More on Inspiration

I wrote before, that to be inspired, I write http://www.ldalford.com/.  But you knew there had to be more to it than that--didn't you?  There is.  I'm not sure exactly what inspiration is.  I just get ideas.  When I get an idea, I write it down.  Some are mundane.  Some are more than mundane.  I turn them all into writing.  The point is, when I get an idea, I write it down.  That way I won't loose it.  I keep a couple of idea books around.  One I carry everywhere, and the other one is by my bed.  If I get an idea in the middle of the night, I write it down.  I have a list of Military Aviation Adventures I will write about.  The list comes from my experiences in military aviation.  When I remember an experience, I add it to the list.  The list is about 200 ideas long--enough for 200 short pieces (3000 to 6000 words).  When I read the paper, if I get worked up about some item of news, I don't seethe about it--I write it down in an essay or opinion piece.  Many of these pieces are never published, but I write them anyway.  The point is to be inspired by life and the record that inspiration.  Imagine your life as exciting and inspiring.  Imagine your characters and your writing as exciting and inspiring.  This is how you develop ideas and get them on to paper.

Another point that likely requires an even longer post: I don't write about myself.  Even when I am the main character in a Military Aviation Adventure http://www.wingsoverkansas.com/, I don't write about myself.  I'm not living vicariously through my own writing.  I don't try to make myself the hero of my fiction.  This is something many authors don't seem to understand.  They are all about turning their mundane persons into an exciting fictional character.  If they do, their characters aren't real and everyone can tell.  That's why blog writers and writers who convey themselves with all their faults are more popular than those who don't.  Of course some blog writers and self aggrandisers make up the stuff to sound more pathetic.  They should stick to fiction.  This is why I say--don't write about yourself.  My old self who lived those Military Aviation Adventures is much different than the self I am today.  I don't write about myself.  More than that, though my opinions and ideas surely come through in my writing, that is not wholly my intent.  My intent is only to get the theme through to the reader in an entertaining fashion.  I don't really want to put up a soapbox and have my characters pontificate on my opinions.  I put words in the mouths of my characters that I don't agree with.  I don't like some of my characters.  I don't like some of the characteristics of my heros and heroines.  I don't write about myself; I give life to characters who are entertaining and who appear real.  They are separate and different from me or they wouldn't be real--they would just be clones of me.  Maybe I should develop this point in more depth tomorrow.

Centurion reader comments

Google alerts found this for me about Centurion www.CenturionNovel.com at http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=30030 "So I finished reading "Centurion" by L.D. Alford a while back. If you want to know how legionaries trained, how they rose through the ranks, and how they actually fought, this book gives a good account. Apparently, the author visited Rome, Jerusalem, and other places to learn first-hand what was required to make a legionary.


Most members of R.A.T. probably already know most of the information outlined in the book, but despite my decades of interest in the topic of Rome's legions, I've only just now, within the last year, begun taking time to research. So this book was good for me, a newbie to the Roman way of training, using and disciplining troops. I really enjoyed it."
 
I really appreciated the comments by this reader.  I wanted to point out some information that most wouldn't know.  Because research for the novel came almost exclusively from ancient primary sources it has more basis than almost any other work of historical fiction on the subject of the Roman Legions in the first half of the first century.  There are few technical histories that cover the Legion in this degree of detail or understanding.  Not to mention, that as the reader implies, the novel is fun because it shows you how the Legions trained and doesn't tell you, like a technical paper would. 
 
Centurion www.CenturionNovel.com is a compendium of information gleaned from ancient works in mostly Latin and Greek.  Archeology and other historical information went into the work to round out the knowledge of daily life during the time.  If you are interested in the Roman Legion or the history of the Levant during the first century, this is a book you should read.  You can read about my other novels and writing at www.LDAlford.com.  I also write about modern military aviation at www.WingsoverKansas.com.  Check out the Military Aviation Adventures there.