The Write Inspiration

Guest post by Stepania Thompson Author of Woven
​(Orange Blossom Publishing 6/8/22)

'The thing about inspiration is, you might miss it if you're not looking'

It was a cool, late summer evening in September.
 
Dusk was settling around our suburban Maryland home, and I had just stepped out of the shower. Outside, two of my children were riding bikes. I could hear their laughter drifting in through an open window. Smiling, I reached for a towel, and that’s when it happened. A moment I will never forget.
 
The moment every mother dreads.
 
That sickening sound of metal on metal followed by a blood curdling scream. The kind of scream that sends your stomach into freefall and has you dialing 911 before you even reach your child.

​Sure enough, I found my youngest son in an absolute state of shock, his arm impossibly bent. A compound fracture and several other injuries that would require emergency surgery and a weeklong hospital stay.

And that was just the beginning.

​His fracture would trigger a host of medical issues. We’d spend the next six months traveling back and forth to Children’s Hospital in D.C.
 
A harrowing time, for sure. And a distant memory now, thankfully. So why am I sharing this, and what does it have to do with writing? 
 
That’s a good question…

I’ve always been a writer, but I never made writing a priority. With good reason. I was busy working my way through college, studying for the CPA exam, building an accounting career, getting married, starting a family. You know, life stuff. I imagine many of you reading this are nodding your heads.
 
Women especially are often victims of the busy, neglecting their talents and desires in the name of productivity. I wrote when I had time or when inspiration hit me. But as the years carried on, it seemed there was less and less time, and little inspiration.
 
Then my son had his accident, and everything changed. I suddenly found myself facing endless days at the hospital, and countless hours in a car. Podcasts and eBooks only provided so much entertainment.
 
Eventually, I set down my phone and looked up.
 
Odd as it sounds, it was during this traumatic time, between the well-traveled road and those worn waiting room chairs, that something finally stirred inside me. Maybe it was fear of the unknown, or gratitude that my son was being cared for. Or maybe it was sheer boredom. Whatever it was, I started really noticing things around me for the first time in years.
 
All kinds of things.
 
Houses along the roads we traveled, trees, building shapes, elevator music, people’s expressions, the way they moved, even their clothing. Colors seemed brighter, conversations, louder, life, more vibrant. I felt so alive.

I began looking forward to our trips to the hospital. Each town along the route, a feast of the senses. Each new person, a mountain of discovery. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t write fast enough. Observations, random words, phrases, dialogue, short stories, poetry…anything. It didn’t matter, as long as I was writing.
 
Many wonderful things came out of those turbulent months, not the least of which was my son’s recovery. He and I formed a tight bond which I will always cherish…and we ate a lot of bacon (side note, the bacon at Children’s Hospital cafeteria is divine). As are the doctors and staff. They were amazing, and I’m so grateful for their attentive care.

But perhaps my biggest take away was on a personal level. All that reflective time awoke creative desires I’d been neglecting, and I discovered two seemingly insignificant truths that reshaped my approach to writing and life in general. They are by no means profound but had a profound effect on me, and thus, bear sharing.

Truth #1
Writers write.

That’s it. Plain and simple. Successful writers write, artists paint, or draw, or (fill in the blank with your creative outlet). They don’t just think about their craft, as I had attempted for years. They do it. All the time. They don’t let life get in the way. I realized if I really wanted to be a writer, I needed to write like the words were clawing to get out. And the more I wrote, the more I craved writing. I wrote until the act of writing became a habit.

Truth #2
Inspiration is everywhere if you slow down long enough to notice.

Also, a no-brainer. Only, in the hectic hustle and bustle of life, I’d forgotten how to slow down and simply observe. And when I finally learned to do this? It was life changing. Transformational. Suddenly, I saw everything with fresh eyes, heard every sound with newborn ears. Every moment felt inspired. This doesn't just apply to writing, by the way. Life is much richer when you slow down and savor it.
 
Perhaps you can relate? 

Has your creativity been stifled by the busyness of life? Maybe you lack inspiration, or, like me, are just waiting for the right time to dive in. Whatever has been holding you back, I encourage you not to wait for your own awakening. Now is the right time to write, or draw, or paint or whatever it is your heart longs for.
 
Let my experience and these words be a catalyst of change in your own life. Who knows what might be the outcome? During those traumatic months with my son, I found the inspiration to write my first novel, Woven.
 
The first words of Woven (coming out on June 28, 2022) were pinned in a waiting room at Children’s Hospital in Washington D.C. And if you’re curious how a book about three twenty-somethings renovating a Baltimore City row home while running from a dark, shared past was inspired by such surroundings?
 
Be sure to come back next week for part two!

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Stephania Thompson is the author of Woven (Orange Blossom Publishing 2022). As a poet and multi-genre author, her work has appeared in a variety of online publications as well as several print anthologies. 
Formerly a CPA in the corporate world, Stephania now writes from the comfort of a modern day crumbling castle alongside her very own knight in shining armor. Together they have four valiant offspring, a brave aussiedoodle, and one not-so-fire-breathing dragon.
When not writing, working, or waiting in a carpool line, she can be found running local trails and escaping in a book at her favorite café, iced latte in hand. She is a sucker for quirky romance, is addicted to audiobooks, and finds herself hopelessly drawn to flawed characters, raw honesty, and life’s cringiest moments. Learn more at www.stephaniathompson.com and find her on Twitter @stephthmpsn and Instagram @stephtwrites

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