Inspiration

Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by wordwizard, Aug 7, 2008.

  1. JustEd

    JustEd New Member

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    My favorite quote, from Jim Jarmusch:

    "Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.” "
     
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  2. The-Joker

    The-Joker Contributor Contributor

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    I love that!
     
  3. darthgoober

    darthgoober New Member

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    Hey guys, I have been wanting to start doing some creative writing and I was wondering how to work out the details with my inspiration. C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein are two of my biggest inspirations for trying my hand at writing, but how do successfully draw ideas from those inspiration without going too far and letting their stories dominate my own idea. It's kinda hard for me see any of my ideas good when I start comparing to their stories. Comparing is probably a bad habit all together but I don't know haha. Anybody have any suggestions? They would be much appreciated!!!
     
  4. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Inspiration does not mean that you draw your ideas from them. If you do that, your writing will come out as a pale imitation of theirs. What you need to do is to work to find your own voice. You might want to start by creating a character, just a simple character sketch - what is (s)he like? Strong? Weak? Aggressive? Passive? Good? Evil? Leader? Follower? Add more and more features as you go. When you think you know him/her pretty well, create a situation for him/her, preferably a problem, dilemma, challenge or crisis. Not something that Lewis or Tolkien would necessarily come up with, just you. Next, what does your character need to do to resolve the situation? What obstacles exist to keep the situation from being resolved? Don't be surprised when these steps require you to create additional characters!

    You can see where I'm going with this. By doing just what I've laid out above, you have the beginning of a story. From there, you can begin to think about the bigger picture. Maybe you get a short story out of it. Maybe more.

    Good luck.
     
  5. darthgoober

    darthgoober New Member

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    Thanks a ton!!! that really helps out a lot. Haha and while we are talking about this you got any suggestions on man making? I'v been reading that making a map can kinda help in the process of coming up with the story, but i am pretty lost.
     
  6. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    It is always this way in the beginning. It takes time to find the unique voice, one you are confident and happy using. Try some short stories, or small scenes. Or find your favourite object in the room and describe it as you would in a novel you want to write (for example, you might choose to describe a writing desk quite differently if you are writing a "who dunnit" vs romance vs some other genre).
    Once you are practiced at using your unique voice, and it becomes second nature, then you'll see, even retelling someone else's story might become barely recognisable, because you changed it enough to make it your own :) A lot of contemporary literature and film is basically a re-telling of a classic story, so as long as you don't just copy it, it will be fine.
     
  7. krtr

    krtr New Member

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    Tolkien and Lewis are two of my favorite authors as well. They've been mainstays as my I Will Be This Awesome One Day goal. However, as far as my writing goes, the author with the biggest impact on how I write has been Ernest Hemingway. I first read his work during class in my early teens and fell in love with his use of simplistic prose. I write nothing close to what Hemingway wrote, but his style was integral in helping me find my voice. I suggest reading the work of many 'great' authors and trying to see why their work endures. Gleaning various aspects from many sources will help you find something unique.

    As for map-making, I wouldn't get too caught up in it. I personally have never created a map. It never seemed really necessary, especially in the beginnings of a story. When I begin to write my first focus is always on the characters because no amount of setting can help a story if the characters are flat. If you're thinking along the lines of world building on Lewis and Tolkien's level for your novel, then it is important to remember they spent decades forging their worlds. It can't be done quickly and it's very easy to get frustrated, but it isn't impossible. Just don't get too caught up in the world and forget the people in it ;)
     
  8. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    You know the (beautiful) thing about inspiration is that its extremely subjective, right? The inspiration is personal. What precisely about Tolkien and Lewis inspired you and how does it make you feel?

    I'll give you an example if you care to follow. Let's say George Lucas inspired me. I ask myself what precisely it is that give me that feeling. Maybe its the image of Luke in the swamp planet with Yoda. But really maybe its just the swamp planet that intrigues me, so I decide to write a story about a man who has lived his whole life since birth alone on a desolate swamp planet. Luke is also an orphan on a planet not his home so my mind still has Star wars on the brain at this point. My MC has never seen another human being. But I am also a romantic so I have a research ship studying endangered planets (that means this planet is on the verge of exploding) come to visit, and of course the crew stumbles upon the swamp man. He develops a romance with a woman of the crew and by the end of the book he must decide whether to leave his home or not. There is also the question of how the man got to that planet (maybe I want to allude to a conspiracy and even write a sequal). Ultimately I decide the book is about love, home, faith and the loss of one's primal identity with the introduction of language. It's too far removed in setting, characters, and technology to be compared to Rudyard Kipling (this is sci fi after all) and definitely nothing like star wars by the time I'm done solving my own issues to make an image, inspired directly from star wars, come to life in a way I could enjoy it more.

    I think an inspiration should cause you feel to something in particular, and your own desires, feelings, and thoughts will automatically expand it and make it your own. Once you develop a core concept there will be plenty of issues you will have to resolve to make it a cohesive story and thats definitely going to be from your own labour not some other author.

    Personally I could never understand the approach of starting with a character, sketching it, and then creating a problem and setting for it. For me this is far too generic. When something comes from the heart, it has vision, and if you really think about why you're inspired to write it you may just find your stories have some deeper meaning to them, ones your potential readers might feel as well.
     
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  9. cruciFICTION

    cruciFICTION Contributor Contributor

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    +rep for this.
    This is just perfect.
     
  10. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    as noted above, if you want to be a fiction writer, you must come up with your own ideas!
     
  11. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Of course it's generic. But since characters are at the center of any story (one way or another), it can be a useful exercise for someone who is unsure of where to start, which is how I read the OP. Would I suggest it to someone who already has a sense of where (s)he is as a writer, or what (s)he wants to accomplish? Of course not.
     
  12. AMA

    AMA New Member

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    I don't think inspiration is ever uniquely guaranteed. As people have said before, it's about creating your own ideas, but getting there is a challenge. You've got to write, write, write, and read, read, read.

    So you look up to Tolkien and Lewis, great! Get inspired and start writing, even if what you think you're writing is a knock off of their work. Get it out of your system! Then when you're going through the motions and some great idea hits you, your mind will be less focused on their style (because you will have vomited that all over some other piece of paper) and more focused on this amazing, special new idea spinning in your head.

    Basically, I've learned that if you constantly write something down (even if you later trash it, stomp on it, or burn it), you will be more likely to hone your craft and create your own unique voice than if you keep it locked up inside your head and worry over whether or not it's like something else. Hope this helps!

    "Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire."
    ~Napoleon Hill
     
  13. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    Inspiration comes in all forms. I wouldn't get too hung up on the where it comes from.

    If you loveTolkien and Lewis start writing something along their lines. Just make it your story. Personally I usually start with a scene or an idea and little more. So for Thief, the first book I finished, I had an image of a man, a jewel thief doing the upsidedown hanging from a thin wire and a harness, sliding between buildings, and suddenly having an angel floating beside him. That was the start of the book and it went from there.

    For Pawn, my latest book, I watched The Aphrodite Inheritence, a 1979 Michael J Bird miniseries from the BBC, and despite the problems and outdated everything from the show, loved it. So from it I simply used the idea of the ancient Greek gods still wandering the world and interefering with mortal's lives, using them like pawns. That was as much as I needed. Afterthat I just had to create my pawn, put him in a situation which it was obvious he couldn't get out of and then get him out of it using a divine interference. After that it was just creating the elements of the story. Asking the questions - Who was using him? Why? What did they want from him? And so on. And then coming up with answers.

    I agree completely with 1-9, simply take the germ of the idea or scene from your muses' work, set it down, and then start writing your story around it. Often you'll find that as the story grows, it'll just start writing itself, taking you in directions you never expected.

    First you just have to write your scene.

    Cheers, Greg.
     
  14. Jared King

    Jared King New Member

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    As far as map making goes, I've always enjoyed drawing maps for fantasy worlds even before I have a story in mind for them. I think if you want to try doing one for yourself, just look at a good world atlas, try to see how land formations look in our own world, then just sketch something down with a pencil that looks like a land formation that could possibly exist. If you're really into, you might want to think of things like tectonic plates influencing mountain/land formations, or continental shifts. Draw whatever types of mountains/forests/rivers you want in however much detail you want. When you start deciding on possible cultures that inhabit your world (which is often the most fun part) you can use your imagination to create fantastical places, or if you're well versed in history you could use that knowledge to create a long backstory of your different nations and cultures that goes far back in your worlds history.

    I often find that in the process of drawing maps my mind naturally comes up with stories that could take place there, especially as I start thinking up ideas for the civilizations that inhabit it. If you're looking for that spark of inspiration I'd recommend giving it a try.
     
  15. Jammy

    Jammy New Member

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    ,,,
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2013
  16. Tesoro

    Tesoro Contributor Contributor

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    This is actually a brilliant advice. I read something similar once, that if you admore a writer and wants to write like him you should read what he used to read. I think I'm going to start practising that myself because until now I had forgotten about it. :)
     
  17. GoldenGhost

    GoldenGhost Senior Member

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    Hunter S. Thompson was so impressed with Fitzgerald that he took to typing the Great Gatsby over and over and over and over and over until he felt he understood Fitzgerald's state of mind and then Hunter found his own voice and exploded, coining his own style of journalism in the process.

    I think inspiration is like a tool box. I will compare it to freestyle hiphop. Technically speaking the only reason the word 'freestyle' is even in that situation is because the guys are speaking off the top of their heads, but more often then not, they are not CREATING what they say in that exact moment. They have just spent hours and hours and hours writing down rhymes and verses and ideas until it reaches a point where it becomes second nature. So what they are actually saying are just verses they have already written down, or if they completely fabricate a line that ends in a specific word, they already know 50 other words that rhyme with it and fill in the gaps. Experience and recording creates recall and allows the brain to process creatively.

    With that said, writing is kind of the same way. The more you write, even if its a journal in the beginning, filled with nonsense and streams of consciousness, phrases, half-assed ideas (which is exactly how mine is), things that caught your eye one day, maybe the way someone looked or a conversation you over heard or a song played on the radio you never heard before and it touched your soul. Your actively recording your life and your surroundings, your feelings, your emotions, events, the physical reality, everything that encompasses your experience. After a while it becomes second nature and before you know it, your head is flooding with ideas because they are jumping at you because you've conditioned yourself to look for them, ONTOP of all the ones you have already written down. Then those phrases, ideas, experiences, start yelling at you, because they all have a story that wants to be told, and your the person who wants to tell it. Inspiration does not just strike you down. Sure, sometimes you're so over come with an experience you find yourself unexplainably motivated to put it to paper. But the reason why there are people who write through moments where that does not happen, is because they have trained themselves to think constantly.

    I will quote Shakespeare, "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." -Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 193–206 Here he explains and identifies the very nature of the creative beast that flows and swirls inside of us, chaotic and unpredictable (outside of its meaning within the story.) The stereotypical understanding of 'inspiration' such as when people think of a painter who magically gets hit by a lightning bolt and paints a masterpiece soon after. But he also acknowledges there is a methodical process to it, there is a craft, that is sharpened and honed, practiced and processed. Words are carefully chosen. Every aspect of writing is based on choice, choice being the most important tool we utilize. When we place a chair in a room, that chair is there for a reason. When we make a character remorseful for his actions, there is reason. Writing is purposeful, and through the method, there are periods of madness where upon reflection we realize we hit something much deeper not only within ourselves but our readers as well completely by accident, because we were channeling something outside of that method and connected with our inner most creative reservoir in the process.

    So for me, I have to agree with Shakespeare. We can definitely be motivated for reasons beyond our comprehension to put something down to paper, or something that gets us started, but a lot of it comes from practice and experience. All there is left to do is act like a sponge and absorb all the knowledge in front of us so that we may convert it into something useful. And to write of course. ;)


    -Ghost

    P.S.

    Let my inspiration flow in token rhyme, suggesting rhythm,
    That will not forsake you, till my tale is told and done.
    While the fire lights aglow, strange shadows from the flames will grow,
    Till things we've never seen will seem familiar.
    -J.G. and R.H.
     
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  18. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    I'm trying very hard to wrap my head around this statement, but it's not working. First off, what, exactly, do you mean by "generic"? Everything comes from the heart and has vision - if we didn't have heart and vision, we wouldn't be writers, would we? I trust that vision, heart, and theme will emerge from my stories because I'm the one writing them - it's all part of the sound of my voice, if you will. I start with character as a mechanical necessity, just to get a story going. "Deeper meaning" just happens, because I'm deep and my readers are deep and your deeper meaning happens because you're deep and your readers are deep.

    Shallow people - people without heart or vision or depth - don't become writers, and you probably won't find many of them here on this forum.
     
  19. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    Thinking ahead and sources of inspiration

    Ok, so you’ve been writing your story, developed it quite extensively, you know you aren’t 100% original and that’s cool because nobody is.

    And then, you re-discover an old story, or a comic strip, or a book you loved as a child, or an old movie and realise that a lot of your inspiration and the way you even think about the literature, heroes, stories, apparently comes from that story (amongst others).

    How do you feel about this?
    Would you go out of your way to change things that can remind of that work, or would you risk a controversy, if your book becomes successful?
     
  20. 123456789

    123456789 Contributor Contributor

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    Probably its times like those that separate the artist from the wannabees. If you've just got it, you're doing something akin to renaissance artists. If you don't, you've basically committed mimicry.

    If you feel a need to alter your story, just to avoid poor reception, it probably suggests the latter. If you have a strong artistic vision you're not going to want to sacrifice it.
     
  21. CheddarCheese

    CheddarCheese New Member

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    You've pretty much caught me red-handed.

    I do this all the time (and not intentionally). There is a difference however: In one story, I end up mixing around ideas and concepts from multiple different places, taking one or two things from each. This kind of reduces the effect, since the story itself is quite different from each individual inspiration, but if one were to analyze it carefully, they might find the similarities.

    I don't always try to fix this, since I'm not entirely sure about getting my works published in the first place.
     
  22. superpsycho

    superpsycho New Member

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    Much of who we are is experience. Everyone of us stands on the shoulders of others to some degree. The issue is understanding you can make something your own. The the fact you have read other authors' stories automatically says you're going to have a different perspective on any given issue. As long as your not mimicking them and embracing you're own unique view then you shouldn't worry about. A general view or understanding of a subject (a theme) isn't the same as a unique story.
     
  23. PaleWriter

    PaleWriter Member

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    Facts and plot may be the same; but, each of us has a different, wonderfully embracing slant on the same story (if we can express it). Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are perfect examples.

    Double check to make sure you are not unconsciously plagiarizing, acknowledge the author's contribution as inspiration and leap into the void with your marvelous re-creation!
     
  24. jo spumoni

    jo spumoni Active Member

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    Pretty much everything has already been done before, so I tend not to worry too much about the things I've "borrowed." 95% of the time, I've actually taken the elements of my story from a hodgepodge of places, and I've assembled them very differently from how they were originally used. Only my earliest efforts should actually be called "copies," but I'm talking about things I wrote when I was 8 and 9 and simply re-imagined stories and movies. While these didn't obviously go anywhere, I think they were important for me. I learned to tell stories from watching other people do it and practicing until my own voice came out. I don't think you'll find anything that isn't influenced by something else. So unless you've just written Jerry Smotter and the Wizard's Pebble, I wouldn't worry about it too much.
     
  25. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    Ahhahaha, thank you Jo, you made me laugh out loud with this :D Brilliant, yes, that would be a disaster fo sho ;)

    Thanks everyone, I really feel relieved! I am fairly new to fiction writing (first time I am writing something with aim to publish) and I thought I knew so much more when I started than I know now. But it's good to know that more or less everyone has similar "problems".
    I worried only because I remember reading the parallels between Worst Witch and Harry Potter and feeling let down because JK didn't acknowledge it as inspiration and there were a lot of basic similarities. I lost quite a lot of respect for her and the story because of that and I didn't want to make the same mistake.
     

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