“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

Another Monday has come and that means another blog post! Let’s get down to the good stuff!

Inspiration.

The most common question most authors and poets get from readers or people in general who wonder, “How did you come up with that?”

For me, the only answer I can give is my mind—my imagination—is always whirring with ideas. Sometimes I get a jump start by watching a TV show or reading a book, but a lot of it comes from my dreams (both at night and daydreams) and from my own wondering. Alessandra Torre refers to this as the “what-if” game, and I have to agree with her because I find myself asking those same questions when I’m out and about or when I’m at home.

The game is pretty simple: You take an idea or, and this might sound creepy, a random person and ask yourself what-if? What if this lady was secretly an agent for an underworld agency or what if she was actually a private eye? What if werewolves and vampires existed? What if a werewolf and vampire fell in love? What if this guy was actually a cop who secretly worked with supernatural creatures? And so on and so forth.

What’s so great about this game is there are endless possibilities on what can be thought up and explored. If you ever see me brainstorming, you’ll see a lot of what-ifs on the page—ideas that don’t make sense together but as individuals they create their own stories. For me, inspiration comes from all types of places and using the what-if game is a good way to exercise a muscle that I use daily.

Sometimes, I’ll look at famous quotes from people that have lived, loved, and died or are still kickin’ for inspiration. Words are powerful and can draw out some interesting themes or ideas from my mind. That’s the great thing about writing or art—you can draw inspiration from anywhere. You can create any small thing and turn it into something much larger than before—something that brings attention and admiration or curiosity to it.

That’s the wonder of imagination. Albert Einstein was right when he said that imagination is pretty much infinite. And even if you’re not a writer or an artist, it’s important to foster that imagination. To allow your thoughts to wander and think about the impossible—to foster dreams that may come true with hard work.

Hopefully, y’all will have a happy Monday!