In one of my posts last month I talked about inspiration and motivation and how we should look at them as Christians. Today I want to share a little bit about what inspires and motivates me, specifically in my writing journey.

As in my last post, I’ll talk about inspiration first.

I find inspiration for writing everywhere. I may see a pretty patch of woods and wonder what sorts of adventures could happen in a place like that. I may hear a quote and think of a blog post that is similar (or sometimes my brain runs off and it ends up being quite different). I may have an experience or be talking to someone else and realize a passion for a topic, theme, or emotion I want to write about. I read my Bible and participate in Church services and Bible studies and these make me think deeply. And when I think about things, I usually want to write about them.

I also gain inspiration for my stories from books and movies. Interestingly, though I like books more than movies, movie scenes gives me more ideas for my stories than books do. Aspects of Twins and Sisters came from Tangled, Frozen, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Hobbit, Brave, Maleficent (even though I haven’t actually seen it, just the preview), and The Lord of the Rings. There are probably many others as well—I’ve seen enough Star Wars and Marvel to assume I’ve gained inspiration from them—but those are just some that come to mind.

If you’ve read any of Twins or Sisters, see if you can guess which aspects came from those movies and let me know in the comments below! 🙂

I also find a lot of inspiration in my own experiences and people I know. Many characters are loosely based off of people I know or my relationship to them. The brother-sister relationship in Twins comes from growing up with two brothers and the closeness that comes as you grow older. Christa and Celia’s relationship in Sisters comes both from having sisters and also dear friends. Pretty much any romantic aspects in my stories draw from my husband and my courtship and marriage. The villain in Sisters is an exaggerated version of the type of person that makes me nervous and uncomfortable. Writers are known to process both good and bad experiences through their writing, and it is a way to help other people work through things as well.

That leads me right into motivation.

I said in my last post that our goal in everything as Christians should be to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and also to love God and love others. This is true, but also vague, so I want to go into some of my motivations a little more specifically.

God has given me a love of stories and He has filled my brain with story ideas. I don’t know how old I was when I realized that not everyone has a hundred story ideas filling their brain all the time, but I think it surprised me. As I got older, I focused on specific ideas for specific stories, but those other ones are still in there, and many of them are written down on a google doc where I put any interesting story ideas that pop into my mind.

God didn’t give me these ideas to lock away somewhere. Rather, I think He gave them to me to share with others. Like many things, joy in a story is not complete unless it is shared. I want to share with others the joy that I find in these characters and stories that I’ve created.

Even more than that, I want readers to be able to grow and learn and relate to the experiences of my characters, and maybe inspire them to do great things for God. In books we see people go through hard things, make mistakes, face adversity, and embrace courage. Whether we always realize it or not, these things influence us. Seeing a person in a story choose to speak up may cause us to make the same decision. Facing a terrifying enemy may help us face our fears. Watching hardships be overcome gives us hope. That is why stories are important.

Writing is also a way for me to connect with more people than I could otherwise. Through their stories and blogs, authors are often able to reach thousands of people. I am not currently reaching thousands of people, but even with a small audience, I get to share what God is teaching me with so many more people than I would otherwise talk to. Again, it’s about sharing the joy. I also hope that some of what I write, whether on my site or in my stories, may help others. I want to write words that are encouraging, inspiring, uplifting, joyful, and loving. I can only do my best, but I trust that God will use my words for His purposes.

Where do you find inspiration and motivation? If you’re a writer, what makes you write? I’d love to hear your response in the comments below!