Leslie Thomson | The View Outside

Being the visually inspired person that I am, I like to take photos, especially ones that can inspire me to write. The great thing about taking pictures to use in your writing is that, like the idea day, you can have a photo day.

I’ve been taking pictures for years (have over 6,000 on Flickr) and now, what with the iPhone365 project, I’m taking at least 1 photo a day. It wasn’t until I read Leslie Thomson’s A Kind Of Vanishing, where she talks about using photography (in the back of the book) in her stories, that I suddenly made the connection.

So here are a few photo’s that I think could inspire stories……

This is a pic of my grandparents back in the 1920’s.

Yes, that really is my foot lol.

My daughters two friends a few years ago.

Greenwich Maritime Museum.

The Orient Express (hubby’s 40th birthday treat).

Ooooo, the ideas are flowing lol. Now do you see why I never suffer from writers block? Lmao!!! And you’ll probably understand why I suffer from insomnia 😉

do you ever use photos/pictures to prompt stories? Successfully?

I managed Thursdays prompt about midnight, which turned into a story about a guy who leaves his wife and kids (mid life crisis) only to end up the envy of all his middle aged friends, but desperately miserable. Yesterdays prompt was swimming against the tide which I also turned into a mid life crisis story. This time, a 45 year old Dr who falls for a sickly 19 year old pregnant girl. Hmmmm, not sure where that’s going lol. Today’s prompt is write about an ending. Oh gawd, it’s all doom and gloom at the moment 😉

When I attended the first lesson of a local Creative Writing Class (run by Philip Kane) he told us to create a Writers Notebook. Looking back, it was the best piece of advice I’ve had over the course of the last 15 months. Since then I have managed to fill 8 notepads…..the medium Moleskin size.

When I started the OCA course, they advised the same, but also suggested I have a “commonplace” book. A book to contain all the visual material that catches your eye. Hmmmm, now call me a rebel, but I decided to ignore that and just use the one book for everything, which is what I do 🙂

My notebook and I are inseparable 😉 It’s the equivalent of an artists sketchbook, a place to store ideas, observations, practice skills, jot down information, review books and films, and keep cuttings that interest me. I also have a folder for larger cuttings that won’t fit in the book. I use it to make notes on my course, words and ideas that I need to research, examples of writing that I love (inc poetry and inspirational quotes) and writing prompts should writers block ever strike, which, I have to say, it never has lol…..sorry, but it hasn’t, and I put that down to my notebooks. Not a day goes by that I don’t write something in it 🙂

As I said before, I’m a visual person as well as a word person, so I was thrilled when I read Lesley Thomson’s A Kind Of Vanishing, to see that in the back of the book was a whole section where Lesley explained her inspiration and the connection between her writing and her photography. I take a lot of pictures and it suddenly dawned on me that I could use my own pictures to inspire stories and characters. So now, I do that too 🙂

I use art to inspire title ideas and have at least 2 lists of character names in each notepad. Even when I’m watching TV I’m taking notes….. The Jeremy Kyle Show has suddenly become very interesting 😉