Friday, January 13, 2012

Guest Post Friday: Madeleine Maddocks

Hi all! Today I welcome Madeleine Maddocks to My First Book as the first GPF guest. Her blog is always one where I stop whenever I need inspiration for poetry and prose, but she also has some other great tips to inspire writers. Thanks so much for being my first brave soul, Madeleine.


My thanks to Misha for letting me post on her blog today.
My subject is very apt for January: Beginning.
For Flash Fiction, Haiku and Blogfests I enjoy the picture and word prompts that blog hosts provide. For me it creates a challenge / a beginning from which my own writing can mature and grow. Having created my blog in Aug 2010 I feel that it has certainly been a great start for allowing me to gain feedback and practice in these different genres.



What creates that initial spark that leads you to put pen to paper?


Is it always the same way each time?
Or do you use different stimuli to find your material?

Thanks again, Madeleine! For those of you who still want to sign up, January's full, but the rest of the year is mostly open. Please see here for details.

28 comments:

  1. Thanks Misha, looking forward to seeing lots about beginnings in the comments here.

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  2. Like you, I can get inspired by the strangest things. I have a post today about how I found the opening scene of my current WIP. News stories and articles are a great source for story ideas too. I keep a file of the ones that have story potential.

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  3. I get inspired by different things. Most recently, a documentary with undercover footage of a cattle slaughterhouse. It was horrifying--and four weeks later I'd written a book set in a similar place. Funny how that happens--you never know where inspiration will come from. Great post!

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  4. Hi Misha and everyone. Google has deleted my blog and gmail address and I've lost everything. I cannot even contact google to notify them because when i fill in the link it comes back that sorry they can't help me. Arrgh! What can I do?

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  5. Hi Misha and Madeleine... I get inspired by different things. Sometimes ideas just pop into my mind, at other times the characters jump into my head and I build their stories.

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  6. Many times for me, it is a song or a picture or a movie.

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  7. Rachna, yes ideas popping into the brain shows you are relaxed and feeling creative.

    Michael, songs are interesting, I was inspired to use the shadow of a man I used to know when writing about my dad's alzheimer's. Pictures, yes i have used picture prompts too.

    BTW I got my google and blog back. Hoorah!

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  8. Hi Jen now that sounds inteersting when you talk about being moved emortionally. Does that mean it brings out a memory that you explore in your writing?

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  9. If I run out of ideas for my blog I go on the internet and sometimes find something interesting. I'm reading a good book right now and he wrote something about his father being a perfectionist and I've decided to blog about that.

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  10. That's so interesting! For me, it all depends. Sometimes a newpaper article might spur the juices or even a conversation.

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  11. I love that there are so many ways to get inspiration! My latest WIP came from the title of a Fugazi song, but this is unusual. I normally get characters stuck in my head before a story develops. I know that sounds a little backwards, but somehow it works for me ;)

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  12. LOve your inspirations. Mine? I'm no sure. I'll have a kernel of inspiration and something inside my brain makes it pop. Hopefully, in the end I'll have a full bowl of a story.

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  13. Those are certainly all different!
    Usually I see something in a movie or on TV that gets my mind rolling.

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  14. Hi Belle, Jennifer, Angela, Em, Alex thanks for stopping by and commenting on your inspirations. There's so many. It's so interesting that we all have our preferences too.

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  15. I like how you found your inspiration, Madeleine. I hope we get to read your stories soon. They really intrigue me.

    I take inspiration from everywhere, too. Getting out and doing something different usually provides great fodder. Many conversations with people have sparked story ideas for me.

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  16. Oh yes Mary, conversations are a great source of material.Great point.

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  17. That is very interesting! I hope the post goes well :)

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  18. I have found that inspiration anywhere and everywhere, but beginning my actual novel may not happen for a few days, unless the writing muse is a beast that day and demands immediate attention to the story idea.

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  19. For me, it can be anything. Though recently I've found that a good part of my inspiration comes from non-fiction, in particular science books (I write SF, so I guess that would make sense).

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  20. I love hearing what sparks other writers. It's never the same things that give me ideas, always something different. One time it was a funny mailbox.

    Hi, Misha!

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  21. Any little thing can spark my imagination. My problem is more in paying attention to real life, I'm always in a dream world creating characters and settings. :)

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  22. Hey Madeleine and Misha,
    Wow, really neat to see your good and talented self over at Misha's thoughtful and informative blog.
    Madeleine, the most mundane, the most quotidian subjects can make me put pen to paper. If I can make what may seem like a boring subject, interesting, even fascinating, than that's one heck of a good result. Maybe someday I will write something that's worth reading.
    May you both take very good care, Gary :)

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  23. Gary, Ciara, Carol, Golden Eagle, Angela, Bragon Dorn thanks for joining in the discussion with your thoughts. I love to hear all the different ways that start off people's writing. Fabulous!

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  24. I'm not overly conscious of where my ideas come from. I think it's snippets of things I hear and news stories I read, but before I know it, the idea is there and growing. I let it grow for a while in my head and then start writing. It's really great to hear how different writers work. It's such a diverse world.

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  25. Hi Rebecca, yes the germ of the idea is great to mull over and develop.

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  26. Hmm... I'm inspired a lot by people, whether it's people I know or strangers around me. I love people-watching, or just quietly observing my acquaintances. Many of my characters are based on real people (and I tend to start my planning with characters first, then plot.)

    This was a nice guest post! Thank you, Madeleine and Misha. :)

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  27. A great post! I'm always surprised by what inspires me - sometimes it's a feeling, sometimes a line from a book, a look between two characters in a movie...

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  28. Thanks Shelley and Deniz.
    Yes real people are great resources for ideas too.
    Lines from books and films are good too. A feeling? Now that's an interesting one.
    I'm having trouble logging into Misha's site using my other login at the moment.

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