How do you get your Inspiration?

I think "I want to write something." Then I sit down and make a list of random thoughts/ideas, and hope to eventually be able to combine a bunch of these into one actual story idea.

Nothing strikes me out of the blue when I'm washing dishes or anything like that. There is no activity I can do that helps me come up with ideas other than writing itself.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."
--Hunter S. Thompson

I watch a telly program, I read the news, or non fic, I talk to the Old Man about shit, or I dream weird dreams. All are fertile ground for ideas.

Sometimes I dig down the back of the sofa and in amongst al the pens and loose change, bingo! Idea.

It was long, long ago, but I can still remember it all: the glow of the midway lights, the rattle and rumble and scream of the rides, the smell of popcorn and cotton candy, the press of the crowds that had separated me from my family. I was a child, too young to know better than to fear the strange figure that stood before me, draped in dark robes that hid everything but its unnaturally brilliant eyes. It spoke, but neither then nor now do I recall the words. My attention was fixed entirely on the strange book in its hands, the cover bright with gemstones and gilded lettering that shifted whenever I blinked. The stranger was offering me the book, but there was a price... The next thing I remember, I was back with my family, on the way to the car. It all might have been a dream, save the book I found in my coat pocket, the book I soon learned nobody else could see. The book that would bring me so much joy - and trouble - in the years to come: Inspiration for Dummies.

Or, you know, sometimes something I see on TV or something...

Seriously, I can get ideas from almost anywhere. Developing them into viable stories... that's where the trouble starts.

I have an idea journal in which I write ideas as they come to me - driving, walking my dog etc. I also write ideas down from dreams. I am a vivd dreamer, so I take a lot of inspiration from that. I get ideas from causal conversation with co-workers also. Everything goes into my idea book. When I want to write something new, I look through it to see if I can expand on any of those prompts hidden inside. I also brainstorm with my mentor and we bounce ideas off one another until something sticks.

Whenever I want to say something about the world, or people.

That's when my inspiration comes in.

I dream strange stories; I daydream; I see a picture; I hear a song on the radio when I'm in the right frame of mind; I think, "You know, I should do ____." Anywhere, anytime, I could get something. I just need the right nudge.

I guess my question is, "How can you not get ideas?" For example, today:

News Item: Woman in Alaska, cleaning out a home after renting it for a year, finds her ex -husband's body under the stairs. Forget anything else in the news item, this is a half-dozen different novels and plots. 30 seconds of news.

Sitting in McDonald's: Two teenage girls run in, duck around the corner and keep watching the door. Hiding from cops? Just ripped off a guy in the parking lot? Saw a murder that took place across the street? Playing a gag on a boy? A schoolmate? A dozen books right there.

Pizza Dinner: Lady at the next table comments to her friend/sister/whomever that they might meet better guys at the Taste Of (wherever) event over the weekend than they met at the tailgating party last weekend. Okay, there's a romance, coming of age, adult-oriented or mystery/suspense/thriller right there.

Seriously, how can anyone ever choose the idea? Finding them is a breeze.

Jeff

BekkahSmith said:

I have an idea journal in which I write ideas as they come to me - driving, walking my dog etc. I also write ideas down from dreams. I am a vivd dreamer, so I take a lot of inspiration from that. I get ideas from causal conversation with co-workers also. Everything goes into my idea book. When I want to write something new, I look through it to see if I can expand on any of those prompts hidden inside. I also brainstorm with my mentor and we bounce ideas off one another until something sticks.

Click to expand...

Ditto about the idea book.

Unfortunately inspiration is mostly an active process for me. Every now and then an idea will arise while I'm going about my daily work or watching TV, but for the most part, I have to sit there--pen in hand, notepad on the desk--and think my way through story ideas. There's gotta be an easier way.

I have a file somewhere on this hard drive for discarded ideas that I thought were good but would probably never get around to writing about. Is there a thread here for discarded ideas that you wouldn't mind other people using for free?

The act of idea generation is a lot like writing. You get better at it as you do it. I have also found that writing itself can help generate ideas, just don't let it derail you from your current project. Write it down and look into it later.

Ummm, like I did as a little kid, I just think stuff up.

Really, I have no idea where anything comes from.

Mine usually comes from my music. Mumford & Sons is the DRIVING FORCE behind the novel I'm writing right now. When the new album Babel came out, I just knew that I had to write this story and now their lyrics propel me to keep writing it. I also get really inspired by Steinbeck and pictures of the Irish/Scottish countryside. Oh, and anything leather and old, like my satchel I always have with me

I wrote my debut novel to Tangerine Dream's 'Booster 2' and Daft Punk's 'Tron:Legacy' soundtrack. Really, at this point in my life it's a matter of finding time to write and prioritizing plotbunnies, not finding inspiration.

Life, the universe, everything.

I love the quote "write only what you could write." Some works come from my son, and others from the intangible place that keeps me sane in hard times . I love Stephen Kings response to that question: Utica.

By paying attention to what's happening around me.

caw

By attempting to fall asleep at night. That's when the ideas seem to hit me and demand that I get out of bed RIGHT THIS MINUTE to write them down.

From pictures and books. (Am I the only one here who gets them from books?) For example: my current project was spurred by Lord of the Rings because it made me wonder why the elf peoples and the dwarf peoples hated each other so much. (This was before I read The Hobbit.) My finished monstrosity was prompted by the magical library in Lirael by Garth Nix. I fell in love with it and knew I had to make one of my own, only awesomer. (Nix's library is better.)

Pictures are worth a thousand words and usually those words can grow into a full-length, novel-worthy idea. I get ideas from other places too, like the world around us, people, etc, but those two are my main methods.

Some of my story ideas come from connecting disparate events together from my own life. Other ideas start with a character who I think would be awesome.

A new idea is just old ideas combined in a new way. (E.g.: airbag + bike helmet = "invisible" helmet; skip to 3:00 to see it in action. Isn't that the bestest evah idea? )

I try to pack my brain with lots of factoids and art and science in order to prime the pump. Then I wait for my creative brain to put stuff together some interesting combinations, or I brainstorm to help hurry up the process.

I have no idea where my ideas come from. If I did , maybe I could get them to slack up a bit. I have so many ideas, I will never have time to use them. One thing I do know. If I ever tried to come up with an idea, I'd sit there so long I'd be covered in dust and cobwebs.

I take down interesting bits of fact on a document and let them simmer. For example, I was reading a manga series about Cesare Borgia and in the series, he has a loyal friend/servant who was taken in as a child. They do everything together: lessons, horse-riding, sword-fighting etc. As a result, the child grows up as loyal to Cesare as anyone could be.

I thought that was really intriguing and made a note of it. Didn't do much with it until I started writing a new book...then I looked through the doc and realized I had two characters for whom this would be the perfect relationship. It ended up becoming a huge plot point in the book.

Ask yourself open questions. A lot of open questions. Why does that happen? Why did they book sell like hot cakes? For that matter, why do we talk about things selling like hot cakes? Aren't most cakes cold?

Thinking about hot and cold cakes might take you into thoughts about medieval cake sellers, because presumably the phrase is centuries old. That gives me an image of cobbled streets with street vendors selling to folk in the street. Then we might have one street vendor bringing a portable oven - a bit like the people selling hot chestnuts. They would beat all the competition because their cakes would be much tastier than the cold ones.

So I've now got a picture of a medieval town - I'm thinking of York because that's a place I know. I've got a bustling street scene. Maybe it's a market or a fair. The street sellers are hawking their wares, calling out to potential customers. There's the smell of the cakes baking, the crackle of coal in the oven.

So how would all the other vendors feel if someone from outside the town suddenly starts selling hot cakes? They would be jealous, perhaps. Maybe we get the infamous York cake wars. Do you bite your scone at me, sir? Two bakers, both alike in dignity. From ancient grudge break forth to new confectionary, where hot floured goods make civil chins unclean.

Ahem. I'm back now. Where does inspiration come from? Ask lots of questions, open questions. Then just follow the white rabbit wherever it takes you.