by Naomi L. | September 28, 2016 | Blog, Creative Writing |
I’ve made no secret of the fact that much of my inspiration for writing comes from my family. Some of that inspiration comes from observation while some of it comes directly from the lessons they teach me, and some of the best lessons I’ve ever learned came from my mother. She’s one of the wisest people I know, and many of her lessons have made their way as much into my personal life as into my stories. They say “write what you know”, and much of what I know about life comes from her!
So this week, I’d like to dedicate my creative writing post to my amazing role model and share three of my favorite lessons from her that inspire my stories. Enjoy, and thanks for the inspiration, Mom!
1) Marry someone with whom you share mutual love and respect.
As I’ve mentioned a few times before, my parents are my greatest inspiration for romance. They talk about everything, laugh with each other often, and clearly love and respect each other immensely. That’s why most of the romantic relationships in my stories are between people who start out as friends and who would go to the ends of the Earth for one another. My mom clearly didn’t settle when it came to choosing her life partner because my dad does everything to make her happy and take care of their family. At the same time, he isn’t exactly the easiest person to live with, yet she always seems to know how to talk to him and what to say to keep him content (an art I’m still trying to master myself).
It’s this amazing balance that I try to practice in my personal life, as well as give my characters when I want to convey how much they really care for each other. True love is hard to find, so I’m lucky to have such excellent role models in my parents. One of the best lessons my mom taught me is that a woman should be loving and understanding, and should never settle for a partner who doesn’t appreciate how wonderful she is!
2) Being a mom is the hardest job in the world.
One of the qualities I admire most about my mom is how great she is at being a mother. She always took excellent care of me and my sisters, guiding us through life and protecting us from the dangers of the world while still giving us the freedom to develop our own personalities. Now as an adult taking on my own responsibilities, it’s become clear to me in hindsight how much my mother truly did to give us a happy childhood. Raising three daughters and running a household were definitely challenges in and of themselves, yet she always made them seem effortless. And on top of everything, I didn’t exactly make the job any easier for her when I was growing up. Let’s just say I went through some attitude issues in my early teens and she had to bear the brunt, always handling the situation with a level of patience that I couldn’t even dream of. I can only imagine the challenges that lie ahead if I ever become a mom!
Whenever I write characters who are mothers, I try to keep in mind the difficulty of the job and imagine backstories for them full of the trials of raising children by drawing inspiration from everything my mother has done for her family. And not to speak too highly of how I think I turned out, but I believe she did a pretty great job!
3) There’s no relationship like the bond between and a mother and daughter!
I admit it: every time I watch Pixar’s Brave, it makes me want to hug my mother and tell her I’m sorry for everything I ever put her through. The story of Princess Merida and Queen Elinor is reminiscent of the relationship I had with my mom growing up: she taught me everything she could about being a lady, yet being a stubborn tomboy who mostly took after her father, I didn’t always see eye-to-eye with her. Still, I appreciate all her efforts to raise me into a “princess”, and while I often rebelled as a child, I understand now that she always had my best interests at heart and that she was the only one who could ever have taken on the task. As much as I’ve learned from my father and my sisters over the years, my relationship with my mother will always be special and unique!
Princess Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor (Brave, 2012)
Much like how the story turns out for Merida and Elinor, I like to think my mom’s efforts did pay off in the end and that we have a great friendship today. No matter how many times we’ve argued in the past, my mother is still my greatest role model, and I can only hope that if I ever have a daughter of my own someday, I can be at least half the guardian, mentor, and inspiration to her as my mom is to me. For now, though, I’ll simply have to settle for modeling some of my characters after her and using her lessons as inspiration for my stories, both fictional and real life!
What about you? Have you ever drawn creative inspiration from your mother’s lessons? What sorts of stories or poetry has she inspired?
Today’s post is dedicated to my mother, whose love and lessons have always been a wonderful inspiration to me. Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you!
by Naomi L. | August 5, 2016 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
Magic may seem
Like the stuff
Of fantasy
And fairy tales,
But I know
For a fact
That it really exists.
Real magic comes
In the form of
Sweet kisses
And affectionate hugs,
In gentle words
And selfless acts.
Real magic
Is respect
And trust
And loyalty.
It’s devotion
And kindness
And overwhelming joy.
Real magic
Is waking up
Every day
Next to someone
Who makes you smile,
Falling sleep
Every night
Beside someone
Who shares in your pain,
And spending
Your whole life
With someone
You could never
Live without.
How could I not
Believe in magic
When I grew up
Seeing it every day
In the form of such
True love?
Dedicated to my parents, whose love has always been a huge inspiration for my writing and my personal life. Thank you for teaching me what real magic is! I love you both so much!
by Naomi L. | July 15, 2016 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
My darling baby sister,
You’ve always been to me
A gift sent from above,
The baby of the family.
My lovely baby sister,
You know this is a crime,
The way you’re getting older
Like you’re fast-forwarding time?
Adoring baby sister,
I wish you’d understand
Growing up is overrated,
Nothing special, nothing grand.
And yet, dear baby sister,
I know this to be true:
You’ve finally come of age,
And there’s nothing I can do.
So maybe this, sweet sister,
Is what you’ve been waiting for:
A time when I can’t see you
As a baby anymore.
But know, my darling sister,
That I love you anyway.
May you have a great adult life
And a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday to my awesome baby sister! Stay sweet, and know that no matter how old you get, I’ll always love you!
by Naomi L. | June 24, 2016 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
To be the middle sister
Is a blessing and a curse.
To one sister, you’re the “better”;
To the other, you’re the “worse”.
When it comes to being older,
You’ve had gifts enough to give
To the younger of your siblings,
Who adores the life you live.
At the same time, being younger
Must have been a challenge too,
Growing up with someone older
Who made life so tough for you.
Yet the sister who’s your elder,
Who pretends to reign supreme,
Is in fact a little envious
Of your life lived like a dream.
But regardless of her envy,
She adores you just the same,
And she couldn’t be more proud
Of the person you became.
So today, my dearest sister,
Please allow me just to say
That I love you very much
And hope you have a great birthday!
Happy Birthday to my amazing little sister! Keep being the wonderful person you are! I love you!
by Naomi L. | June 22, 2016 | Blog, Creative Writing |
When it comes to looking for creative inspiration, sometimes you needn’t look farther than your own family. Plenty of my characters and stories have been inspired by my family members (you know who you are), but today I’d like to honor someone special by focusing on the inspiration that can be found in some of our oldest and most beloved relatives: grandparents!
So for today, here are three creative writing themes that can be found in the loving relationships shared with our grandparents! Enjoy!
1) Family Love
There’s no love like family love, and speaking from experience, grandparents have a lot of that to offer. My grandparents always treated me and my sisters like the greatest treasure of their lives when we were growing up, and that love remains strong with us today, even if most of our grandparents no longer are. In fact, some of my favorite love stories and poems to write aren’t even about romance, but family. It’s the most unconditional kind of love you can find, so if you were lucky enough to be spoiled by your grandparents growing up, I highly recommend using that experience as inspiration for some sweet family love stories of your own!
2) Family History
As I’ve mentioned in the past, grandparents can be excellent sources of stories about your own family history. Most grandparents do love to tell stories about their lives, and those stories can be extremely valuable to a young audience, especially budding writers. It’s only natural to want to know where you come from and what mistakes you should avoid making as you grow older (even though you’ll probably make most of them anyway), so if your grandparents are still around, it may be worth sitting in for a few experience-based history lessons if you haven’t yet. Who knows? Your grandparents may just help you find inspiration for your most interesting writing in the stories of your own family’s past!
3) Respect for elders
If you have childhood memories of your grandparents, you may remember being taught to treat them with the utmost respect. No matter how much they spoiled you or treated you like a close friend, you were still expected to listen to them and always put them first. At least, my sisters and I were. Showing respect for our elders is an important lesson that we should practice our whole lives, so as long as you hold on to those memories of respecting your grandparents, you’ll likely find it easier to write older characters and their relationships, especially with younger characters. After all, if there’s one thing grandparents love to teach their grandchildren, it’s the value of healthy and loving relationships!
What about you? Have you ever found creative inspiration in your grandparents? What kinds of stories or poetry have they inspired?
Today’s post is dedicated to my grandmother, whose love has always been a wonderful inspiration to me. Happy Birthday, Grandma! I love you!
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