Fireflies and fireworks

The last time you watched fireworks, did you think about how pretty they were? Did you wonder at what made them work, or maybe notice just how prettily they offbalanced the stars? When an idiot guy who knocked over the rocket hevwas trying to light got chased by one, did you laugh? If you did any of those things, was the experience worth it? Or would you rather be writing?

Waiting for an answer. -hums along to my Ipod as I wait-
I think it's better to watch the fireworks and watch the idiot dive into a truck bed to avoid the bottle rocket (Because, yes, he was dumb enough to aim it at the truck that you happened to be sitting on) and maybe even look at the stars. I know, amazing, huh. But writing is words, and words only have power because they represent things. I don't think it's possible to be able to spar and weave and dance with words without appreciating the things they represent.

We take some things for granted without realizing how cool they are. You ever noticed that? Some things, sure, we do take notice of. For instance, we all adore Harry Potter, or maybe Twilight, or if you're weird, maybe you like Jane Austen or Faulkner. We've all had that 'W-o-w' moment when reading a book.
But the little stuff inside of a book, the actual corporeal objects, we tend to ignore in order to find out more about the really hot guy. Actually, the little stuff just gets ignored a lot of the time.

Like fireflies. We love to write about little bugs with lights on their rear ends, but when was the last time you just watched them? They shouldn't be so enthralling, so beautiful, and something that sometimes even looks like it's from a different world (don't mock me, child. It's an animal that glows. Think about every fantasy you've ever read--something, somewhere, will glow.) When you read a book that talks about fireflies, or hear a song about them (Hi, Owl City) you forget that they are really cool.

Or what about twilight? No, not the vampire novel. The actual time of day. It's the perfect setting, and a lot of do have those vague memories of thinking 'wow what a beautiful time of day' but when was the last time you were outside in it? Second question: when was the last time you wrote about the setting sun or even the rising sun and how magical it was?

Where do you live? City or small town? A small town has charm sometimes and aggravating slowness at others but it's unique. A city has a pace and hustle bustle that is the base for hundreds of novels, really great novels. But I don't think we really think about how amazing the place we live is. Even if you don't love it, there's something special about it.

The boy that broke your heart; you've written the scene three hundred times. But do you ever remember that day, the tears and his expression, and then the next week when you got over him. The boy that got you over the one that broke your heart--even if it was forever ago, do you remember him? You've written about a girl flirting with some random dude in a coffee shop, and even if it's not your thing, maybe it's worth it to as least hang out at the coffee shop or go find a random dude to possibly flirt with.

The best friend. Also in almost every story. But we don't always appreciate them the same way we should. It's like Kierstan White said in an interview she did with Maggie; we can't forget to live life. On the same thing, I think it's just as important to take notice of everything around you. Every moment can be put in a book, I think, and so even if doing random things isn't appealing by itself, then I guess you can chalk it up to your writing experience. You can't write a story without anything to draw on--well, you can, but it's way more fun if you can get inspiration from the stuff around you.

What say you? Is there a particular part of your life that you've drawn inspiration from? It can be as little as a couple of pretty sentences about fireflies, or even a story idea.

More later. And one of the 'more laters' will be an interview with Kody Keplinger! YAY!