2019 is almost upon us and we will all soon embark on new creative projects for the new year. We will groan about the lack of funding, curse writer’s block, and whine about the absence of the muse. There will be many stumbling blocks, but we will persevere.

Knowing fully well about how difficult it can be for writers to find inspiration for their work, I decided that my gift for the New Year would be to solicit advice from some of the writers I know, in order to establish a range of ways in which writers can go about finding inspiration for their writing. I have focused on playwrights only because this kind of writing is in very short supply in Guyana, especially if one compares it to poetry or fiction.

The playwrights below have all had their work staged and they have all received rave reviews for their plays, which were borne out of a range of influences, including inner thoughts and emotions, real-life experiences, their own values and beliefs, their exposure to the art of other people, and their desire to create something that addresses the ills in their society. It is my hope that their advice, relayed in their own words, is both in itself inspiring or that it leads you towards a path of inspiration that will give life to the literary work you engage in throughout the New Year.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF THE PLAYWRIGHTS
Nicholas Singh (“Some Other Nights”) – ‘My inspiration for “Some Other Nights,” like a lot of my [other] artistic creations, was inspired by my own inner emotional experiences I faced in my life, coupled with the fact that I was a part of the NSTAD [National School of Theatre Arts and Drama] Playwriting class under the guidance of Dr. Paloma Mohamed. This play holds a sacred place within me since its theme of depression and monotony are close artistic associates of mine; writing it was a venting process of emptying my lungs into an art form and speaking all the truth I had in me into a narrative I created.

Where does my inspiration come from? Everywhere. Everything. Everyone. The world and its mysteries are the playground for us creatives. We study the lives and details of everything. I’m a big fan of movies and paintings. Music and heavy sounds get my mind racing. I read what I can. I look at people weirdly and listen to their conversations. I keep stories that I see.

What were inspirations/influences behind the play? Samuel Becket’s “Waiting for Godot” and Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” helped a lot in providing my writing of “Some Other Nights” with a feeling of universality. Most obviously, my personal relationship with depression and suicide was the anchor behind making “Some Other Nights” a work of raw, passive emotions.

How does one find inspiration? I take inspiration. I do not look for it. I wake up and write every day starting at 5:00 AM in the mornings. Fortunately, that’s when inspiration and I square off. Also, [I have a] drive to create art and leave a legacy when I die; a legacy full of beautiful and terrifying work.’

Ayanna Waddell (“Red” and “Black”) – ‘My first play “Red” was inspired by a workshop panel discussion of sorts which included one brave man discussing the abuse he suffered at the hands of his female partner. Long before, I had also heard that men suffered abuse – and the persons often doing the telling – would chuckle or full out laugh during the telling; punctuating the stories with comments like: ‘He is not man,’ etc. This always rubbed me wrong so when afforded the opportunity to write a play via my studies at NSTAD, the decision was simple.

“Red” was somewhat of a passion project, which felt easy and flowed. My inspiration was hearing the gaffs in my peer groups and that discussion panel where that young man braved all social pressures and norms to speak out.

My second work, “Black,” was inspired by things said to single women, myself included, regarding marriage and everything which goes with it, by some sectors of society who believe that the natural course of life for women is: husbands, babies, and managing a household. The added twist of the [inclusion of a] con man was somewhat of a sarcastic response to all those voices with opinions, that as a woman focused on a career (or just pursuing other life passions) part of you is somewhat lacking if you do not find a man to ‘settle’ with. The suggestion that you may be defective in some way or incomplete did not settle well with me, hence the birth of “Black.”

For upcoming writers, I would encourage them to read other varying writers’ works especially, but not limited to, the genre of writing specific to them.’
Nicola Moonsammy (“Guilty Pleasures”) – ‘As an adult, my inspiration for writing came from my personal experiences and that of my friends and family. Every writer needs to find inspiration in order to produce inspired writing.

My best short plays were done in a writing group of the National Drama Company. We read out our work to the group, critiqued them and made suggestions. My values and beliefs influence my writing. The more knowledge I have about a topic, the easier it makes the writing for me. For example, it’s easy for me to write Christian plays, but I don’t limit myself only to what I know. I love a challenge.

My process of writing is: I would start by choosing real-life characters for the play I am writing. Most of the plays I write are based on true life stories so finding real-life characters is very easy for me. Then I think about the setting of the play, the main problem that the characters have to face and what they have to do to overcome this problem, the complications, the solutions and finally the message – most of my plays have a message about life, morals and lessons. I try to be in a quiet place when writing so most of my work is done from 1AM.

I’m also influenced by people around me, family, friends, people I meet daily. They have some of the most interesting stories to tell.
It isn’t always easy to find inspiration. You have to go after it to make it happen. Inspiration comes from many things: dreams, overheard dialogue, books, movies, newspapers, phone conversations with friends, Facebook drama. You can get inspiration from some of the most unlikely places and situations.

Subraj Singh (“Laugh of the Marble Queen” and “Masque” – Both of my plays deal with postcolonial issues, so it should be obvious that a lot of my work is inspired by history – in this case, the history of colonialism, with a particular emphasis on the experiences of the Africans and the Amerindians.

My work is also influenced by a lot of other works and artists. Movies, in particular, have an important role to play in inspiring scenes or imagery that I include in my work. I also like to make references to other pieces of art, usually to pay homage or to offer a critique. For example, my play about the Amerindians is inspired by numerous movies based on Native experiences, such as “Pocahontas,” “Avatar,” “The Road to El Dorado,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” and “The New World.” It is also inspired by an idea I came across in classes at NSTAD, having to do with the concept of the Revenge Tragedy, which was a structure that aided my telling of the story.

Similarly, my first play, “Laugh of the Marble Queen” was about the African experience and was inspired by poems, such as “The Lynching” by Claude McKay and “Epitaph” by Dennis Scott. I also read about Tom Stoppard’s play, “Arcadia” and loved the concept of the blending of past and present which was a technique that I felt would be perfect to use to tell my historical, postcolonial, Guyanese story about a society where the past affects and afflicts the present in numerous ways. However, there is nothing quite as inspiring or influential as the normal, ‘everyday’ people of Guyana – and just listening to them and watching them is, for me, the most inspiring thing of all.’