Inspiration

I get bits and pieces of inspiration from reading other peoples' ideas and from back and forth discussions on this forum, but all the really good ideas come randomly. I've tried listening to music, but it's a bad distraction. Sometimes I squeeze an idea out when I'm writing and I need something to progress and shape the story, but most of the time they just happen when I don't want or expect them.

 

Usually my ideas come from dreams, I'm really lucky that way. But everynow and then I'll get a strange idea pop into my head and I'm like, "Oh! That'll make a GREAT book." Lol. Or I'll read something and it sets my brain a flame. I listen to music as well, "Let it Rock" insipired the end of my first novel. (I'm rewriting it. Lol.) Now the ending is going to be completely different. As well as pictures... actuallly, pretty much everything inspires me unless I'm having a cruddy day, then nothing will. D

 

Same with me. I always go to bed thinking of a scene, and end up dreaming about it with myself in the place of the MC in that scene. I can be on the bus reading (All you can do on an hour long ride to school and home) and think of something as well. I listen to music, mainly Power Metal and that triggers ideas. The occasional pop song like Let it Rock will inspire me at times.

 

Oh man, so true. I'll be washing dishes when a lot of my ideas spark. Course I'll be listening to music during the time, too, but that's usually my peak time of thought. Also when I'm alone in a dimly lit room, ipod playing, I can think of a scene and just roll with it. I'll let the character speak out in my head, and then I'll write it all down and add to the story later.

 

I know it's corny, but most of my best idea's and inspirations come while I'm in the shower. Don't ask me why, but it's true. If I'm ever stuck about a scene, or a transition, or a plot device, in the shower I go.

Now if I can only find a waterproof digital recorder.

 

LOL Imposter



What sparks my inspiration?

Listening to music​

Reading stories ​

Reading the newspaper​

Watching the news on TV​

Environmental issues ​

A new discovery​

RPG Forum ​

Conversations (MSN)​

Phone calls ​

Late at night​

Random Thoughts ​

Ads​

 

Other works, dreams, day-dreams and songs.

That's all I really can think of at this point.

 

Goodness, I think the easier question would be what doesn't spark ideas for me!

Everything I watch or do makes me think of things to write. I rely much more on the everyday than sitting with special music or ambiance.

I was chatting with Xeno yesterday that a show on radio theory, which featured the way in which cell phones use fractal antennae inspired an entire scene for me.

P.S. Not every idea I have fits with something I am writing at the time. I write those ideas down in a special folder in my story writing program (Liquid Story Binder) and keep them for later. Eventually they will fit somewhere. They always do.

 

Films, be it good or bad. Songs, very seldomly though. Not so much novels as opposed to exerpts and dialogue from them. A lot of random thoughts and conversations as well.

 

Yoyoyo!

The search feature works! (I'm kidding. I was just randomly stalking Wreybies around the site. MOVING ON.)

I get inspiration normally through either songs, or what other people say to me.

One sentence can inspire an entire chapter for me.

 

Τὸ Ἕν, everything and nothing.

 

anything and everything... as i'm a practicing philosopher, all i see, hear, or experience is fodder for my essays/philosetry...

 

For me it's usually listening to music (predominantly the classical genre), real life observation, or reading.

 

My inspiration depends on what mood I am in, what I'm currently thinking about, etc. It could be anything from a movie to the pattern on a snail's shell. There's nothing I can just go to for inspiration, because what inspires me one day probably won't the next day.

 

Nature and everyday situations often inspire me.

I'm planning to make a character based off my dog, Max.

 

Events of the world, both human's and nature's.

 

Adding on to what I wrote in my previous Post:Going on walks allows me to sort out my thoughts and has helped me move all of the unimportancies (Is that even a word? ) out of my way so that I can reach out for a truly great idea. There will be certain times in the day where a certain sentence will arise in my head that inspires me to write a story revolving around it, which normally either begins or ends with the sentence.

 

I keep a folder on my laptop labeled with the story name, and I fill it with pictures that inspire the look of the castle in the story, or the way the characters look. I type out character profiles and I map out the floorplan of the castle so that I have a complete mental picture of it. Anything I can do to make the words more visual. By the time I'm done with all that, my writer's block is usually gone

 

I know it may sound corny, but to add to my own list, things that happon to me in reality affect my world of stories.

 

I second that. I've found that my own (totally incomplete. lol) novel is far more reflective of real life circumstances that I first imagined.

 

Music is usually my inspiration. If not, it's photography. Some songs that really get m creative juices flowing are

Konstantine - By Something Corporate
Hammers and Strings - By Jack's Mannequin

 

How is that corny? It's natural.

 

Romance and nature inspires me.
Ugh. I'm a bit short on the nature side though. I need to go out and do some travelling. >.<

 

For me, I tend to get inspiration from the people in the world around me. I've always found the way we socialize with one another to be fascinating and a fun topic to write on because there's no limit to the differences between people and the amazing things (both good and bad) that we're able to do to one another.

Other than that, sometimes music, sometimes books, and sometimes my own personal turmoil will spark the need to write.

~Lynn

 

I'm glad to see this thread is going strong. There are some good posts here. As someone posted before, long walks do help me a lot. It's mainly when I'm walking home from school, I have nothing better to do than ponder life and all the incredible things that happen. I end up thinking of missing plot holes and the such. When I used to live on a long flat street I would sometimes walk outside at one in the morning and pretend I was the only one alive. It was very relaxing and just got me in that mood.

Right now I get rides to and from school, and I live on a spooky hill, so it's harder for me. Usually it flows when I'm in a strong mood emotionally (furious, depressed, etc). But as I said earlier in this thread (I think) music is my main way of inspiring myself to write. As I type this I'm listening to The Dark Side of the Moon. I'm going to go write now.

Thanks for your time