One of my favorite quotes is from a friend of mine: “The Muse is just looking for someone with a pen in their hand.” Of course, I thought when I first heard her say it, that really is all it takes to start writing. Writing is an action that takes very little preparation. You just have to show up at the page and write.

But about what? How does one find inspiration to write something new? Hasn’t it all been said before? In the face of such questions many of us find the pen refuses to budge even when we dutifully arrive at our desks at the appointed hour.

Think about this: the corollary to the idea that the Muse is looking for a writer with pen in hand, is the idea that what the Muse wants is to sit down with someone who pays attention to the world around them, who looks for details that beg new questions, who digs beneath the surface, peers around corners, imagines new possibilities.

In this four-week class we’ll explore the ways other artists have found inspiration in the world that came before them, and then we’ll borrow their methods and make them our own. We’ll practice ways to always be inspired to write, because the world we live in is an amazing place, and new discoveries are just waiting for your pen to touch the page.

Karen Gettert Shoemaker writes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, journal entries, and endless lists. Her recent work, a reflection on the role of ordinary people during a pandemic, was published in the New York Times in 2020. Her novel, The Meaning of Names, was selected for the One Book One Nebraska statewide reading program in 2016 and the Omaha Reads community reading program in 2014.