Sometimes, inspiration can come from places we least expect. The sound of the cicada buzzing outside. The news article you read today. The color of the coat on the woman you passed at the grocery store.
Inspiration can come from anywhere if we pay attention.
Award-winning writer Jenny Offill has a great method to remember these inspiring things and use them to guide her writing.
Jenny’s Inspiration Jar
Whenever Jenny comes across something inspiring – be it something she reads, something she sees, just something the really resonates with her – she writes it down on a piece of paper and puts it in a jar.
And so the jar becomes full of these little ideas, inspirations from things that stood out to her. When Jenny sits down to write, instead of facing an intimidating blank page, she just reaches into the jar and pulls out a slip of paper, and then she has something to work with. She can either insert that idea into something she’s already writing, or she can use it as a prompt to get her going.
Object Diary
Jenny’s jar is similar to what I do with my Object Diary. Just like Jenny, I write down things that speak to me. If I overhear something bizarre or cool, see a sign or a plant that catches my eye, or if I just keep thinking about Alaska, for instance, and I don’t know why… I simply write all these things down in a notebook and, over time, themes emerge and they become a sort of organic soil to pull things from my subconscious and use as ingredients in my current projects.
I might have forgotten that I kept thinking about Alaska, but if I consult my journal later when I’m writing, stuck on what should happen next—I think, oh my gosh, this character is either going to go to Alaska, getting in a fight about Alaska or having to call a relative they are estranged from who lives in Alaska—it could go anywhere!
How fun would it be to have this inspiration jar like Jenny? I am so excited to turn my Object Diary, which is on paper, into something that resembles a still life—this vase of divine ideas.
I’d love to hear if you want to join me in trying out an inspiration jar. And I’m giving full credit to Jenny for giving us the idea. So, try it out and let me know how it goes!