In Case of Inspiration Emergency: Re-imagine a Familiar Story

Whether you’re a planner or not, there’s one thing every writer will need as they prepare for NaNoWriMo: inspiration. We’ve challenged some of our favorite authors and the NaNo staff to inspire you by sharing what’s inspired them… and challenging you to prepare a specific jumpstart for that inevitable idea drought:

The Inspirer: Kira Del Mar, YWP Educator and NaNoWriMo Associate Board member.

The Inspiration Sources:

The Sparrow and Children of God by Mary Doria Russell
Beauty and the Beast by Nancy Willard, illustrated by Barry Moser
Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell

The Jumpstart: Re-imagine a familiar story from a new perspective or in an unfamiliar setting.

Why This Will Inspire You: Whenever I set out to plan and plot my next NaNo novel, I quickly find myself overcome by the Inner Editor’s evil twin: the Inner Novelty Checker. That’s been done before, it whines, in response to every single potential plot I throw its way.

This year, however, I’ve made a vow to look my Inner Novelty Checker right in the eye and tell him, “So what?” Because I’ve realized that I genuinely admire authors, artists, and musicians whose work has the power to make me sit up, take note, and think new thoughts on subjects that I previously considered well-worn.

These works would never have come into being had their makers not faced down their INCs and said no to the tyranny of the new.

The Sparrow and Children of God by Mary Doria Russell

There are zillions of first contact stories out there, but Mary Doria Russell’s debut sci-fi novel, The Sparrow, and its sequel, Children of God (tagline: Jesuits in space!), are something special, particularly in the way they complement each other. 

At the end of the first, you’ve worked your way from ignorance to enlightenment alongside the novel’s central character—or so you think until you read the second novel, which entirely overhauls your understanding of the world, the people, and the events with which you had seemingly become so familiar.

Beauty and the Beast by Nancy Willard, illustrated by Barry Moser

I was drawn to this version of the well-known fairy tale by Moser’s evocative illustrations, but stayed for Willard’s imaginative resetting. Willard’s Gilded Age Beauty leaves her opulent 5th Avenue townhouse for a rustic, upstate cottage and spends some time learning to live off the land before taking up her requisite residence at the Beast’s Victorian estate.

Every page and picture is both recognizable and new, comfortable and thought-provoking. It adds another layer atop the old story and still manages to stand alone.

Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell

The album Hadestown, by Anaïs Mitchell pulls off the same feat, retelling the Orpheus and Eurydice myth in a post-apocalyptic depression era that’s as far from a sunny Greek meadow as Mitchell’s headstrong, thoughtful Eurydice is from the glorified-set-dressing original.

Mitchell’s lyrics draw out new themes in an old tale, and well-known stock characters take on startling depth as they speak (or sing, rather) for themselves. (It also makes excellent noveling music—at least for those who don’t mind writing to lyrics—since its many moods and influences provide aural fuel for everything from dramatic duels to contemplative inner monologues.)

These stories lose none of their power to surprise and delight simply because they wear the wheel ruts a little deeper rather than traveling over pristine ground.

That’s why, this year, I’ll be giving my plotting muscles a break, following the road frequently taken, and putting all my focus on enjoying the scenery and the characters I encounter along the way. Care to come along?

Kira Del Mar teaches seventh grade English at Black Pine Circle School in Berkeley, CA, and she has been noveling alongside BPC’s many young Wrimos since 2010. She is daily delighted by the unique combination of intellectual ability and unabashed silliness found only in middle school students. Kira is also an oil portraitist, a printer’s assistant at Horwinski Printing Co. in Oakland, and an avid re-reader.