CREATIVITY - THE SPARK

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines

SPARK- look at some of the synonyms: hint, flare, jolt, ray, animate, excite, enliven. You get the idea.

When it comes to creativity, the spark for the project; beginning, middle or end, may come from many sources, if one is open to it.

I've been re-reading the short stories of author T.T. Flynn. I love his small strokes that create a character picture without being overly descriptive. In one story, 'Spawn of the Gun Pack' the opening line read: "Tom Brush killed his first mam when he was fifteen, and his last man when he was twenty— and in the years between, death missed him a dozen times only because he had been raised by Long Tom Kinnard." A great opening line, and a descriptive one at that. You get a feel for the character of Tom Brush, yet it leaves you wanting to find out more.

What kind of character would this man be if he missed dying because of who and how he was raised? What was his childhood like? These questions ring in my mind as I am developing the character in my current WIP. What kind of man is my hero? What in his childhood made him the loner he is? How did he become so self-contained?

Whether I use the answers to all these questions isn't important. What is important is my understanding of the man and his actions. This is where reading Flynn is so useful for me. It's his ability to create deep characters, in so few words, that jump out at you from the page.

My Thursday night improv writing group, weather permitting, is where I get sparks galore. It is amazing how a 'prompt' can lead your story in a wonderful direction. The key is to not get set in where you think the story is going. Many a time a prompt will open up a piece I'm working on and I get so excited. The prompt that sparked my current WIP was 'Knowing is not enough; we much apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." I knew it would be about a woman physician in the 1870s-80s Colorado, but not much else.

Here is a rough draft excerpt from the beginning:

     "Mother," Caleb called.

     Dr. Pauline Wilson looked up from the medical journal she was reading. It thrilled her that her son Caleb found the world such a place of wonder. She smiled. He was always calling her to come and see his latest find. Well, it was better than getting into trouble, although some might say what he was doing could lead to trouble. She had worried as he’d gotten older that no having a father would be hard on him. She still mourned her husband George, yet it was his death that propelled her to follow her dream of being a physician.

     "Mother, hurry."

     Pauline pulled herself away from her memories, hearing a sense of urgency in her son’s words. Pauline arrived in time to see her twelve-year-old son attempting to catch a large man as he tipped out of his saddle. Rushing forward, Pauline helped Caleb steady the man, draping his arms over the horse. “Caleb, go get the wheel-barrel.”

Sometimes it is a 'what if,' or 'what happened' from a piece of history or a character from another story that is the spark. I have an early novel I wrote about a brothel owner that came from a piece of history I was researching on a murder here in Colorado Springs in 1879. The research kept talking about how bad the wife was. I wondered what her side of the story would be? Fifty thousand plus words later, I found out.

Of course, photos are a great spark. Many a haiku came from a photo I took.

Giving to the world

Yet alone in disaster

Loneliness defined

We can never know what may be the 'spark' that sets us on a new journey. I think part of the gift is being open to the unexpected and going with the flow. So the next time you see the words poignant, purple and "Oh me!", see what you can go with them.

I will leave you with the beginning of my story in "Hot Western Nights" which began with a musical prompt.

     Miranda Foster climbed the hill overlooking the ranch her stepfather left her to run for his heirs. Clouds flew across the sky. Standing on the hilltop, she watched a storm building, its track headed toward the ranch house. She didn't begrudge her duty, but by the time her step-brother Byron was old enough to take over, she'd be an old maid. 

     No one knew she wasn't the owner. It was her step-father's way of keeping the ranch safe. She remembered their conversation. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but you'll be taken care of." 

     Miranda thought back on that conversation as she caught movement near the leading edge of the storm. Watching, she saw five specks detach and draw closer. The wind was pushing her back the way she'd come, trying to guide her to safety.

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Happy Writing, Be Creative and Watch for those "SPARKS"

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here