Inspiration - Write from Accounts of a Real Event

I watched Disney's Pocahontas this morning. It's one of my favourite movies of all-time, and remains a special part of my childhood.

After a trip to Wikipedia, I was amazed to find out that many parts of the movie were based on real life events (or at least, accounts of supposedly real life events - there are some grey areas).

- John Smith was a real explorer and English colonist, who landed in Virginia in April 1607.

- His company built a fort there by the James River. They had several encounters with Native American people, led by Chief Powhatan.

- John Smith was captured while exploring the Chickahominy River (the name of the river that Pocahontas teaches to John Smith in the movie. Smith is also taken captive in the film, but for the  crime of killing Kocoum.)

- In Smith's records of his capture, he recounts having a feast and a long talk with Powhatan. (In the movie, Pocahontas wants Smith and her father to speak with each other. Powhatan agrees that he would listen if a settler wanted to speak to him, but things go awry with John Smith is captured for the murder of Kocoum. At the end of the film, Powhatan eventually agrees to lay down his weapons and chooses a peaceful course of action.)

- Smith describes an event in which Pocahontas saved him from execution by her father. As Smith writes, she threw himself across his body "at the minute of [his] execution." Pocahontas "hazarded the beating out of her own brains to save [his]; and not only that, but so prevailed with her father, that [he] was safely conducted to Jamestown". (Smith, Letter to Queen Anne) This is very similar to how events unfold in the movie.

Here's more historical writing from John Smith's Generall Historie, in which he describes himself as a character in the third person: "Two great stones were brought before Powhatan: then as many as could layd hands on him [Smith], dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and being ready with their clubs, to beate out his braines, Pocahontas the Kings dearest daughter, when no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes, and laid her owne upon his to save him from death ..."

- Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, became friends with John Smith and the other settlers. She also aided them when they were starving: "every once in four or five days, Pocahontas with her attendants brought him [Smith] so much provision that saved many of their lives that else for all this had starved with hunger." (Smith, General History, p. 152.) In the film, Pocahontas introduces Smith and the settlers to corn; they are thrilled at not having to live on hardtack and gruel anymore. At the end of the movie, Pocahontas and a group of villagers bring baskets of food for the settlers to take back on their voyage home.

- Smith was forced to return home for medical care in 1609, when he was injured by exploding gunpowder. The film-version of Smith also returns home for medical care, but his injury comes from diving in front of Chief Powhatan to save him from a settler's gunfire.

- The romance between Pocahontas and John Smith is not generally thought to be a real event. However, a romance was written about them  in the early 1800s, before Disney was even formed - could it have been inspiration for the 1995 film?

- The name Pocahontas means "Little Playful One." In the movie, Pocahontas has a fun and playful personality. Her first remark about Kocoum, her fiance-to-be, is, "He's so serious." This is later echoed by Grandmother Willow.

- Pocahontas, like other girls in Tsenacommacah, would have learned to forage for food and farm - activities seen in the movie.

There's Always Another Idea

As a writer, there are lots of things you can angst about. (Feeling like a hack, the rising cost of...) One of the things that really gets me going sometimes: thinking of a good idea for a story, and then panicking that someone else is going to get there first, or realizing there's some flaw or loophole in this golden idea of mine and it's not so great after all.

This is where it's helpful to remember the saying: "Good ideas are a dime a dozen." If you have a good idea, you can be certain that you will have another good one. Don't despair: there *IS* something else for you in your future.

What if you have an idea that you feel strongly about,but when you sit down to write it out, you just can't seem to make it work? You want to force the damn thing out, but the stars just aren't aligning for your vision. It happens.

You don't want to dwell on something that just isn't working, for whatever reason - there's another great idea out there, and you can't let this one stop you from finding the one you're meant to find.

Here's some wisdom from Randy Bachman: When he first started working on the song, "Taking Care of Business," he couldn't get the lyrics right. So, in his own words, he put the song "on a shelf next to his heart," and held onto it until the time was right to get into it again. Years later, he had a hit.

Don't let dwelling on a past idea hold you back from the great idea you're truly meant to realize.

Need inspiration? Try writing from pictures.

If you're looking for a source of inspiration, try writing from pictures.

Numerous well-known authors have found this to be a useful technique, including Kenneth Oppel, author of the Silverwing series and many other popular books. I had the privilege to hear Kenneth Oppel speak about his writing at the University of Winnipeg in 2014. During his talk, he described how he likes to take the reader through different geographical spaces, which he sometimes bases on photos of real places. He showed us a powerpoint photo of the real lighthouse on which the one in Silverwing is based. He also clicked through to an image of a cityscape on a starry night, which I think inspired the city scenes.

J. R. R. Tolkien is another famous author who drew ideas from pictures. The character of Gandalf was inspired by this postcard he purchased on holiday in Switzerland:

On the back of his postcard, Tolkien wrote, "The origin of Gandalf."

The painting on the postcard is titled Der Berggeist, which is German for "the mountain spirit." You can certainly see a resemblance between the white-bearded woodsman in the painting, and Tolkien's final image of Gandalf. Isn't it exciting to think that Tolkien once looked at this piece of art, and his thoughts read: magic?

Stereotype of the Solitary Writer

There's a stereotype in North American culture of the solitary, brooding artiste - hunched over a typewriter, a bottle of open liquor at the ready, a wisp of silvery cigar smoke curling about his head. There's no doubt that writing requires solitary time to think and commit words to the page. However, contrary to the brooding artiste stereotype, writing doesn't have to be completely solitary. You might even say that being an involved participant in the world is necessary to achieve great writing.

When you walk in nature and observe the goings-on around you, when you sit and talk with friends or observe people at a cafe, when you read about current events or learn about a subject that intrigues you, you are gathering material for writing.

Writing can be what you want to make it. You can be as solitary or social as you need to be. *You* determine your own identity - no one else can write your story but you.