Do random things ever spark a flood of words from you?

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KTC

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Stew21

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Oh yes. All the time.
A conversation at a wake is what gave me the initial idea for a stolen christmas tree getting taken to a cemetary. ;)
 

tehuti88

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I read things that give me all sorts of ideas, but I've never had a spur-of-the-moment flood of words. I think this might be because I tend to have to sit and mull over story ideas before I can even think of writing anything. I'm a "let it percolate for a while"-type person. Otherwise, I know my writing will go nowhere!

That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy having a flood of words!
 

benbradley

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With a name like that, it's little wonder he became a spammer.

Usually it's just a word or two that prompts me to write. Last Sunday it was Rain. (if prompted, type flashed)
 

wordmonkey

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So I am not crazy, then?

Well, you ARE crazy, but this happens to others too.

Place names do it for me. Stumpy Point. Great Dismal Swamp. Kirk Deighton.

That last one is a place I used to pass when I was driving to and from college many years ago and I used it as the name for the hero of my novel.

But you are not alone, dude. :D
 

Danger Jane

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Absolutely. Last night I was, for some reason, reading a study guide for To the Lighthouse...which I read for pleasure. No need to study it. Something on there about Modernism got my wheels turning, and five hours later I had four pages of quickly-scrawled notes resurrecting a long-dead WIP in totally revamped form. It's like everything just

It's weird how things pop into our heads. Thanks, Bibliomania.com note on Modernism.

Last September, I reached up my arm to stretch in English class and my ring knocked against the wall. It was totally silent other than that; we were taking a quiz or writing an essay or something. Two sentences popped into my head, and I knew they came from the mind of a character, not mine: "My ring clattered against the wall. In the perfect silence, it felt like a sin." Last night, while writing my notes inspired by the study guide, I realized that that line belongs to this story.

I love how brains are :D
 

wordmonkey

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Last September, I reached up my arm to stretch in English class and my ring knocked against the wall. It was totally silent other than that; we were taking a quiz or writing an essay or something. Two sentences popped into my head, and I knew they came from the mind of a character, not mine: "My ring clattered against the wall. In the perfect silence, it felt like a sin." Last night, while writing my notes inspired by the study guide, I realized that that line belongs to this story.

I love how brains are :D

I love and hate this. I hate it when I have half an idea. Y' know when you have this great little nugget of creativity, but you just know it's not enough to carry a story.

Then some time later (weeks, months, years) you have another idea and it's also not enough, but you realize it just fits another one perfectly. I make a note of all my ideas, but I never have to go looking for the mate. It's like as soon as this second piece pops into my head, I automatically remember the bit that's been kicking around waiting for it. That second part is the bit I love.
 

Kalyke

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My WIP began with something like that. I often have moments like that spark huge spurts of frantic typing.
 

Danger Jane

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I love and hate this. I hate it when I have half an idea. Y' know when you have this great little nugget of creativity, but you just know it's not enough to carry a story.

Then some time later (weeks, months, years) you have another idea and it's also not enough, but you realize it just fits another one perfectly. I make a note of all my ideas, but I never have to go looking for the mate. It's like as soon as this second piece pops into my head, I automatically remember the bit that's been kicking around waiting for it. That second part is the bit I love.

I kind of love it. I store them somewhere in my brain and say, "All right, cool, be ready for me when I need you." And I focus on something else.

Til I realize just where it fits :D
 

Soccer Mom

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I love the moments of goofy inspiration. One of the interesting things I do is docket in People's Court. (Yes, shows like Judge Judy actually come and mine our courts for cases. If the parties agree, their case is dismissed and they sign a binding agreement to appear on the show and abide by her rulings.) Anyway, I sit across from strangers all day and listen to them rattle on about their problems. At least once or twice a day I find myself thinking You are so in one of my stories.
 

qwerty

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A woman who lived across the canal from me one winter didn't have a full-length mirror on her boat. In spring, after feasting on French cuisine for several months, she looked into my mirror and said, 'Those can't possibly be my thighs!'

I wrote those words down and a 95K novel evolved.

C'est la vie, as they say in England.
 

Cranky

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Naw, you're not crazy. Or at least not any more crazy than the rest of us, it appears. :)

I don't get floods of words, but I get little flashes all of the time from random things. My current favorite surprise gift was when my husband was telling me a story about a friend of his. She just recently started online dating, and met up with someone for a date she'd only met over the internet prior.

He showed up wearing bib-alls(overalls), a red polo shirt, and dress shoes. There's more, but that image just glowed in my mind. That guy is going to be a character in a book, and he's going to wear that exact outfit. :D
 

inkkognito

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The sights I saw while visitng nudist resort near Disney World unleashed a HUGE torrent of words! (I kept my clothes on.) Couldn't wait to get to my keyboard. Ended up being one of my most popular blog entries ever.
 

Sunnyside

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*sigh*

No. I wish it did. I blogged about this the other day, because I really wish I was one of those people who was easily inspired by such random acts of randomness. I have a friend who absolutely bleeds plot. A simple phrase, a broken chess piece, a stalled car . . . you name it, he can come up with something to write about it.

I think it's part of the fiction versus non-fiction hardwiring thingy. I don't write fiction, I've said before, because I can't plot! I write non-fiction because, well, at least the basics of the story are kinda plotted out for me in advance, and I can take it from there. (As I've said before, I'm not a good plotter, I'm more of a good explainer...)

Anyway, no. Alas.
 

sadron

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Yes sometimes. Just when I'm not able to be at the computer..
 

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I was in a video game store when the title "whispers in the dark" came into my head for a short story I was writing at the time. It was so random. I have no idea where it came from. It was perfect for the title. I got so excited I almost did a happy dance in the street.
 
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