It’s been a awhile since I’ve done one of these! Here is some summer photo inspiration for you! Maybe it will help kickstart your WIP.
Something to keep you afloat.
Ancient animal with stories to tell.
Potential.
Ocean vibes.
Washed ashore.
Mournful calls.
Magical wings.
As always, happy writing! And if you use any of these photos to help your writing process let me know!
The weather here has finally turned and is starting to make this past winter fade into a pleasant memory so that when snow falls again in November we will be excited.
As summer rolls in, it’s important for me to stay focused on my writing. Here are some picture prompts to get you going if you need a kickstart!
No Diving!
Busy working.
Possibly my favorite picture I’ve taken recently. So many caption options...
Farmers’ Market.
Beached canoe.
Capturing sunlight.
Peck. Peck. Peck.
Balloons!
Happy writing!!!
A little bit of spring for you to use as writing prompts or inspiration! On our spring break I was finally able to enjoy a little sunshine and warm weather, something we’ve been lacking here in New Hampshire.
Cherry tree flowers #1
Cherry tree flowers #2
And #3...I had to edit down the number of white flower tree pictures I shared...they were just so beautiful!
Creeping vines with potential.
Window and sky.
Fence openings.
As always, if you use any of these, let me know in the comments! Sometimes when I am stuck, using images can help me jumpstart my writing.
I’m in the process of getting ready and packing for NESCBWI. I always stress out about make sure I have the right clothes in my suitcase, my writing stuff and my business cards all ready to go.
The New England weather does not seem to be cooperating at all this year as we are on what seems like our 45th snow day of the year even though it’s the middle of April.
As I pack and repack my suitcase to make sure I have the stuff to navigate the weekend, I think about my first conference and my second conference and my third conference and how with each one, I brought more and more with me. Not just scarves and layers to deal with the ever changing hotel climate, but knowledge and confidence and experience and a community. I am packing my bags with a lot more than just clothes and shoes.
I can’t wait to learn and connect with other writers and creators this weekend, people who understand this journey. People who know what it’s like to pack for a conference and know all the other baggage that comes with it.
I am drawn to patterns and repetition whether visually or in text. No wonder I like picture books so much. The subtle (or not so subtle) repeating of a phrase or an image that harkens an earlier use makes me excited every time I see it. Here is a photo prompt set made of repeating things or lots of the same thing in one space...you’ll get the idea! As always, if any of my photos jumpstart your writing, let me know!
Bells.
Farmers' Markets are a great place to take photos or to gather inspiration.
Carts for days.
Giant cookie tray.
Today is one of those yucky days of winter when everything is coated in ice and slush and rain and yuck. It's a snow day, but not the kind where we can go sledding or build a snowman or go exploring in the woods. It's a day for hunkering in under blankets with coffee and tea and dreams of warmer days. Here are some photos that will help you start to dream of sunnier days. What stories do these photos inspire for you?
Love this flower.
Driftwood
Tree meets ocean.
Rocky beach.
Potential.
Summer nights.
A lot of writers and people are posting their words for 2018. I’ve been wearing a word around my wrist for the better part of a year, I also have it as a necklace. It was my word for 2017 and I think I still need it in 2018. Is it okay to have the same word for two years running? I’m going to say it is. Without further ado, here is my mantra as it applies to so many things.
Believe. Believe in the process. Believe in myself. Believe in magic and light and love. Belive in words and stories. Believe that the impossible is possible.
Here’s to believing in 2018. (And yes, I am a Journey fan...😊)
If you need a jumpstart in the new year, here’s a set of winter photos to use as writing inspiration! As you can see, I’m enamored by snow and how it changes my surroundings. Talk to me in April though when it’s still here, I start to feel a little differently by then.
Snow and sunlight.
Well on a snowy hill.
Snow in the woods.
I love perfect flakes.
Tracks.
White on green.
First flakes of the year.
Happy writing in 2018!
I think in picture books, in page turns, thirty-two pages and around fifteen beats. I think in rules of three and repetition. I pull snippets of dialogue from the air around me to save and hoard for a day when it will fit in just right into a place where I need it. I think in picture books, in wordless double page spreads and endpapers. I think in pacing and predictions and how everything sounds when read aloud. I think in that final twist, that wink to the reader. I think in bedtime-under-the-cover, surrounded-by-stacks books kind of reading. I think in picture books.
What about you? What do you think in?
I went for a hike (and when I say hike, others might consider it a stroll...) behind my house with my son yesterday. He had to pack a backpack full of snacks and water for our excursion. We had to be prepared. When we started, he kept asking for challenges to do and I made up little things, like skipping to the next pole on the path or trying to not step on any of the sunlight that filtered in through the trees.
We reached the destination I had originally planned on and had our snack. Side note: he had packed an entire box of crackers that only had two crackers left and 1,000 crumbs (next time I should check the snack choices).
"Do you want to go farther?" I ask. "To the very top?"
"No," he emphatically answers.
"What if we we just try a little bit more and then we can turn around if we want?"
"Okay," he agrees.
And we continues into the woods. We noticed the trees and the pinecones and the rocks and the mushrooms. He collected a leaf because it was pink and he told me he had never seen a pink leaf before. We crossed a little bridge and I asked if he thought a troll might be underneath and then realized I had never told him the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. So I told it to him as we walked up the hill.
"Who's that tromping on my bridge?" I growl.
He started to predict the pattern of the story and joined in as I told it.
"It's the biggest Billy Goat," He says.
We rounded the bend and he looked at me and says,
"I think this hike is too big for me."
"Buddy, you made it," I say. "We are at the top."
We came around the corner and there was the bench overlooking the forest. At that very moment, he fell, tripping over a tree root.
"It's okay," I assure him. We all fall sometimes when hiking. Tears dried we sit on the bench, eat some cracker crumbs and look at the view.
"It's beautiful Mama," he tells me. "I want to live up here forever."
"Me too," I say.
And then we headed back down the way we came, which seemed shorter and easier and familiar.
All this to say, sometimes when I am writing I don't want to keep going. I want to stop at the first spot because I worked hard to get that first spot and it's good spot. But if you keep going, you might just get to the top and that beautiful view and the way back will be a piece of cake.
At the top.
As I head down to Springfield for the New England SCBWI conference I thought I'd post some pictures that could be used as inspiration. Using photographs as prompts is one of my favorite activities to use with kids to help generate ideas and stories.
What stories do you see? So many possibilities...