Inspiration - where does yours come from?

Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by mercy, Jan 4, 2008.

  1. ddavidv

    ddavidv Senior Member

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    If you are so distanced from your writing as to never be emotional over it, I wonder how good it would truly be?

    I wrote a pivotal scene in my first novel where the MC comes face to face with the bad memory that has been subconsciously ruining his life. I placed myself in the MC's skin and wrote the scene as I (1) would want it to happen to me, and (2) my own very likely personal physical and emotional reactions to what unfolded. It's a tearfully bittersweet scene, and I wept as I wrote it. I'm not the least bit embarrassed to say I did. I can only hope it has the same effect on the reader.

    I don't see it as any different from writing a particularly good scene or string of dialogue and following it up with a fist pump and saying out loud, "YES! Perfect! I'm freaking awesome!!" I've also done this, but am a bit embarrassed to admit it. ;)

    Maybe it's different if you're writing dry, historical novels or dark and serious work but I think we need to really be free with our emotions to write WELL.
     
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  2. Larissa Redeker

    Larissa Redeker Active Member

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    I think it's good. You aren't a machine writing a plain text, or are?

    I'm a "hidden" emotional person (my mom told me when I was young that is bad to cry due to a movie or laugh a lot, and I growed up believing that she was correct), but I become emotional even when I only think about a scene. So I know that going in the right direction. If I can make myself to cry, that is a hard thing, I'm making a good scene :) But I'm always go back to that scene some days after to see if the emotional response will be the same, and if it's really good. And I never say that it's perfect to myself. That's the good and the bad side of being too perfectionist :)
     
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  3. Yellowcake

    Yellowcake New Member

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    Yeah I must admit to doing it too... a scene where my MC's is a little girl (who character and personality is based heavily on my own daughter) is sitting alone and scared waiting for her big brother to come home.

    I guess its because she is based on my daughter I ended up being caught up in the emotion of it. For me it became a very real response, (to others that scene may be a pile of crap?) but to me it became real. I guess the only problem I had was that I was writing while sitting on a crowded commuter train. ah well ... ya get that.
     
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  4. T.Trian

    T.Trian Overly Pompous Bastard Supporter Contributor

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    I don't think there's anything wrong with being moved by your own writing.

    I've never cried over any scene I've written, but that's probably mostly because I was brought up in a "boys don't cry" -culture, so nowadays, even if I want to, I can't cry. Sometimes I've even wished I could, but the tears won't come unless it's some truly life-changing disaster, like a loved one dying.

    However, I do feel the emotions. I feel the sadness of melancholy/tragic scenes, I feel the fear and panic in violent/horror scenes, I feel... well, what you feel with sex scenes etc. I think that's very important because if your story doesn't make the reader feel anything... what's the point of reading? You might as well read a phone book or an instruction manual.

    In my opinion, that is. To me, the intensity of the emotional charge a scene gives you is one of the most important ways to gauge its effectiveness: the more effective the scene, the more intense the experience of reading it.

    If you feel the emotions you wanted to convey while reading your own writing, there's a good chance the readers will feel them too. At least if you don't, you can be pretty sure the reader won't either.
     
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  5. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    In my very first novel attempt, my mc died a slow and painful death. I didn't describe the death itself, just the reaction of her son. I knew it was going to be emotional for me, so I waited until everyone else was out of the house before I wrote it. Of course I cried.

    I don't see anything wrong with it.
     
  6. Awesome101

    Awesome101 New Member

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    I personally think that's a good thing. You were able to feel that empathy for a character that readers look for when they pick up a book! I take that back it's a great thing as a matter of fact.

    The only crying I've done while writing was for my journal and it was all non-fiction. My hope is to reach your level of emotional investment OP.
     
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  7. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    yes, i've been emotionally moved when reading over some of my own writings...
     
  8. Yellowcake

    Yellowcake New Member

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    I've also read some of my own writing and felt that rather than an emotion movement it was a movement of the bowels... and that made me cry too.
     
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  9. Want2Write

    Want2Write Member

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    Yes, if 'Scared' is an Emotion. I am writing a horror story, and I am really really scared of Ghosts, and anything related to that. But the plot was appealing to me, so I started writing it, and was reading some articles based on supernatural discussions. While it was interesting to read with daylight, I get very scared at nights and yesterday I woke up at 3am fearing that my interest in ghosts will make them appear in front of me. Every night I decide to just shut down this project and move on with some light-hearted ones, but after dawn I sit in front of my computer and resume my research! I don't know what's going to be the end of this. Will the book see the daylight, [even if its self published for free over internet forums] or would be shelved forever due to my this fear!
     
  10. bobbi

    bobbi New Member

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    I've cried. I hope it's because I'm such a damn fine writer. lol...
     
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  11. Enyo

    Enyo Member

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    I've always wanted to ask this, but have never had a group of writers to talk to until now. I want to preface this by saying I have severe bipolar disorder, and sometimes that does affect my experiences. I tend to react to things more...intensely...than my healthier friends. It's two things, really.

    First, when I feel a strong inspiration for something, it's physical. My face gets flushed and I actually will sweat and shake a little. So much so that I've caused bystanders to become slightly worried about me. Once my mother was worried I was going to faint. The characters and details that come to me in this manner are the strongest and most vivid. The two people who've read my current project both say my "hot flash" characters tend to be their favorites, though I have never disclosed how they came about versus other characters.

    Second, I often get "instant" knowledge about my characters from random things. For instance, Hawaii's massive hula festival just ended last month and I was watching the performance on TV. There were some ladies playing a huge pahu (Hawaiian drum) and I looked at them an instantly knew one of my characters played a traditional drum. It wasn't an idea that should be considered. It was more like, "Oh, Sky is a drummer too. Hmm, that's interesting. Carry on." Traits and details that come to me like that, very much like the hot flash inspirations I spoke of previously, tend to be vivid and everlasting no matter what else goes on in the story.

    Does anyone experience one or both of these things? Please tell me about them if you don't mind. Thank you.
     
  12. Alecion

    Alecion Member

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    Hello Enyo, I myself am not an emotional person, usually when thinking about my characters I change things up over and over, like its a puzzle and if I changed one piece others change too, even if what was changed isn't relevant.
    But although I don't get excited and has any sudden flashes like yours about charecters, I do have my own kink.
    When reading something new I like very much, I get very excited inwardly, that translates out and I just have to walk around, I play out what I'd continue with with the story I'm reading, then, suddenly I think up new ideas and concepts for that story I'm reading, thinking and thinking about them I deviate further and further away from that story and in my mind a collection of new ideas is formed into a new concept of a story, my story.
    I wish I had something like yours, it sounds very useful for a writer, esspesialy me who is weak on the character front.

    Did you ever try to get into the same mind state and emotional condition of your character? For me, I end up getting to know the character much more and forms it further.
    I mean actually trying to feel and think and see your world, the real world, from their standpoint.

    Hope it was interesting to read my message as yours certainty was.
     
  13. Enyo

    Enyo Member

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    Thank you for responding. To answer the above, yes, I do this all the time. My current work is very emotionally driven, so it's a must. In some extreme cases, I will actually manifest the moods of certain characters while typing. I had to write out a really difficult part a few weeks ago. Probably one of the most devastating things in the whole work. The character is explaining something to her young granddaughter. Both are in pain because of the situation, but the granddaughter's emotions were very hard for me to deal with because she's young and the material is so heavy. I kept having to force myself to write out the scene just like she has to force herself to listen to what her grandmother said. Each line so was painful for both of us. Then we both got headaches.

    Hah, that sounds like mania. I have that happen both artistically and personally, and a lot of non-mentally ill people I know who are creative have those moments. It's natural.
     
  14. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    I typically always experience the second you described. And it's often during the most inconvenient times. lol For example, my husband and I were watching a movie. I can't remember which. But it wasn't anything special, just some action movie. And suddenly, I get this idea. Just... BAM! So I jumped up, grabbed my notebook, and wrote it down. My husband was very confused, because nothing in the movie should have inspired this idea. I wasn't even thinking about my novel. It was just there!

    To me, it seems that the more I think about my stories, the more confused I get. If I just go through my daily life, read other books, watch TV, watch movies, the best ideas come to me naturally. I personally love it. lol Just this knowing of, "Yep, that's how my story is going to play out!" without even really thinking about it. There's something quite fantastic about it.
     
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  15. A.I. Sajib

    A.I. Sajib New Member

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    For people like me who think too much, it's easy. You hit an inspiration (a topic) to write about while thinking about something. I'm not necessarily happy that I think too much, but it works well for my writing habits. :p
     
  16. PiP

    PiP Contributor Contributor

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    Hi Enyo,

    Inspiration 'hits' me any place and at any time. I'm quite a spontaneous person by nature and often I will just pick up my pen and just write. As the words spill on to the page it's almost as if I'm in a trance and everything else does not exist.
     
  17. StevieT

    StevieT New Member

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    Hey Enyo,

    Great question. I myself am someone who can be hit with inspiration for three days in a row and stay 'dry' for a month after it. What I found is that we can't really decide when inspiration hits us, but we can influence how often it hits us.

    What I mean by that is that we just have to write as much as we can, our brain will develop an unconscious bias to the story and it will give more amounts of energy to processing your story, make it fit, like you said that you suddenly have instant knowledge about your character: your brain figured a nice part of it out for you if you will.

    That's my experience with inspiration. Plus always keep a notebook at hand to write your inspiration down ;-)

    Hope this helps!
    Steve
     
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  18. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

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    When talking to people about my book, one of the first questions they tend to ask me is "What was your inspiration?"

    Each time they ask this, I feel completely unprepared, as I can't remember what motivated me to start writing.

    Does anybody else find that they are unable to identify their muse?
     
  19. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    Several times as an adult I've reread or rewatched or replayed something that I remember loving as a kid and realized how much it inspired certain aspects of various things I've written. Plus, it's usually pretty fun to revisit something you haven't thought much about in a while. Would recommend.
     
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  20. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

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    Looking more closely at it, the inspiration for this particular story comes from a wide range of sources:

    The title is from my favourite song.
    The setting is my town of birth.
    The themes are from my favourite films.
    One of the antagonists is named after someone I really didn't get on with as a child (he knows who he is).

    But I can't seem to find the driving force that made me bring the whole lot together.

    Maybe I need to go on a journey to rediscover my youth.
     
  21. No-Name Slob

    No-Name Slob Member Supporter Contributor

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    I don't think it has to be really specific. Think about the theme of the story your book tells. Why is it important?

    Boom. That's your inspiration.

    For (really stupid) example: if asked about the inspiration for 50 Shades, E.L. James could say, "I think it's important for people to explore their sexual desires in a safe way, and 50 Shades allows them to do so." In reality, she'd probably answer Twilight, but the idea is the same.

    Yes, 50 Shades is a terrible book, but it was the first one to jump to mind that most people are aware of. :p
     
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  22. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    :dead:

    Not Hunger Games? Harry Potter? Lord of the Rings? Narnia? The Da Vinci Code? Catcher in the Rye? Catch-22? War and Peace? Moby Dick?

    EDIT: To Kill a Mockingbird? Tom Sawyer? 1984? Fahrenheit 451? Brave New World? I'd even accept Divergent if you told me you were really desperate.

    EDIT AGAIN: What about Mortal Instruments? Percy Jackson? The Dark Tower? Animal Farm? Crime and Punishment? Lord of the Flies? Of Mice and Men? The Grapes of Wrath? Dracula? Frankenstein? Carmilla? A Tale of Two Cities?

    Or, if you're desperate again: The Fault in our Stars?
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2015
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  23. No-Name Slob

    No-Name Slob Member Supporter Contributor

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    Any of those would have been a great choice, but I just really wanted to annoy everyone. :D
     
  24. ToeKneeBlack

    ToeKneeBlack Banned

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    That's probably the best place to start - I'll have a think about it, thanks :)
     
  25. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    ...Dragonball Z??

    Not gonna lie, my fantasy story was so heavily inspired by Dragonball Z, The Legend of Zelda, Avatar: The Last Airbender and a bunch of other stuff that I'm not really sure if it can even work anymore. :p I keep imagining my MC with a Sayian scouter bending the elements like a boss, but that's not who she really is. xD

    But yeah, @No-Name Slob says it best. Think of the theme of the book and it might spark that inspiration again.
     

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