Weirdest place where you get "inspiration."

bluemoonscribe · Feb 20, 2008

So I was just joking with DH that we're going to have to install a one of those wet boards that scuba divers use to write underwater in our shower. EVERY TIME I take a break from writing to take a shower, I get an idea on how to fix whatever problem I'm having with my manuscript. I end up hopping out to scribble notes on a slightly damp notepad.

A friend of mine gets ideas for her books while she's cooking. She says the acts of chopping, stirring, watching a pot boil are sort of meditative and she goes into a "zone." Another friend keeps a tape recorder in her car because she drives a lot for her job and it's where she does her best thinking. Her husband got her the recorder because the taking notes at stoplights scared him.

So what weird locations inspire you, AWers?

IHeartWriting · Feb 20, 2008

The shower works for me every time too. So much so that I actually keep those soaps for little kids that can be used to write on the walls handy.

Also, it's good to know that you can use dry erase markers on the bathroom mirror.

AND it's always a plus to remember to clean up your scribbles before company comes over!

bluemoonscribe · Feb 20, 2008

I did not know about the marker on the mirror thing! Thanks!

kristie911 · Feb 20, 2008

I usually get my ideas when I'm driving. I'll see something that triggers an idea for me.

I know driving and writing notes is not a good idea but I do it a lot. I've also called my house from my cell and left myself a message but that's not as good as writing it down. I think listening to myself on tape throws me off.

juneafternoon · Feb 20, 2008

You know what I'm coming to realize? Inspiration from the world is great, but the sublime beauty of writing is the inspiration that comes along from writing the actual story.

I surprise myself sometimes, with unpredictable plot twists, sentences, descriptions... all of which I would've never gotten anywhere else except for sitting in front of the computer, powering through the manuscript.

Okay now to the question you really asked

Conversations with people. I'm a character person, and I like my characters developing their story--that's what makes it interesting for me. When I get to see fresh, startling new perspectives from interesting people I come in contact with, that's what I use in my stories. (Paraphrased, loosely based, etc; nothing they might recognize if they ever came to read the MS.)

dobiwon · Feb 20, 2008

I've mentioned this before, but I get my best ideas while I'm walking. I make it a practice of walking at noon time, both to get away from the work grind and as mental and physical exercise. For some reason, cold and windy days are the best, maybe as a way of taking my mind off the cold and windy day.

I have actually "written" poems and short stories in my mind, and hurry back to write them down before I forget them (unfortunately, because of my memory flaws, there are several good ideas floating around in the ether).

Storm Dream · Feb 20, 2008

The gym. On the treadmill. Usually I have music going and it'll be an "a-ha!" moment. The key is to hang onto it until I can finish my workout, run home, and write it up.

It has done wonders for getting me in shape, though. "I'm stuck...I need to go work out!"

One place that never works for me is the couch. I think maybe it just has an imagination-sucking force.

C.bronco · Feb 20, 2008

Ditto on the walking, driving and pacing activities. I admit that I have gotten some ideas while on the throne.

donroc · Feb 20, 2008

Yes, imagine Rodin's THINKER on the can

ACEnders · Feb 20, 2008

juneafternoon said:
You know what I'm coming to realize? Inspiration from the world is great, but the sublime beauty of writing is the inspiration that comes along from writing the actual story.

I surprise myself sometimes, with unpredictable plot twists, sentences, descriptions... all of which I would've never gotten anywhere else except for sitting in front of the computer, powering through the manuscript.

Me too! I get a very simple idea in my head and I start writing. Sometimes my idea comes when I'm sitting down thinking about my next novel, sometimes it comes when I put the pen to paper (well, fingers to keyboard) and sometimes it's sponaneously suggested by various outside factors...but it always starts with a single simple idea. It's not till I'm writing that I figure out the rest.

The Scip · Feb 20, 2008

Driving and in the shower for me. I almost always get some ideas then.

juneafternoon · Feb 20, 2008

ACEnders said:
Me too! I get a very simple idea in my head and I start writing. Sometimes my idea comes when I'm sitting down thinking about my next novel, sometimes it comes when I put the pen to paper (well, fingers to keyboard) and sometimes it's sponaneously suggested by various outside factors...but it always starts with a single simple idea. It's not till I'm writing that I figure out the rest.

Yup. Just when I think I have a story figured out, a whole new angle pops in! It's awesome.

I think that's why I love writing: What you think isn't usually what you get.

S.H.P. · Feb 20, 2008

Clothing stores, shopping works it out.

BlueLucario · Feb 20, 2008

Weirdest place for inspiration? I watch Cops.

OddButInteresting · Feb 20, 2008

Y'know, it used to be when I was on the toilet. You're sitting (I mis-spelt this as "s***ing," but thankfully noticed the error - however fitting it may be) there, doing your business, staring at the limited scenery in your bathroom/WC; you have to entertain yourself somehow.

Nowadays though I mainly do my thinking in the shower, just as I'm nodding off at night, in my seminars when my mind drifts from the discussion (often when the tutor starts ranting) and when I'm on the bus, commuting to campus.

Basically, any situation where my brain isn't primarily occupied with anything else.

Mr Flibble · Feb 20, 2008

Laying down and trying to go to sleep.

Bloody hell it's annoying. I have the choice - jump up and write it all down, then try futilely to go to sleep while my brain whizzes with ideas, or wait till the morning and hope that I haven't forgotten it.

Patrick L · Feb 20, 2008

Right before I fall asleep, or the middle of the night. Always.

underthecity · Feb 20, 2008

Many of my best inspirations have come while I was writing. Usually I would start a fresh scene, not knowing exactly what was going to happen, then the ideas would come as the action unfolded. A lot of times I had no definite plan of what would happen, it just seemed like the plot demanded it, and out it came.

But there were times I would get stuck. Walking away from the keyboard would help me figure out how to solve a problem. The resolutions would sometimes come while I was in the shower, or just sitting on the couch, staring into space trying to visualize the scene and sort out the issues. Sometimes the problem-solving would take a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks. But when I was through, the scene was sure to be a doozy. (Check my sig line for a scene in SYW where something like this happened.)

allen

Sassee · Feb 20, 2008

I don't have a weird place but I have a weird time.

The best way, guaranteed nearly 100% of the time, to get myself inspired, is to...

Start doing something that HAS to be done. Example: I HAVE to get this report sent today for work. <starts doing report> <thinks to self, omg, what would happen if this this and this in my story...?> <hurries to get report done> <takes risky break to jot something down> <finish report> <start writing> This is also true of "omg, I have to clean the kitchen, we're having people over for dinner" or "omg, I only have so much time before we have to leave to go somewhere else" or "shit, it's like 11pm, I shouldn't be writing right now"...

Apparently my subconscious likes me to write when I'm supposed to be doing something else.

Yeah, I'm weird.

joyce · Feb 20, 2008

I'm a sleeper too. Especially when I'm so tired and I need to sleep all these ideas keep popping into my head. I wish somehow I could record my thoughts without speaking. I'd probably have the whole book finished in a couple of nights of trying to get to sleep.

Dario D. · Feb 20, 2008

Same. I'll be lying there, trying to sleep (aka, think for hours at times), and have to roll over to write something down on my bed-side note pad. Fortunately, I have a little lamp on the bed-side table, so it's all convenient enough, without having to get up.

...and sometimes I get inspiration from dreams. I frequently dream ironically-inspiring things for whatever story/project I happen to be working on at the time. One of my video-game levels that I made is called Dreamus, because I first saw it in a dream. [link]

dirtsider · Feb 20, 2008

Haven't really noticed any "weird" times but I've taken to carrying around a notebook and pen just in case. But from the sound of things, some of you need tape recorders or a personal secretary. lol

She_wulf · Feb 20, 2008

joyce said:
I'm a sleeper too. Especially when I'm so tired and I need to sleep all these ideas keep popping into my head. I wish somehow I could record my thoughts without speaking. I'd probably have the whole book finished in a couple of nights of trying to get to sleep.

I'm a chronic insomniac. I'll replay scenes over and over for nights in a row until they seem "right". They only take form truly when they are put into the computer. It saves me multiple re-writes and actually relaxes me.

The actual writing into the computer isn't relaxing because I've usually got the internet connection going to cross check facts, google-search, and lurk/post here. (Certain threads raise my blood pressure too much to sleep afterwards...) *whistling...*

Amy

Dario D. · Feb 20, 2008

She_wulf said:
I'll replay scenes over and over for nights in a row until they seem "right". They only take form truly when they are put into the computer.

Same. I'm no longer able to just sit and write, until everything has been thoroughly thought-out. I have to sit and think on things till my head bleeds (although it is progressive, relaxing thought), and then I can write.

Plot-thinking comes at night, usually. In-between "filler" is thought-up while I write. Still have to stop and think about it though. That's where difficulty arises, because it can be hard to make filler and in-between scenes interesting at times. You know what the characters have to end up doing to keep the plot moving, but until they reach that point, they have to be interesting to watch.

Sonneillon · Feb 20, 2008

OddButInteresting said:
Y'know, it used to be when I was on the toilet.

I'm in this boat too, but there's some debate as to whether it's the act of being on the toilet or the act of playing fetch with my cat, which she always insists on doing when someone's on the toilet, that breeds inspiration. When I'm on the couch or in The Chair playing fetch with her, it works just as well.

Also, I read a lot of yaoi. I have a library of manga to this effect and since my WIP has a gay romance subplot, I use it to psyche myself up for the sex scenes.

None of which I've written yet because every time I start, I back off. -_-

Weirdest place where you get "inspiration."

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