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Sources of Inspiration: Prompts

The Cauldron of Eternal Inspiration at inspirationcauldron.wordpress.com gushes forth stories and poems every Wednesday. How did this come about? The inspiration flows from another blog at ptwyant.com

P.T. Wyant offers up Wednesday Words, a no-pressure, freely offered source of prompts. Every Wednesday there’s a new one. 

I jot it down in a notebook and in a Pages file. I mull it about in my imagination. Sometimes I start writing about it when I’m on the go, stopping at a cafe in the middle of shopping or during a break from some other task. I start writing a story or a poem, often connected with one of my many works in progress. Later I polish it up and offering the results at the Cauldron. 

My readers have been slowly growing, due to this activity. I’ve sometimes compared myself to a Florentine sculptor during the Renaissance. P.T. Wyant is my Carrera, my quarry where I get marble to work. Her Wednesday Words has been a constant source of creativity for the Cauldron on Wednesdays. 

Sometimes I get very excited about what she posts. Anything to do with shadows and light or mirrors plays right into my favorite themes. Or she offers up a plot-provoking question like “Who is that man?”

I’m guessing we all got an idea or several from reading that. :)

Sometimes she stumps me. The prompt involves a large number I have trouble visualizing or something based in reality I have no experience with. Or even weather conditions I’m not familiar with. 

Like snow. 

I’m guessing those of you currently buried beneath it may be laughing at this. :) 

It’s true, though. All my life I’ve lived in California suburbs and cities away from the mountains. I’ve only made a couple of excursions to the snow. My husband and I built a snow dragon on one of them. Yes, it may sound fun and yes, it was, but the snow was turning to ice, difficult to pack. I’ve never enjoyed the powdery, soft kind of snow. Ice has come too close for comfort. Once I slipped on black ice, fracturing my dominant wrist. I was unable to write while it healed, a nightmarish time in my life. I’ve avoided the cold ever since. Given where I live, I’ve been able to. 

What do I do when facing a prompt I don’t grasp? I could avoid it. Or I could reseach it. Learning something new sparks off a unique inspiration in its own right. I might discover something fascinating if I research, something which will give me even more ideas. 

Or I could put a twist on the prompt. Make it a metaphor for something else. This brings a rush of creativity while I explore what this metaphor will be. 

Whatever I do, a prompt is a gift. An opportunity someone else has given me to create. Thank you, P.T. Wyant. Thank you for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to share prompts with us. Thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. 

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