Mine can come from anywhere - which is very unhelpful most of it though comes just by writing. My books contain ideas from cartoons, music videos, plot generators, books, poems, religion, history, life, my philosophies on that said life etc My main character came from a music video, the other has some elements of a previous boyfriend, my idea to turn a my main character of my first book into a falcon came from He-Man - the bird forms mushroomed from there, my 'devil' is a Great Skua because of a TV documentary on St Kilda. The ending of one of my books comes from a favourite TV show. One character was loosely based on Papa Bhaer from Little Women. My magic comes from my own mediations, the idea for the universe from childhood attempts to understand bible scriptures. 'Winking out' came from a My Little Pony video - didn't realise that until later. My new books are a sort cross between Agatha Christie, Indiana Jones and Last of the Summer Wine (long running TV show). Time Travel and fixed points in space and Time probably Dr Who. I wanted Fred and George from Harry Potter type characters so created a joke shop run by teens Archimedes, Newton and Einstein. I just keep writing and when I come up with an issue or a block - think well how do we solve this problem, answer this question or give this context. Have you tried a plot generator - personally i find them dangerous things give me too many ideas.
Dark romance that steers away from vampires, werewolves, angels and demons -- seems like something I'd like! The worst horror is the things we do not see. Maybe there could be some kind of horrible curse that slowly transforms its victims into a monster of some kind, but no one knows any of the details. Either the girl or the guy gets the virus (but no "zombie virus" stuff, please, and I wouldn't even call it a virus because it'll bring zombies to mind - nothing against zombies, but they're just as overdone as the other stuff you mentioned) and the other partner has to help. They meet being connected by it somehow, and they're thrown piecing together the mystery and trying to find a way to undo it before it's too late. In the process, they fall in love. None of the "darling, I need you to save me" stuff, though. I hate when passivity and dependence is glorified in romance. Make them both strong and independent - equals on a team.
Inspiration comes from everywhere for me. I can get it from reading, listening to music and/or the radio, watching a programme, observing people, eavesdropping, dreams, just looking out at the landscape before me... Apart from what other posters and I have mentioned, I'd advise trying to force yourself to write for a certain length of time non stop every day, even if you do have writer's block you can write 'I don't know what to write'. You might churn out rubbish to start with, but eventually you'll get something good and be inspired so to speak. Also, creating a mind map of possible scenarios and themes and ideas related to what you want to write is good too. Sometimes when you just go back to look at it it'll spark an idea.
Good point by all that inspiration can come from anywhere. The difference with reading is that it gives you specific examples of how to write in a certain style, how to use grammar, and everything else required to master the elusive art of writing. So take your inspiration from everywhere, and don't stop reading.
I know this probably won't help, but I actually came up with a romantic story that doesn't involve vampires, fallen angels etc. while still having a dark underling theme involving my mysterious Theo character. In short I actually developed this idea while writing, shamefully, a fan fiction. To my amazement the underlining concept of the fanfic developed into its own idea. My advice would be to think "what if?" I know it sounds clichéd but that's how mine really got going. Basically in a romance story you know boy falls in love with girl so what can be built around that? Is there something not quite right about the boy or girl? How do they meet? I think start by creating your two main characters and work from there, hopefully by creating them and a basic world around them a story will develop. I hope that helps, if any of it made sense. Good luck!
What is your inspiration? I've had inspiration from a great many things. Once it was from a piece of music, another time I saw myself and 4 friends running at night and though 'would It be cooler if we were a band or rebels'. So where do you get your inspiration?
Oh, so many things. Inspiration and ideas can come anytime, often it's from music, or from peoples stories. Other times an idea just pop up in my head, seemingly out of nowhere. I also find daydreams are a good source of inspiration.
I saw a plastic lawn chair sitting on a concrete piece of modern art that looked like a pedestal. It was in a park that used to be known for wino's. I'm writing a novel called 'The Throne of the Hobo King'.
That is a reall cool idea and a unique source of inspiration. I get mine from a mix of things read and ideas that just pop into my head
I get my inspiration from my daily mood swings. It may be why I can only write certain characters at certain times, and makes my plot lag a little, but it's true. Also, remembering things from childhood in one perspective, and then asking myself what that situation would be like from another point of view.
I've been inspired by my English teacher, who is also an author. She supported me and told me after I wrote her a small short story that I should write more stories, even though I was put on a long hiatus after writing. I don't plan on becoming an author, but she inspired me to try my best with writing stories as they bring joy to the readers.
I can be inspired by anything at times, and by nothing at other times. The strangest inspiration I've had is that, since we moved in the house 5 years ago, there has always been this stray cat that sits outside my bedroom window at night and makes the scariest, weirdest noises I have ever heard an animal make. This happens about twice a week for the last five years. So yea, I ended up writing about it before in my English exam :') I also always feel strangely inspired when I'm driving down the motorway at night, and it's empty, and the headlights are on so that you can only see a little bit infront of you. I'm not sure why, but it gives me this eerie, inspired feeling.
some suggestions for inspiration? well,i suppose i am in need of some new ideas for inspiration thanks to your guy`s support,i how do you put it,have one foot in the door,but my ideas are fragmented and my opinions are many and often times contradictory.. i find it extremely hard to bring up a muse as it were.. things that do give me inspiration and ideas are movies like,event horizon,the last man on earth (vincent price),pandorum,the time machine (the old one),district nine,soylent green (charleton heston version),the omega man (charleton heston),bicentennial man (robin williams) music under the muse would be : herzschlag,funker vogt,deathstars,gothminister,johanne sebastian bach,mozart,sergey rachmaninov,red army choir videogames (beleive it or not,you might have to wikipedia some of these,the more obscure ones i mean): Metro 2033,doom 3,legend of zelda : OOT,knife edge: nose gunner,darksiders,resident evil 5, (the main problem being is that most of those sources ive listed ive used and re-used to the point of being moot in some cases) so the basic thing is,i need new sources of inspiration,and possibly some tips on overarching direction of thought advice?
I think every creative artist has to face the lack of inspiration every now and then. When it comes to writing, I wouldn't rely too much on movies or video games, though, as they tend to contain overused tropes and bad writing. Observe everything--but don't blatantly copy. Rather adapt. I think the best way to overcome lack of inspiration, at least for me, it to just write something ... anything. Just do it, and let the story grow. If nothing comes out of it, then try some other time. As an aside, I would recommend Stephen King's On Writing. In it he equates the creative process with how the archaeologist slowly uncovers a dinosaur skeleton. All you need is that proverbial glint of a dinosaur bone, or a shadow of a thought to begin writing, and sooner or later the story will be discovered, rather than simply made up. Even though I'm currently writing in my native language, I learned heaps from that book.
well i dont exactly use videogames or movies on a copy-copy basis..i use them sort of for the inspirational clay i can mold into something but what im asking inspiration wise given the things i said have worked for me but have kind of worn out is essentially like "you like chocolate ice cream regular,so you should love our double fudge chocolate fudge ice cream" lame example i know,but best way i can think of describing it >.> another thing possibly messing with things is the fact that i stopped watching tv all together a good few years ago..i mainly switched to the internet,so i know there is a huge wealth of inspirational info out there..yet sorting through the uninspiring is difficult though i might try that stephen king book you mentioned
I didn't mean to accuse you of plagiarism or anything, lol. I understand what you mean. I don't watch TV either (except for the occasional [downloaded] exceptional series, like True Blood at the moment). I stopped because I found watching it mentally dulling, and internet has potential--like you said--to be a much better source of information and inspiration (unless one spends all their days on a certain image board or social network). I don't know where my own ideas come from (I guess that's why I'm often struggling with poor imagination), but I think the best ones have come from an unexpected corner of the mind ... which of course doesn't mean that they wouldn't have originated from the internet and assimilated by the subconscious mind at one point or another. I bet you'd like it. It's informative, and unlike most King's works, it's also a fast read; IIRC I read it in one or two sittings.
The three biggest sources of inspiration for me when I need it are awful books, music, and previews for movies without sound. Awful books - they're awfully written, but the seeds of greatness are there. I'm the type of person that when I read awful writing, I get a million visions, ideas, flashes of images that run through me of how it could've been even better. Basically seeing the full potential of a story that was very underdeveloped. Music - simple enough. Previews for movies WITHOUT sound - go to youtube, watch a couple previews of movies you either haven't heard about or don't know about without the sound. So just based on the visuals you see, make your own assumptions of what the story is about. Or make your own story based on how the characters act and how how the "preview" plot is played out.
