Where do you all find your inspiration. I dont mean just to write, but inspiration for what you write, your ideas, characters, etc For me its a few things. I love people, I find human nature fascinating. I'm pretty good at empathising with people (i think anyway), so I love developing characters and really thinking how would they react to certain things and how is it different from how i think i would in my life. I also love history, genealogy, the British Military. I am inspired by all of these things. Just curious
I read a lot. That definitely helps. You think of different ways you would have taken the story, and a whole new story might just develop. I also watch a lot of TV shows that deal with the subjects I like to write about. Browse through a few and perhaps you'll find some inspiration. If you're a lover of history, I would imagine it'd be hard to watch the history channel, or browse through a few decent history blogs somewhere, and get some kind of spark going on Best of luck to you, no matter how you find it!
Sounds boastful, but I don't need inspiration for ideas for stories. The majority of my ideas come from dreams. I can't control the rate they come, and have far more ideas than I can deal with writing. Inspiration for writing here and now... that's trickier. The weather, time of day, fresh air, lack of sleep, light conditions and smells from outdoors get my creative brain working. If I want to write but don't feel up to it my best bet is to read something else I have written, or a friend has written, and talk about it. Published books don't work - I need the author.
Everything and anything. Fully formed ideas come almost all the time, though deciding which are the good ones is the hard part.
anywhere and everywhere... 24/7... from all i see, hear, read, feel, do, imagine, and yes, even dream... it's all grist for a writer's mill...
Dreams, books, RPGs, stories, games, wandering about outside... everything can be made into something worth writing about.
A lot of my character inspiration comes from my family while some others are from friends and acquaintances. I am a very curious person and enjoy talking to people and learning their darkest deepest secrets, fears, fantasies, sorrows and life ideas because it can come in handy to create upon the personality of a character.( I never use what is told to me though as I feel it would be a compleat exploit of the persons trust, simply build upon the new knowledge) I also get inspired through far off lands, great music, nation geographic and movies.
i don't see how this makes any sense, z... unless the person specifically asks you to not use it, or that person is also a writer and mentions something they're writing about, there's no element of trust involved at all... seasoned writers often use what they hear people say, in their writing...
What I mean by that Maia is that if I am talking to someone, not as a "hey can I ask you some questions to use for my character", and they divulge information to me which nobody else has (for some reason people confide in me some pretty "out there" things). I will not turn around and use it for my character. I will use it as a general reference for a character and a building block for inner turmoil. I definitely know that authors use what they hear all the time but I am specifically talking about someone confiding in me. It wouldn't feel right to me, no judgment on other writers though, it's just a personal preference.
Inspiration comes from the person who is writing mainly and that is why works can be biographical in some ways. Lord of the wrongs was inspired through tolkien's journey through Europe in a time in his life. However don't quote me though.
I draw inspiration from visual images like photographs and sequences in TV/movies. I also gain inspiration through certain music and of course through books.
Like most writers I'm going to have to say "everything." But if I'm not particularly up to writing my current project on any given day but still know I have to write something, I'll usually watch an episode of my favorite show and expand upon the conflict presented in that episode and write my own conclusion to it. Music videos are also really fun to draw inspiration from because the artists' can only present so much in that three to five minutes. The stories they show can often be expanded upon. Browsing Flickr is also a good way to draw inspiration. Pick three random photos that you think tell their own story and put them together to make a bigger story. This is one of my favorite methods.
The Inspiration Thread I've been in a writing slum a couple of days now. Whether it's my family life, or the heat record sweeping New England, I'm feel uncharacteristically glum and almost detached from my fictional characters. I know other writers must have days like this.
In everything around me. I live in the heart of bluff country right along the Mississippi, so there is an abundance of scenery and greenery. I watch and listen, my playlist on shuffle, people pay me no heed. I listen, observe and let my imagination wander. It usually does the rest. - Darkkin, the Tedious
What Inspires You? Now I'm familiar with the "rule": don't wait for inspiration to strike, sit down and write anyway. However, sometimes people just get more inspired in a certain setting. I know for me, I like to be out of the house... I will write at home in my room, but when I create, I like to be outstide or in some other setting than home. The only time I'm inspired at home is in the late hours of the night, when everyone is asleep [e.g. 1:00-4:00am] and I'm sitting in the dark writing down ideas. Where do you like to write? Do you have a place or wsetting that inspires you? Also, I read this thing about "the writing costume": The clothes one wears to get them in the writing mood. I don't have a writing costume but I know whenever I'm working on a project I NEED to have my glasses on. I find I can't focus without them. Do you have anything you like to wear when you write? Or perhaps you use a special pen?
I've read that a lot of authors use their personal experience and slowly alter that until it becomes an event they like in their story. I've tried doing that and it really helps when you can think. I personally do all that thinking at about 9 o'clock at night at a bus stop where I know the bus won't be there for another fourty five minutes. Sitting at a bus stop at night by myself really gives me time to think about and recall on my own expierences and I will begin to add twists on it to make it more interesting than what had really happened. And by the time I get home I got the next part of my story. Thats how I get "inspired".
Wow.... I seriously Just started a Similar thread, Mine pretty much deals with where you like to write... To answer you question. I'm inspired by Big Ideas. Themes, philosophies, discussions about life, the world, and the universe. I'd say I'm also inspired by knowledge. Knowledge breeds thought, thought breeds ideas, and ideas breed research, which in turn restarts the cycle and inspires me with new bigger ideas to build around. I'm also inspired by setting and my clothing. 1) I cannot create at home or in my house. I can stay up late and get new ideas and think deeply and creatively after a loss of sleep[i.e. very creative dreams once I k.o] I am most inspired by being out of the house and even in a book store or out at a park or at an out door restaurant. 2) I cannot work without my Glasses! No matter what I'm wearing if I don't have my glasses I don't feel complete and can't focus
Sometimes it's when I'm biking. Sometimes it's at awkward times, like work or when I'm out with a friend -- an idea will come, or a cool metaphor/analogy/way of seeing things, and I'm not really ready for it. I need to go back to a firm schedule, though, with my journal. That was the most valuable inspiration: regular writing, an hour a day. Inspiration might not show up every single time, but she's much more likely to show up if you make a habit of leaving your door open.
There are themes that run through much of my work which are informed by my broader experiences, and then there are inspirations for specific ideas, which often come from the mundane moments. I've had stuff come to me while hiking, cycling, and dreaming, in suggesting itself as music, verse, or a story idea.
