The Inspiration Engine - Introduction

The Inspiration Engine on Youtube. 

The Inspiration Engine - your Mission in Life Video

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

More Than Words

By Douglas Clark

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, they are right, but sometimes, a picture can say something better than an entire novel could. In my internet wanderings I’ve come across a few images that have really blown me away. So I thought I’d share a few. Hopefully they will inspire you and ignite a bit of creative imagination in your heart as well.

Enjoy

A visual illusion

The Earth from space

A Russian Lighthouse

An incredible landscape

The sky, on fire

The visually stunning

The phases of the Moon

A fantastic eye

To me, these pictures all represent the strange and mystical, the real and remote, and the raw power of imagination. I find myself staring at them and feeling a sense of wonder. What about you? 

Thanks for reading.

Questions and Comments are welcome.

DouglasHClark.com

The Blank Page

by Douglas Clark

For a writer, the blank page can be the greatest nemesis of all. That uniformly white, unblemished, perfectly clear white page, simultaneously open to all and every story possibility, and the great oblivion of nothingness. Think of it. With nothing there to guide or hinder the writer, everything is possible, and yet, there’s nothing to go off of, nothing to expand on, or describe. Sometimes, the blank page can be a hollow, terrifying void that stifles creativity and imagination because it is so open and unstructured.

I hate the blank page, but I don’t fear it.

I have fought great battles with the blank page, smearing all sorts of junk and babbling drivel all over it, simply to avoid the blinding white light staring back at me from my computer screen. I’ve had great story ideas explode from my mind only to be obliterated by the blank page, which laughed at me for my insolence in thinking I could write something of merit. Although other times, I’ve slayed the blank page with commanding prose and mind blowing descriptions that banished the dreaded white nothingness to the background, where it belongs.

What I’ve learned from the blank page is this: It is only the starting point, and nothing more.

Not all of the stories I write, or ideas that I have will pan out. Some will turn into great stories, others will be abandoned because of a myriad of reasons. But think of it, each story, masterpiece and piece of crap, all started out from that blank page. Yes, the blank page can be frightening, but it is where EVERY writer starts from. Think of that! Shakespeare, Dickens, Hemmingway, Heller, Orwell, Byatt, Browning, Keats, King, Martin, Clancy, Rowling; they all started at the exact same place as Clark: with a blank page.

If they can go on to write and publish great works, so can I! And so can you.

Hate the Blank page. Slay it like the demon it is. Banish it. Exile it to irrelevance behind your unique voice through the written word. Destroy the blank page’s pristine white blandness with wonderfully brilliant prose that explodes with dazzling color in your readers’ minds. Become the master of the blank page. Hate it, but never fear it! 

Write!

Thanks for reading.

Questions and Comments are welcome.

DouglasHClark.com

Laugh at the Rain and Get Inspired

Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you.

Langston Hughes

Two things that have always inspired me are laughs and the rain. Those are two rather disparate things don’t you think? You see the way I feel about inspiration, it doesn’t matter where it comes from, just as long as you feel something that moves you. Involving yourself in an activity that fuels your creative energies is a positive thing that can really make the difference in achieving your mission in life. Surrounding yourself with things that make you think or feel powerful emotions stirs up the will and drive to create. Some people might call that karma, some might call it setting the mood; whatever you choose to call it, take advantage of the power it can create.

Now I know that some people get a motivational kick from negative emotions too, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. I would caution, however, that dwelling too much in the negative can drag you down mentally, make you just a bit too pessimistic about things and darken your outlook on life and what it has to offer. Remember, the world can be a depressing place if you let it. Focusing on negativity, no matter how beneficial it can be for your motivation and inspiration can only get you so far. Embrace the positives and more positive things will occur.

Laughter is inspiring for a very simple and obvious reason. It’s fun to laugh. But how can the rain instill a feeling of inspiration? Well, I’ll tell you.

I love the rain. I live in San Diego. Naturally, I don’t get to enjoy the rain too often. I do remember listening to the rain when I was younger, living in rural Pennsylvania. I would sit at my desk, right next to my open window, and listen to the rain as it fell. And in Pennsylvania, the rain can fall for a very long time. Have you ever listened to the rain? Some say the rain is drab and dreary. That may be true if you only looked at the grey clouds from which the rain came. I listen to the sounds the rain makes falling on leaves, the ground, into puddles, on the pavement, the window. I smell the air and how clean and refreshing it feels. There’s something very cleansing and revitalizing about a good rain fall. I would listen to that rain and always feel compelled to write. To this day, when I hear the rain, I am instantly transported, with my imagination, to a place of creativity. Pavlov might say I’m conditioned to want to write because of that, but I won’t argue. Either way, writing is what I do, what I want to do, what I need to do.

If you have a passion, find a way to incorporate it into your life so that it becomes part of you. Find a way to make it naturally flow with the rest of your life so you can enjoy its positive power. It will be worth it. Give it a shot.

Thanks for reading. Comments and questions are always welcome

Consistency Can Focus Your Passion

“Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”

Oscar Wilde

It may seem presumptuous to disagree with one of the accepted greats of English literature, but I’m going to do it nonetheless. Sorry Oscar. Now I know that inspiration, creativity, motivation, spontaneity and such are most powerful when they are unhindered by oppressive shackles, laborious responsibilities, and the mind-numbing drudgery of life, but without focus, none of those things can find their highest potential. The way I see it, being consistent helps a person form discipline. It provides structure and a framework to build ever greater things. Finding a proper outlet for creativity and imagination allows them to flow, develop, grow and expand. It’s also worth note to say being consistent with your art form helps build skill, experience and technique.

Consider, what good is it to be a talented painter, writer, composer, sculptor, etc. without contributing to the craft? Having talent and creativity is great, but if you don’t bother to express it on a regular basis, that ability has gone to waste. Being consistent, however distasteful to Oscar as it might be, allows for expression to flow uninterrupted. So think about it, if you have a mindset where you can express yourself (through your art) on a consistent basis, you can focus on what you really want to convey and produce. Repeatedly coming back to your craft, working through the obstacles and barriers, both of the world and the mind, helps you gain valuable experience and develop a personal technique. Your voice, through your art will be that much more powerful because it is all the more refined and focused.

I’ve found that many times, I needed to push through the malaise of the mind, battle against apathy and distraction, literally forcing myself to write even when I didn’t want to do so. Some might say that isn’t creativity, or inspiration, and perhaps they are right. But I always looked at it as restructuring my mindset. It’s so easy to get distracted and say something else is more important because it needs to be tended to ‘right now’. If you let it, everything in life will distract you from your passions. Being consistent in refocusing your mind on your passions is the only way to make sure life doesn’t run rough shod over you your entire life. Remember, it’s not so much if you’ve done something, it’s how many times you’ve gone back to it after distractions pull you away that makes the difference.

Thanks for reading. Comments and questions are always welcome.

Where Does Inspiration Come From?

Douglas Clark
-Head writer, The Inspiration Engine

Closely linked to Creativity is the Inspiration necessary to create.  I've often wondered 'where' Inspiration comes from.  To be totally honest, Inspiration comes from everywhere, anywhere and nowhere.  At first this may seem like a cryptic and convoluted non-answer, but bear with me.  Life is really just a person's perspective.  It's the sum of all their experiences, knowledge, intellect, hopes, dreams, fears and relationships, to both others and their environment.  People see life through their own perspective, not Bob's, or Jim's, or Sally's.  If one were to remain isolated in their comfort zone, that comfort zone would shrink and they would be less and less likely to try new things, keep an open mind about different perspectives and generally become closed off.

This is where inspiration does NOT live.  Inspiration is closely linked to experience, variation and  emotional variance.  If you become exposed to more and more things, your understanding increases and the ability to see things from differing points of view grows.  The possibilities of 'what if' become stronger and it leads you to think in new ways.  Once the power of 'new' takes hold, Inspiration becomes easier.  All of the things in your life now take on the possibility of inspiring a new thought or idea, dream or scheme.

Try this:  Go into a room you have been in many times.  Look around.  If it all looks the same change your perspective.  Stand on the chair and look down.  Climb up on the counter and look around (please be careful).  It's the same room, but you're looking at it from a totally different and probably new perspective.  You changed your perspective of that room and your view of it changed too.  Keep that feeling alive and inspiration will come.

I believe in you.  It can happen.  Just change your perspective.

Thanks for reading.