Mr. Lowpar

Stephenie Meyer once said that she got the inspiration for Twilight from a dream. Ever since I heard that I have hoped that one morning I would wake up with a brilliant idea for the novel of the decade. Unfortunately the only dreams I usually remember are those induced by night time cold medicine and they tend to be a bit strange. Recent examples include the dream where I designed winter coats for Dolphins to keep them warm or the dream where I was Amish and trying to hide from living mannequins. 

This means that I have to pull my inspiration from daily life. An important part of my daily life is my children. My daughter is almost six and my son is two and a half. I love my children but as far as inspiration for books I have to stretch. In all seriousness my children don't fit into my books. My current book is written for an audience that is young enough that they should not be thinking about children. My next book will be written for an audience who probably read books to escape from their children. Would Twilight have been the same with a sometimes whiny 5 year old and diaper clad toddler appearing throughout the storyline? Probably not.

This means I must sometimes find unusual sources of ideas. This morning is a perfect example. I always said I would not be one of those parents that parks their children in front of the TV. However, at 6 AM when I need to get ready for work I have no problem with it. This morning my son was watching "Handy Manny" when I had an epiphany of sorts. Mr. Lowpar, a regular character, was trying to build a hat rack and had a few screws left over. Now every episode Mr. Lowpar tries to complete some project himself and refuses help from Manny and the tools despite the fact that he clearly has no idea what he's doing, and it never turns out well. In the case of the hat rack Handy Manny was walking by and noticed there were some pieces left over. Mr. Lowpar insisted they were just extras. Needless to say as soon as Handy Manny walked away the hat rack fell apart.

I realized that it would be very easy to be a Mr. Lowpar as a writer. To push forward on a project without the necessary research, ignoring what may need to be fixed or redone and avoiding the suggestions and feedback of others. As with Mr. Lowpar's projects the story would fall apart. I acknowledge that my story at present is far from perfect and if I pushed forward without critique and feedbackI could ** GASP ** become Mr. Lowpar. I am thankful for my "Handy Manny" - my online writer's group on Facebook full of a great group of writers from many genre's, both published and not yet published. I follow many of their blogs. The group was started by my Facebook friend author H.P. Mallory and I am fortunate to be a part of it. I have found a great tool in group member Dee Dee Scott's "Muse Therapy" and Tonya Kappes "Tricked out Toolbox". My fellow writers' blogs keep me smiling. They have great suggestions on everything from cover art to publishing and marketing. I have found people willing to listen to my ideas, read my drafts and be my beta readers. 

I know one thing: If I woke up tomorrow morning in Sheetrock Hills, I would not be Mr. Lowpar. Thanks to all my friends in the group! You are the best!

Melanie