A new year will undoubtedly bring new inspirations—or so I hope. The one-time resident writer of my critique group, a best-selling thriller writer, often spoke about reading newspaper headlines for inspiration.Â
I was an avid amateur photographer before taking this writing thing seriously. I've often encountered an intersection between photography and writing that I first explored in this post.
Inspired by the Small
I've always been fascinated by bugs, especially pollinators of all kinds. It's astounding that such small critters are essential to ecosystems, food webs, and human civilization. What happens if all the bugs die out? Are the majority of flowering plants next? About a third of our crops rely on pollinators. Do we seriously think drones can replace the bees, etc.? Plenty of potential hopepunk and dystopian fiction can be dreamed up by contemplating such matters.
But typically, I'm more interested in the visuals. I've always found close-ups of insects on flowering plants to look alien. Not only do the bugs look bizarre, but zooming in on flowers makes for otherworldly landscapes.
Floral Landscapes and Insectiod Characters
In one of my earliest attempts at writing a novel, I imagined a world where people lived atop giant flowers and flew on gargantuan flies. Instead of riding horses into battle, they rode ants. This work will never see the light of day. Honestly, I don't even know if I have it on a hard drive anymore!
But I never wholly surrendered the idea that insects are aliens living among us. In the fourth and final installment of The Allison Lee Chronicles. Allison travels beyond our earthly shores, encountering a number of alien creatures. My descriptions of these beings and associated environs are partly inspired by my close-ups of bugs and flowers.
I know I'm not the only person nor the last to find inspiration in the micro-world. Being thus inspired has convinced me that, indeed, story germs are all around us. You just have to closely observe the smallest of everyday encounters.