a creative type like myself, so I always thought that he made up that little ditty. But he revealed to me - after all these years - that his dad used to sing it to him and his brothers to torture them. My Grandaddy passed away a year ago on my birthday, so I guess my dad was reminising about old times.

My grandfather was ood cowboy in West Texas, and married into a family rich in history. My grandmother's family worked on the famous JA Ranch, which at one time was larger than the King Ranch. Her grandfather was the 2nd in command to none other than Charles Goodnight of the legendary Goodnight Trail. I had no idea of all this! But my Dad was there and just spilling his guts.

Then he showed me what he was working on. Turns out, that he had written some more verses to that annoying, little early morning ditty. And they were good.

I just there blinking at the page in amazement, thinking to myself how lucky I was to have a connection to history. And I wanted to write about it.

Then I blurted out another verse for the song. Had no idea where that came from.

With all these verses, it seemed like a children's book. So that's what we decided.

So Linda,, keep following your interest and your connection. That's where creativity lives.

DeLyn