Inspiration in Pictures

I find it helpful with each book I write (and short stories /novellas) to surround myself with pictures that evoke the images and feel of what I'm writing. I tape them up around my office and think about words I could use to describe the scene, convey the mood, etc. I can build a whole world off of a single picture if it is interesting enough.

I based my first book on my experiences as a child in Missouri. I no longer live there, but my memories of it are strong. Rolling green hills, lush forests, lakes, rivers, rich geology and caves. The summer of my twelfth year I ran wild through the country, swimming in ponds, swinging on rope swings, and trying not to get bit by spiders, copperheads, water moccasins, etc. Despite the beauty of the Missouri countryside, lord it had some nasty little critters. :-)

At any rate, it made a deep impression on me to the point that even now if I see a picture of green rolling hills, farmland and forests, I still think of Missouri and those precious summers of freedom. I suspect that environment would bore me as an adult, and I would hate the humidity, but as a child it was fantastic. So I built my entire first book off that world and surrounded myself with pictures that reminded me of it. Very useful technique for writing, I think.

Anything that brings out a sense of reality so the reader can hear it, see it and breathe it is a good thing.