It's time for something new at Beads & Books! Each week, I'll post a book for inspiration. What kind of inspiration? You might be inspired to read the book or to use it as inspiration for a jewelry design.
Today's Book: No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty
This book is in honor of all the folks who are finishing up their 30-day novels as part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Yes, 50,000 words in one month. I've done it—twice—but not this year. I know several writers who have used this book to help them get past the "middle muddle" of a
novel. And some folks have gone on to publish their novels, including Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo.
Warning: I loved the casual, "just get it done" approach of this book, but writers who think Writing Is Serious Business will likely be scandalized. Sample advice: "Don't get it right, get it written."
Here are the earrings I made inspired by today's book. Yes, those are glass coffee beans with sterling silver spacers on sterling silver ear wires. I'm betting coffee consumption was
up during the month of November thanks to the NaNoWriMo participants!
I think the simplicity of the earring design matches well with the book's advice that you need to cut back on other activities (such as sleep and housecleaning) in order to fit novel writing into your life. These earrings are a great reminder to simplify. Even if you didn't write an entire novel this month, I bet you were plenty busy!
Update October 2011: See all my writer-inspired jewelry in my Etsy shop.
Design Tips
- Design jewelry for the reader. What kind of person might read this book? This is especially helpful when using a non-fiction book as inspiration.
- Think about the overall theme or message. In this book, "simplify" was a key theme.
- For a book cover with few graphics, try using the colors or style of the lettering to inspire a design.
What's inspiring you today?