My inspiration comes from pretty much everything, Music, dreams, people and their behaviors, other books, movies, and my foolish day dreams lol
TragicJuliet's inspiration comes from her AIM logs with me... She doesn't want to admit it, but it's true. Oh, I get mine from my own life--my book "Derek and Leona" (not the real title, but its in my blog) is based on me. A tend to have one character based on me in everything.
I'm lucky in that I can kick ideas out of my head while sitting at the keyboard. When developing a plot, it'll usually be that something hits me, wherever I am, and then several days or a month later something else will hit me. At some point the two ideas say, "Hey, I can make the other one work!" and that's the beginning. After that, I'll just sit at the computer and kick out thought after thought until the plot is competent and without glaring holes. Edit: Of course, I haven't mentioned the, ah, 'uniqueness' that sort of style creates. Last novel's two concepts? "How about a teen pregnancy story that doesn't discount abortion?" versus "What if criminals were discriminated in an apartheid-like fashion, making authority turn into the bad guys in a novel about murderers and sex offenders?" Unique, but my God, it was fun to write.
That isn't inspiration that's conceited ness. =D and no. no you dont. well. that one story yes but not normally you mean nothing to me. NOTHING. (not true but hey. you owe me a cookie.) Kester- I do the same thing, only sometimes they come SO fast that the newly written passage is utter trash and it takes me like the next three days to fix it
Crazy "ah-HAH!" moments? Always. xD I get my inspiration from everything. My book-to-be, for example; some scenes are exact replicas of things that happened to me, others are what I wish had happened, some are bits of huge plots I developed out of an image, a conversation, a strange relationship between a couple of friends, a wacky sleep-induced "what if" thought... Most of all, the ideas pretty much grow on me. It starts out as a little seed, then all of a sudden I'm making scenes in my head, playing them and fixing them over and over like a movie in progress. Then I polish them, narrate them various times in my head (sometimes alternating between English and Portuguese), and finally sit down and put them into paper. Sometimes.
Inspiration... questions? {kind of long} Hi Everybody, I have a few things I'd like to ask. First of all, I was wondering, where do you get your inspiration? I know sometimes I just sit down and stare out the window and force myself to think of something, or sometimes I just make it up as I'm going to sleep. So how and where do you get your inspiration? Secondly, when is it most effective for you to write, and when do you enjoy writing most and why? Do you mostly write on Sundays at 7am because no one else is up (just an example)? Thirdly, do you ever have such a good story in your head and you've started writing one page but its going in the completely wrong direction? What do you do? How do you continue writing without having to get rid of so much effort? Fourth, how do you stay motivated when you have so much to do that you can't possibly write at all? And how do you know when to finish a chapter, or finish a part of the book? Sorry this was so long. Finally, do you have any ways to inspire yourself - such as thinking about your book as a movie, or making your font green or something? Thanks. Any answers will be much appreciated and again sorry I have so much to ask... thanks again Cya -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cogito Ergo Sum
1) On my bed, trying to sleep. No joke. 2) Whenever I feel like it, it is not much of an issue. I guess it's because I enjoy writing in the predraft session of blogging. You have the feeling of excitement since it is a button away from actual publishing... you can just write anything and take them out from there before you click on it. 3) Often, but it usually is because I have different ideas that cause me to drift off... I just stop and move on to a different point of story, but I try to keep those same ideas in mind for the potentially new scenes. 4) I wouldn't recommend writing if you don't feel like it. It's an issue to me too, so I can't really say anything about this. About other part of the question, you stop writing if you think whatever ends has a good set up for next chapter. Doesn't have to be long to stop. You can always edit to fit several into a big chapter anytime later.
Well, firstly, I don't really sit down and think about what to write. It just sort of happens. Like the characters are stuck inside my brain and tugging at my neurons to try to get out. Sometimes when I don't have any inspiration I'll go back and read what I wrote before and see what sparks my interest and gets the neuron tugging going again. Sometimes you've gotta just get out and do something totally unrelated and fill your brain up. Only then does the neuron tugging continue. I usually write late at night or first thing in the morning, simply because that's when free time happens for me. Also, it is nice and quiet. Though on weekends when I get to sleep in, I can shut the door and write all day. I'd jot down the original idea, and then keep writing. Who knows, it might take you somewhere fun! When them neurons are pullin', you'd best keep a-writin'. Again, jot jot jot. While I don't really have enough all at the same time to have real chapters (I can't write linear) the characters usualy take care of that for me. They tell me what needs to be said, and I put it down in actual words. It's like channeling cosmic energy or something. :] I always start with dialogue, usually writing the scene in script form with cues and filling in the narrative later. Unfortunately, I usually have a hard time getting around to filling it in. This tends to leave me with acres and acres of script that I know has to be a novel, if I could only finish it! But hey, at least the idea's down, right? What are you talking about? That wasn't long at all. Hope it helped (or was at least somewhat amusing).
Where do I get my inspiration... well, a lot of places.. I mean it's not just one thing. Every aspect of my life, experiences, the experiences of others and my own hopes and dreams. It's everything all at once. Usually a few hours after I wake up I begin getting geared up to write. I'm on a weird schedule, for whatever reason I can't sleep at night and usually go to bed at 8-9am and sleep til maybe 4pm, so my best writing I'd say is between midnight and 6am usually. I've probably deleted MONTHS worth of work before. There are massive parts I cut from my book because I changed the direction of the story. Sometimes I totally delete them, other times I save them in case I want to switch out the characters and use the piece in another story. It sucks to have to delete stuff you worked hard on, but I never view it as a defeat. I just consider it practice writing and part of the creative process. I've sacrificed almost all other aspects of my life for my writing, so perhaps I'm the wrong person to ask.. I have no job, barely any cash to eat, nowhere to live really. No boyfriend, and I only give myself one night off a week to see friends. Writing IS my life. There is no need to find the motivation. It's finding the motivation to STOP writing that would be an issue, hehe. As for how to know when to finish a chapter.. well.. when it's done. Simple as that. It's an instinct and it depends on the chapter, there is no way I could tell someone else when to end their chapters because it's their writing. Definitely music. Or sometimes when I want to write a cute/romantic scene I'll watch a movie with two characters who have a chemistry similar to the one I'm trying to create. Watching movies or reading books definitely inspires me.
1. Most of my inspiration comes from music, or seeing a photograph of a person and my mind automatically trying to associate a story with it. Rain also tends to inspire me. 2. On Sunday's from 8:30pm to 9:30pm I always write no matter what. Aside from then, 11pm-2am any day of the week works best for me (but it isn't always practical). 3. I just keep going with it. Only through story progression am I going to get it back on track. Luckily I've only ever been in that situation once. I plan carefully to avoid this. 4. Motivation isn't a huge problem for me. If I'm too busy I won't force myself to write - I'll use whatever free time I get to relax instead. But being involved in certain writing communities definitely helps keeps me motivated. About chapters, I plan everything that will happen in a chapter before I write it. Therefore, it ends when I get to the end of my previously written bullet-point list. More specifically, I tend to end with a paragraph consisting of a single sentence. Be it a thought, dialogue or an action. 5. Just thinking about it often makes me want to start writing again.
For me it can be anything. I once got a horror story idea when a bunch of sirens were heading out towards a lake near my home. I recently got inspired to write a story after listening to the song Cassie by flyleaf. Other times its just some obscure thought. I once had a plot idea of where a terrorist wanted to detonate a nuclear bomb on New Years Eve while everyone was kissing. Inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime for me. I like writing at night. I have always enjoyed the night, something about it draws me to it. Funny story, well its not really funny nor is it a story, but I usually just free write most of my stuff. I almost never plan things out. I have a general idea for a begining, a desireable ending, and some stuff in the middle. The rest sorta just falls into place. But even then I find myself going down a path I had not planned on. Sometimes I go back and rewrite it change the events. Sometimes I go with it just for kicks. See where it will take me. Who knows? Maybe it will help inspire a completely different story. I have never really attempted to write novel. The best I have done was a 14 chapter fanfic of Joan of Arcadia *cough*Gentle Acres on ff.net penname unit7*cough* But I tend to end the chapter when whatever the main point of what I was writing is done. If the chapter was about running through the forest, then most likely the end was when she/he got out. That or some new thing came into focus. Like they find a heart shaped gem One way I get inspiration is by listening to music. I listen to the lyrics, and I listen to the way its being sang. I then try and picture a character of mine or some random stranger feeling the emotions or acting out whats being done. If that makes any sense... Usually gets me something. I also watch alot of TV/movies. I take a certain situation they are in. I then try and think of what I would do. How I might add my own twist on the situation. Like this one time I was watching NCIS. The episode was about how a sink hole revealed an underground chamber with a corpse chained to the bed. Somehow i got the idea of a crazy pedophile and a child and the pedophile trying to redeem himself by preventing the girl from doing something that would help a terrorist do something. Apparently he got a vision from God. ... does any of this make sense? I have this slight paranoia that everything I type makes absolutely no sense.
Some of the Gaelic oral stories that I got the historical facts from had pretty good plots, so I just combined those into one story. For individual scenes, usually the inspiration comes from the quote that I put at the start of each chapter. I usually let those give me a rough idea of what will happen in the scene, as I tend to keep them relevant. Take a boat out into the ocean north of Tongue, and bring a laptop. You'll see. Oh, I just keep writing. I'll get it back to the main plot. But everything you write can have a purpose if you're a good writer. I stay motivated as I know that this book is likely to be the only genuine representation of ancient Gaelic history and society that the Gaelic Renaissance will be provided with - everyone in Scotland and the expatriates in America, England, and Canada wears kilts now. Why? They were made up on the spot by an English industrialist and so they're the national clothing of Scotland? This doesn't look like a kilt. And I know when to finish a chapter when an important event is almost finished - but not yet done. It's a pretty cheap way of making suspense
Hi again, Thanks everybody who's answered already! You're answers have been very thorough and great! The thing is, I'm really busy at the moment - seriously busy. I literally don't have any time to breathe! And I am a person who needs sleep... so staying up late isn't really option for me. The thing is, I have this brilliant idea at the moment, and it started out good, and is going a bit in the wrong direction, but now I have no time to continue it anyway. I can't just sit down and write for ten minutes, because I find my writing all disjointed. I have to write for 30mins-1hour-longer for it to be quality. So I find myself starting new stories, that take my focus away from my good one. What should I do? Your answers have been helpful but now that I've given more detail you can know the context. Thanks again...
Just keep writing it. You'll eventually get to a good scene. Or just write each scene as they come to you and then link them together somehow.
1. I never write outlines. Call me crazy, but I keep everything in my head. I never took notes in classes because I found them a waste of time, since I would either know it or not. When I write a story, I have a general idea of where I want it to go, the characters, and the setting. I just keep working it out in my head everyday, off and on, until something breaks. Like right now, my character's husband has died and part of the story line is for her to fall in love unexpectedly with a younger man (a character who has already been introduced). However a new thought occurred to me to have a love triangle come out of it with a man later in the story who is closer to her own age. But, I'm not sure if that is what I want so I haven't set it in stone. I'll have to see when I get there. I tend to just keep thinking of where the story is, how it is come along, and what new conflict I can throw into it to keep it interesting. Inspiration might strike while I am on here, or mowing my lawn, or doing my dishes, or watching people at the mall. I don't force anything to come if it isn't there. I don't do it at bedtime. Bedtime for me is reserved to not think about my stories and to read other author's writings. It's like my brains down time. 2. Whenever I can. I don't have a time set out for writing. Just when I am sitting at the computer and have some peace and quiet. 3. Yep. My immortal story (they aren't really vampires, but they aren't really gods or like Highlander immortals.) I got about 30k words in and realized I hated the job I gave my characters and the story just wasn't going to work the way I wanted it to. So I wrote down some general ideas of what I wanted in the story and then put it away to work on something else. I'll go back to it at some point and see if I can re-work stuff when I know more about what I want my characters to look like. I don't keep writing if the story is sucking. I put it away if I have something else to work on, or I will keep working on the characters until they start sparking the inspiration again. Fourth, how do you stay motivated when you have so much to do that you can't possibly write at all? And how do you know when to finish a chapter, or finish a part of the book? 4. Motivation. Well, it comes and goes. I know as a mom I hardly have time to pee let alone get a novel written. So I do what I can when I can. Sometimes laundry doesn't get done for a few days if inspiration and motivation hit me. lol My hubby and kids can always put it in or do the dishes if they want it. I always say that there is nothing I "have to do" except die, so all other things can wait. Granted I'm a stay at home mom (at the moment, will have a job here in the next few months) so going to work isn't something I "have" to do right now. But when I do, I will find time to write even if it is for twenty minutes here and there. I don't tend to plan out chapters, but I let it flow naturally. Sometimes I will end up cutting parts of scenes if the chapter runs long, but I try to make a point to the chapter. So like the current chapter I am working on is the Funeral sequence. So far I have about 5 different scenes in the chapter, a few leading up to the event, and currently working on the wake a day before the funeral. I'll end up with about three more scenes before the end of this chapter. Then the next chapter will start with the next event and however many scenes in it. To finish a book, it has to be the natural end of the story, whether that is a happy or sad ending, or just an ending, it has to stop at some point. Most books I read have a chapter or so after the climax of the story to tie up loose ends and finish cleanly. 5. Yes. I play my book out in my mind as a movie. I pick actors who I would have playing the parts for physical and characteristic behaviors. I see the scenes with as much detail as a video camera would. I even have conversations with my characters when I get stuck. Sometimes, and this makes me really crazy, I will act out the scenes (talking the dialog and all) while I am trying to write it. I use some of what I do, but usually it is just a way to get my juices flowing. Of course I did acting in college, so that is part of my process. I don't play much with fonts, I use courier in 12 font in black on a white page. I don't like to make it hard for myself to read.
1. Sometimes it just happens. An image, a scene, a character comes into my head, and voila. Usually, however, it is either inspired by something I read, or some music I hear. I read about some interesting personality or event in history, and BOOM there is a story idea. Or, more usually, I listen to some of my music (usually orchestral or world music) and then BOOM I see this landscape or scene or something, and there's my story idea. Being a daydreamer personality, it's not that hard for me to come up with ideas. I have hundreds in the waiting, for better or worse. 2. I like to write at night. It's just a habit. Thereotically I probably could do it anytime, but I like it at night because it seems a bit more private and quieter around the house. 3. If I haven't written too much, say, like just 10000 words, then I would scrap the project, because there's no point of going on further. But if I've written more, or spent a lot of time planning, I'll probably just finish the entire thing anyways, but make notes to myself on how to improve the next draft along the way. 4. To stay motivated, I go back to whatever things inspired me to write the story in the first place. I see the scenes, the characters, the landscapes inside my head, almost as if it were a movie. Being the daydreamer type, it's not too hard, and I can often imagine what I need to imagine to keep me back on track. I know I finish a chapter or book because I already planned it, either on my outline or mentally. 5. Fantasizing is my main way to inspire myself. Some people think fantasizing is bad and leads to "author appeal" and stupid kinds of things, but I think it is useful if you know how to use it wisely. I listen to a piece of music, or imagine my characters in some dramatic moment in their lives, or just visualize some epic scenery in front of my eyes - and that's all the inspiration I'll ever need to write. Because, to me, you can take away my computer; you can take away my pen and paper; but I'll still be able to write, because it's all in my head.
I'm going to answer questions one to three. I don't think I have a good answer to number four. 1. I don't have one place my inspiration comes from. The sudden, "Eureka!" type of inspiration might come from an image, a song, a place, a person... or even a word, a color, or a mood. For example, some time ago, I was driving on the highway past a lot of hayfields, and I noticed an olive orchard to my right. Suddenly I knew I had to write a scene in an olive orchard. It just happened. The other type of inspiration, for me, takes brainstorming. I'm not the type of writer who sits down and decides, "Jimmy is thirty-six years old. He has brown hair and green eyes. He lives in Louisiana and he likes to play the saxophone." I find that sticking with the first idea I come up with is like, well, for lack of a better simile, nailing Jell-O to a tree. It just doesn't happen. Any idea that's too fleshed-out too early will change by itself. So this second type of inspiration involves letting ideas move around, sometimes combining images that came from separate places. 2. I usually end up feeling most inspired late at night. This is mighty inconvenient, since I'm not really a night person, and am generally tired at this time. Plus, the more I stay up, the more tired I am the next night. But it seems like distractions just sort of vanish after about 10 or 11 PM. There's a certain quietness, and I don't feel like there are other things I should be doing. 3. Yes, this ALWAYS happens to me. It's one of my biggest frustrations. I've found the cause to be trying to write something before it's ripe, which leads me to invent details instead of letting them come to me naturally. There are two solutions I've found when this happens. One is simply to stop writing and keep thinking, then continue writing once you feel completely confident about where your story is going. The other is to begin writing with absolutely no expectations, and see where the story takes you. (Sorry, I wish I could be more helpful.)
everywhere and anywhere... from outside sources such as the news, or from my own imagination... sometimes even from a dream... i write and have written at all times of the day or night... the 'most effective' time is just whenever i have something to write... and i always enjoy it, regardless of what time it might be... can't say, since that doesn't happen... ditto above... there's no 'how' to it... something's finished when i come to the end, period... it's just something a seasoned writer doesn't have to think about... no... i've never needed any such external 'inspiration' [i think you meant 'motivation'] ... what i'm writing is motivation enough...
I am motivated... just wondering of course... it's not that I've lost my spark for writing at all or that I need extrinsic motivation... I was just wondering any techniques you have to make your writing prosper!
Often inspiration comes from the most random things in life. What things tend to inspire you, or have in the past, for your writing?
Mostly I sit on a bench or on the bus and look at people's faces. I try to imagine what is behind the eyes that makes their stare the way it is. I make up stories on how they got to this face. What life events lead to formation of this facial expression. Sometimes I write random words on paper whatever first comes to mind and try to logically connect them into a story.
History. Anything really peaceful. Walking around DC inspired a ton of thoughts. Sunsets do that too. Anything peaceful and historic and/or beautiful.
That's an incredibly interesting way of formulating a story. I think I'll give that method a try. And that sounds very soothing Gigi. Sunsets are truly beautiful. Does anyone else find music a huge inspiration? I often listen to a song, then set it to a scene playing out in my mind. How the song makes me feel often dictates if the story is dark, uplifting, adventurous, etc.
It's always something relevant, something eternal with a deep history. Hundreds of years from now there will still be historical monuments and sunsets (at least, I hope) and the fact that they've been there forever and will continue to be there makes me feel relevant to the world, like we're all connected.
