Bigger Picture Captures

 

Often just like writing, inspiration for a photo comes immediate and you simply must capture the moment. Other times picture taking is less inspired.

In the spirit of creativity that is being nourished here on this site and in your hearts, we’re bringing back Bigger Picture Captures.

Each Wednesday a thought, a word, or a moment will be shared and you will have the opportunity to capture the creativity with your lens and share it.

No need to worry about blogging it (unless you want to of course) or linking it up. All you have to do is Tweet it, facebook it, or Instagram it.

We know that a lot of you are participating in the P365 or P52 challenges. This is a little more creative inspiration to get your camera out and take a picture of something different.

Use #BPCaptures anywhere you are collecting your pictures, and get ready to CREATE!

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Today’s prompt is shadow. From the light or in the dark you can find a shadow. In a reflection or a mirror image you can find a shadow. Your children shadow your moments and mannerisms. Your daily routines can overshadow your ambitions. Show us your shadow today. It can be literal or figurative… you decide!

How will you capture SHADOW? We can’t wait to see YOUR INTERPRETATION.

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Jade’s Musical Inspiration #BPCreates

Once upon a time, I used to be a dancer. Not, like, professional or anything, but I did love to dance. It put me in a great community of women – not like the kind who go to Juilliard and tear the competition down, but the kind that loves to celebrate each other, femininity, and womanhood. It made me feel powerful, earthy, and womanly – not to mention, an hour of dancing is way fun and an hour of running sucks b*lls (no offense, runners).

I use music in my writing most especially to set tone and mood. If there’s a particular note of angst, drama, melancholy, or swelling ache that I want to hit in my stories, I put on an appropriate song and play it over and over and over again until my writing hits the notes in the song.

But the song I want to share with you is one that hasn’t (yet) influenced my writing. It’s from my dancing days. And I share it with you because when the prompt mentioned music, this is the one that called from my heart. I had danced to it, and I always loved the way the notes trickled and rolled over my body, bending down my back, and spilling out my fingertips and toes.

It’s this one: Red House Painters’ Song for a Blue Guitar.

I couldn’t even tell you in words what this song speaks to me, I can only dance it. It makes me want to cry. And it makes me want to dance.

I hope you want to dance it too.

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Over the next few weeks we are looking at how music can and does inspire our writing. Do you use music? Has a particular song inspired you? Leave the song, or a link to your writing playlist on Spotify, we’ll be putting together a BPB Writing Playlist to share with you over the next few weeks.

Reading Circles – A Word from an Author

If you’ve ever wondered whether you can really do this whole writing thing, whether your words or ideas are any good, and if any of those self-doubts have caused you to hoard your words to yourself, too timid to share them with others, this week’s word from an author is for you.

From Hugh McLeod’s book, Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity:

 

What he’s saying here is to own your work. Stand up for it. Because if it’s yours, and it’s truly you, and you stand up and say, “Yes, this is me,” it will have a far greater impact on people than even the content of the work itself.

He goes on to say, “Your idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing.”

Our job as writers, underneath the deadlines and word counts and blog linkups and itching to clear the head & heart of the madness, is to connect. Number One thing: connect. These days the mediums by which we connect are more numerous, democratic, and facile than ever. The more clearly you speak from the heart, the easier it is for another heart to hear you.

So own it. Own yourself. Own your work.

Happy Friday, everyone!