About Devika Fernando.... Having always loved to read and write, Devika Fernando made her dream come true in 2014 when she became a self-published author. So far, she has published three eBooks in the genres contemporary romance and paranormal romance. Her debut "When I See Your Face" was followed by "Playing with Fire – 4 Elements of Love, Book 1" and "Kaleidoscope of Hopes". The author's German and Sri Lankan roots influence her writing. You can contact her @ Facebook | Twitter | Website | Dear Readers, Today I present my first guest post. Devika Fernando, an eminent author from Sri Lanka. She is one of those authors who can spin a fantasy tale, catching the imagination of the readers and leaving us panting. I have always marveled her constant tryst with writing. Whether her picture prompts or her constant posts compelling writers to pick up their pen or dust their keyboard – she has inspired one and all. Hope you all find your inspiration as I have found mine. Guest Post: 5 Ways to Find Inspiration for Writing First of all, thanks for letting me write a guest post for your blog, Ina. :-) As an author, people often ask me what inspired a certain book or what inspires me in general. My answer is always the same: anything and everything. But I know that sometimes it’s hard for a writer to come up with a good idea or with motivation for writing. So I want to share 5 tips on how to find inspiration for writing. 1) Rely on your eyes Tip #1 is to keep your eyes open at all times. If you’re out in town or walking through a village, really look at things and people. Or if you want to be more specific, you can hunt for inspiring photos. Pinterest is great in this regard because it lets you search for specific keywords or simply get lost in millions of pictures. Instagram and Flickr are also useful, or even just browsing Facebook. I also love artist websites like deviantART. Amazing artwork on it sparked the idea for my paranormal romance “Playing with Fire”. Use the quote “A picture is worth a thousand words” to your advantage and let a picture inspire you to write 1,000 words or more or even base a whole book on it. 2) Rely on your ears As authors, we shouldn’t just watch everything and everyone closely, but also listen. I don’t necessarily mean eavesdropping on conversations, but audial input can be very useful. Maybe you catch a word or phrase while you’re out and about, or maybe listening to the news or a documentary or a line from a movie sparks a story idea. Music can be very inspiring too. I suggest either listening to relaxing music so you can forget the stress of real life and focus on writing, or to listen to music that fits the theme of your Work in Progress so you can immerse yourself more deeply in it. 3) Use writing prompts There are many websites who offer writing prompts in the form of a quote, a short instruction, a sentence or question, words to be included or a picture. Here are some examples that might help you: http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-prompts http://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/ http://writingprompts.tumblr.com/post/32343377489/the-180-prompts-i-actually-use http://awesomewritingprompts.tumblr.com/ 4) Reread what you’ve written Sometimes writer’s block can be overcome if you read what you’ve already written. That can be part of the story you’re working on, a previous book or story or even a diary entry or poem or blog post. You might find yourself agreeing or disagreeing or wishing you had written something more, and it can get your creative juices flowing again. 5) Brainstorm Do you have a general idea? Then write that one down and add everything else related to it that comes to your mind. It can be just associated words or sentences or phrases or questions. Let your thoughts flow without actually concentrating on finding something great. You’ll be surprised what you can come up with, and maybe you’ll find a crazy-great combination that sets your mind whirring. |