Collecting Inspiration & Examples of Great Writing

a Process Window 🪟 into how this month's essay came together

The Webs We Weave is a place for meaning-makers, featuring essays that weave lived experience with fascinations and sharp-toothed questions as I tangle with what kind of woman I want to be. Thank you for being here.

As someone who’s insatiably nosy about other people’s processes, I use these Process Window posts to share a glimpse into how my monthly essays actually come together—whether it’s a closer look at craft, the process of discovery and construction, or some aspect of the overlap.

At the time this post is scheduled to go live, I will be (or I guess by now, I am!) out in the land of big sky and no wifi at a writing retreat in Wyoming. I’m sure there will be things to share when I get back, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one. 🤍

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A few years ago with the help of friends, I started learning more about Human Design. Apparently, being a Manifesting Generator means (among other things) that I do better in situations where I get to respond rather than initiate.

For example, it’s about a thousand times easier for me to choose an option off a menu than it is for me to come up with a dinner idea out of thin air.

This same preference for responding means that when I sit down to write, it’s easy for me to lose hours (and energy) starting into the abyss of a blank page, without some kind of external idea or prompt to get me going.

I found a lot of comfort in this revelation, because it many ways it explains my compulsion to be a collector—of ideas, prompts, examples, excerpts, nuggets of wisdom I want to remember, and external inspiration of all stripes. The things I collect become little spark plugs that keep my writing life humming.

This month’s essay actually began as a response to prompt—specifically, during a writing challenge inside my writing community, Joy Sullivan gave us the prompt to write a research-driven personal essay inspired by the human body.

Without a second thought, I chose lungs as my central topic. 🫁 Great! Now what?

Without a clear sense of direction, I immediately started looking around for inspiration—which is how I stumbled onto a gorgeous essay by Lynda Rushing in Brevity magazine, called Fifteen Facts About Zebras.

First of all, it’s a tender and beautifully written piece. But I was also so struck by the form! I’d never written anything like that before . . . but where might it lead if I tried?

✏️ To Try: Look Outside Yourself for Writerly Inspiration, and Capture What Resonates

Between being a member of Joy Sullivan’s community Sustenance and becoming an avid reader of more and more Substacks, I’m surrounded by great writing. The more I read the more I learn, the more dialed-in my attention becomes, and the more I start to understand what I’m drawn to and why.

This habit of immersing myself in others’ beautiful work, noticing what really speaks to me, and collecting those little bits of inspiration has been a game-changer in my writing practice.

Watch the quick 4-minute video below to hear more about how I do this, or keep reading for an overview.

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There are two types of generative inspiration I tend to collect:

• Prompts/blueprints to get me started

• Examples of great writing, that I can respond to

Anytime I encounter either a prompt or a piece of writing that makes me go “oooooh” in some way, I try to capture it in the moment (without overthinking!) and save it for later when I need a little jolt of inspiration. Bonus points if I remember to leave myself a few breadcrumb notes for why I captured the piece, or what about it landed for me.

Some Places Where I Find Inspiration

This is an incomplete list, to be sure! But as an aspiring essayist, a few of my go-to sources for inspiration include:

• Substacks by other talented literary essayists
  There are too many to list here, but a few whose writing I’m regularly moved by include:

  • Walking Each Other Home by

    Nicole Peattie

  • A broken tulip by

    Maaike VanderMeer

  • Touching the Elephant
    by
    Kendall Lamb

  • Earth School
    by
    Makayla Wamboldt

  • Fresh Water by Kate Vollrath

• Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction
  Brevity is an online journal that features shorter pieces of creative nonfiction, and the quality of work they feature is top-notch

• Having a few ‘aspirational’ writers I admire, and following their work closely

• Reading anthologies like Best American Essays to get a taste of different authors/topics/writing styles and see what jumps out at me.

Building Your Archive of Inspiration

If this idea speaks to you, you can start building your archive of inspiration any way that works for you! That might mean saving things in your Notes app, creating a little workspace in your digital tool of choice like Notion or Tana (what I use), using a notebook or paper index cards in a file box . . .

The sky’s the limit, but the key is choosing a tool or a system you’ll actually use. Simple is better, if you’re just getting started; you can always evolve and add sophistication later.

Finally, I’d love to know:

What gets your creative neurons firing when you sit down to write? Is it seeing a great piece of writing or having something to respond to? Is it clearing your head, or doing something else with your hands? How can you build that thing into your process?

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Twelve Facts About Lungs

When in Doubt, Break it Apart