It’s All in The Moments: Capturing Inspiration

It’s been said that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. The grand gesture, the big finish, the lightning bolt epiphany, the gut searing regret—it’s these moments that define us, change us, reveal our character, good and bad. All tell our story.

As a woman, as a mother, and the many other roles I’ve assumed so far in this life, I count forty-eight years to date of moments that have collectively made who me who I am and tell my own story.

As a writer, it’s these moments—and the emotions that fuel them—that provide story inspiration, enable me to get close to my characters, and relate to my readers. They also provide a jumping off point, if you will, for selecting those big story moments and turning points and enable me to show, versus tell.

There are some moments of which I have instant recall and that have become a part of my soul. Others, I feel like I should remember and don’t. Still others I’d like to forget.

Indeed.

I remember the moment when…

As a child of three, I made the wondrous connection that the letter ‘B’ was the first in my name ‘Beckie’ while scribbling with crayons at the kitchen table.

I was eleven, and while playing hide and seek with the neighborhood kids, I received my first unexpected and innocent kiss from a boy while we hid in a potting shed. I still remember the jolt of surprise, the delight in the tender peck. Now I’m a writer of romance. Go figure.

As a fourteen-year old, the mortification I felt when I made a mistake during a pom-pom routine on the football field during a game. Worse, my self-esteem took a serious beating when the pom-pom coach screamed at me in front of everyone. To this day, I still don’t know what I did wrong! (Hugs to my fourteen-year old self)

I watched my parents drive away after they moved me into my college dorm. A kind of fear and sadness mixed with longing and maybe a touch of regret grabbed me by the throat and I fought back tears. I was excited to be living on my own for the first time, but at the same time, I wanted them to come back.

My father held my hand as he walked me down the aisle to give me away.

I held my father’s hand as he passed after a brief but intense battle with cancer.

I knew I was pregnant with my daughter, before I’d even take a test.

I held my daughter for the first time.

My daughter started kindergarten, and the first day of high school.

The certainty that my marriage was over hit me full force, as did the failure and loss, as I sat on the steps outside my daughter’s school, waiting to pick her up from cheerleading practice.

I found an apartment after I’d separated from my ex-husband, and knew it was home the instant I walked through the door.

I sold my first novel.

The man I began dating two years after my divorce kissed me good night for the first time.

I took my daughter on a college tour of my alma mater.

Joy, wonder, confusion, fear, doubt, grief, validation, happiness—my sampling of moments covers the spectrum, as all of ours do. But as French composer Claude Debussy was credited as saying, music is all about “the silence between the notes.” And so it is, I believe, for stories—fictional and our own. What happens in between the big, life changing moments?

What many of us call life, and what I like to think of as every day-ness. Getting ready for work and school, alongside my daughter. Drinking coffee. Driving back and forth to work. The mornings when the alarm goes off. The mornings when the alarm doesn’t go off, and the precious opportunity to snuggle beneath the covers. Chores. Exercise. Prayer. Reading. Sleeping. Visiting. Traveling. Laughing with friends. Listening to my daughter tell me about her day. The tedium of appointments and meetings. The joy in meals shared with family and friends.

Ordinary? Perhaps, by some standards. But I feel it’s this very quality that gives us comfort and provides us with ‘normal’ between our big moments, our turning points. And, I like to think this everyday-ness is, in its own right, every bit as powerful and possesses just as much potential to shape, nurture, challenge and strengthen us.

Just as we live vicariously through the characters in our beloved books, their ‘everyday-ness’ enables us to be a part of their world, love them or hate them, and share in their experience—moment by moment.

Good stories, no matter the genre, have both—turning points and every day-ness. As a writer and a person, I seek to capture as many of both as I can.

—

REBECCA E. NEELY, AUTHOR  ~ Romance. Paranormal. Suspense.

Rebecca is a writer, storyteller, author and blogger. A sucker for a happy ending, Rebecca strives to write the kind of stories she loves to read—gritty, suspenseful and featuring authentic, edgy and vulnerable characters, smack dab in the middle of action that explodes from page one.

Careers, past and present, include freelance writing, accounting, mother, problem solver, doer and head bottle washer.

Rebecca is a member of Three Rivers Romance Writers (TRRW), a PAN member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), and is proud to serve as a judge for several writing contests each year. Connect with her at www.rebeccaneely.com

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