Last night after work I put out about 2,000 words thanks in large part to my brother. I started writing and then the story took a turn I wasn't expecting, so I called him. "Hey, it's me," I said into the phone. "I wasn't expecting to go hunting this late in the book, but we're going." "Great! What for?" He relied. "Bear," I told him. "Here's the set up . . ." After 15 min on the phone the scene was far better than I would have come up with on my own. (He suggested spotting the bear chowing down on a huchen which means we got the bear and 60 pounds of fish.) My brother has been invaluable while writing. I can call him and run ideas by him or use him as an idea generator for scenes as well. So who are the people in your life who most help your writing?
My son: I pick his brain and bounce ideas off him often over lunch and he does a bit of critique from time to time.
I would say my brother, but only about specific things - mostly astronomical stuff and thoughts about AI. Luckily I write a lot of sci-fi! I don't really have anyone else, though. I talk to myself a lot, hahah.
I go to two of my three brothers. The older one (who is a huge reader and loves to brainstorm with me) is the one I go to when I am trying to develop characters/ a plot/ and idea/ anything else. We sit and talk on the phone for hours and hours just talking about different ideas. I always keep my notebook handy when we talk! I usually take my drafts of writing to the older of my two younger brothers. He loves reading as well, and is always asking to read everything I write. That is definitely a huge motivator!
My husband. I'm very shy when it comes to my writing, I'd rather a stranger read what I write than those close to me. I know it's baseless, but I think some of my writing would change some people's expectations of me that think they know me. Apparently that isn't the case. One time I left work open on my laptop, got interrupted, and the screen went to sleep. I took care of what I needed to do, which took a couple of hours, only to come back to find my husband reading what I wrote. He was self-conscious and felt he invaded my privacy, but I left the page up and he needed to look something up on the Internet, so I didn't blame him. It was unavoidable. Surprisingly, he loved it and keeps asking me questions about what I'm writing if he notices I'm typing. It motivates me to write more, and pleases me that someone enjoys what I write.
I have several writer friends on the Internet, and I bounce ideas off of them. But in the real world, outside of the Internet, I don't discuss writing with friends or family.
I just kinda throw stuff out there, and hope somebody will see it and have some ideas and opinions. Guess I have put a fair amount of trust in strangers, cause they don't know you and therefor will give an honest opinion.
I have to say 100% my wife is my inspiration. She's an Asian immigrant who came to US in the early 90's. I met her at work in 1999 and started going out in 2000. At night I would spend hours telling her ghost stories that would scare the hell out of her. Eventually, I ran out of stories. She got frustrated and bought about six books, all ghost stories. Back then she couldn't read English very well, so she made me read them and tell her a different story almost every night. Years later, thanks to the internet, she now reads like a champ. She went back to those books and read them again. She came to me and said, "This is not the story you told me, these mostly suck!" I then laughed and explained to her I would tell her the basic story, and spice it up to scare her. When I decided to give writing a shot, she totally was onboard with the idea. It is mostly a free hobby so she was even more on board with it. I am trying to write a trilogy write now. I told here the outline of book one, and she loved it. Especially the main character. Now, if I am wandering away from what's on TV, she will ask if I am thinking of the story. If I say yes, she immediately forces me to start writing my thoughts down. I love how I can give her the chills with just a little bit of story at a time.
