Where do you get your inspiration?

[Seadra Reef]

Everyone gets their inspiration for writing from somewhere, and it's always different for everyone. Without it, you can't write. So, I ask, what is your inspiration for your writing? Was there anything in particular that inspired fictions you've written?

For me, my inspirations usually come from music. But I almost always get into a mood for writing by reading S.E. Hinton's books. Those two combined have helped me a lot with my new fiction in the making. That, and a special someone who's been giving me plenty of encouragement.

And would you believe Wings of Hope was inspired by a 2 minute scene in a movie? The first time I saw the Escaflowne movie was in November 2000, and the scene where Van saves Hitomi with his wings inspired the whole Wings of Hope fiction. Yikes. Not too shabby. XD

 

[Pacific Pikachu]

Oh, I can get inspired by many things. Sometimes the weirdest things can give me the inspiration to write a story.

Most often, I'll be inspired by a song, a quote, or a scene in a movie or book. Sometimes I'll just get a simple, profound image in my head that will usually form the ending of a story, and from there I make up the beginning and middle of the story.

I'm also very often inspired by nature. I'll look at something, such as a leaf twirling down from a tree, or a stormy sky, and that can be all the inspiration I need. The most inspired I've ever been was during this really vehement thunderstorm.

Sometimes it simply comes out of a desire to show something about the condition of the world or of a particular emotion, species, or event.

And every now and then, I'll get inspiration from something exceptionally strange. I once got inspiration by looking at an old coffee ring on the counter.

 

[DGE]

I'd say music, usually. Any more, everything I listen to is Japanese. Since I don't have to cringe at bad lyrics, I just listen and imagine scenes in my head, like an AMV.

Nature too, just like Pacific Pikachu said. Of course, where there are elements, there's always inspiration for Eternal Winter, the story about elementals. ^_^

Anything else comes from my own emotions. I suppose writing is how I channel them best. Like today, I'm quite annoyed at a multitude of things, so I'll probably whip out some vengeful!Lance for a scene or two. Muahahaha.

 

[oni flygon]

Insomnia, Daydreaming, Music, Manga, Other RPG video games, too much video games and a whole lot more. Oh and the music: Type:Wild

 

[Barb]

My inspiration occasionally comes from imagination but also from music and/or movies. If I get an idea in my head (even if it's just a simple scene) I have to write it down somewhere.

 

[Togepretty]

I get most of my inspiration from boredom/insomnia. If I can't sleep my mind starts to wander. That's how most of my stories start. But I also get a good amount of inspiration from movies and television. There are at least 3 stories of mine that are very loosely based on something I saw on TV.

 

[itsybitsyspider]

i get my inspirations by storms,i luv rain and i always will,and also i play the tempest on my trumpet and that inspires me too,i also play 'into the storm'.

i also get inspiration by war.its fun writing a story about war

 

[achooxp]

I am the master of the vague. "Life."

But seriously, isn't that where it all comes from? After all, what is writing except a representation of a perception- whether it be imagined or real?

 

[Mild_Altaria]

To be honest, I get the urge to right from actually seeing other people's fanfic. I'm not talking about the idea's and plot's their story has, but that they posted a story, which makes me feel like "Hey! I want to make my own fanfic, too." Pretty soon I am going to be writing (bringing back, actually) one of my original stories, "Altaria's Cloud", only it's going to be re-written and slightly different. This time I am going to finish writing the story, and then I will put chapters up every other day. Right now I am in the "thinking" stage. Thinking of a good plot, characters, as well as settings. After that I will begin with my Outline, and then onto with my Rough Draft. But anyways, I get most of my inspiration from seeing other people posting fanfics.

 

[Aquatre]

Usually music, TV, or RP's. Example of each:

Music - A story of mine was inspired by the song "Brother My Brother" from the dub version of the 1st Pokémon movie. Usually when I listen to music, I make up little scenes along with it, in my mind. Then the stories span from those scenes.

TV - Sometimes I get ideas from plot lines in shows I watch. For example, after I saw "Hocus Pokémon", I took the basic idea from the end (human getting turned into a Pokémon) and used it for an RP. Speaking of RP's...

RP (role-plays) - Often this and TV are related. Back to the "Hocus Pokémon" mention. The idea spurred an RP, and after a while playing it, I turned it into a fic.

 

[Clare]

I usually find that those two little words "what if . . .?" give me a degree of inspiration. For example, the OCIB aspect of "The Chimera Children" was inspired by the question of, "what if society was so wary of laboratory-created Pokemon after Mewtwo's rampage that the practice was outlawed?"

As for why I called the main characters Bjorn and Ursula, those names both mean "bear" and I'd been toying with the idea of doing a story about kids who were part-bear for a while. But, by making them part-Ursaring, I was able to turn the concept into a "Pokemon" fanfic.

 

[Ember Blaze]

I get a lot of inspiration for any story from my dreams. I have very vivid and bizarre dreams and sometimes the best ideas come out of them primarily because my brain is clearing while I sleep.

My second biggest inspiration is from talking to my friends. I'll have a character (fanfic) or create a character (original work) and then start discussing: "What would you think if you met a person who was like this or did this." or "What do you think (character name) would do in this situation. This often takes the form of dialogue which leaves me lots of room to play with the characters inner yakking.

I find I do my best writing when I'm not trying to put things together in any sort of order, when I have no goal. I kind of let things go where they want to and then I often end up someplace interesting. I'll get so caught up in the feel and the process of writing that the story is its own inspiration. This often leads to some crazy plots, one of which I can't for the life of me hammer an ending out of, but it works really well for me because it matches my personality. Then the work is really me and really part of me, so I could also say I draw inspiration from my mind, my mood, and my perspectives.

 

[BenRG]

My inspiration

My inspiration comes from a variety of sources. I may see a story concept in a movie or book and try to adapt it to some other universe (Avenger is basically a Pokémon treatment of the original Star Wars trilogy). However, I have also had one or two entirely original ideas that have come to me while I was sitting down and thinking about nothing in particular.

Some of my stories come from reading other authors' works and saying: "Hey! I can do that! And probably better too!" That is a conceit, but it is vital to keep me motivated. :-D

 

[Revolutionary Girl]

Though I sometimes manage to get great ideas from other sources (movies, real life, or random chats with the crew), nothing really nails down a story or an idea for me until I get the proper music for the background. And it has to be instrumental music, unless I can really feel that the words are going to connect to what I'm trying to get across in the story. I don't know... the music has a certain "mood" in my ear that just makes the words flow better somehow. *shrug*

 

[Cferra]

My inspiration comes from the comic book. Basically team books really like Avengers, Fantastic Four and of course the X-Men. My stories are basically about superheroes with some resemblance of realism. The heroes are teens with an adult strike force supplimenting them. They deal with problems and come up with solutions.

So, my inspiration would be comics because it's a great medium for original superhero stories. Some heroes would have the problems Spider-Man would have. I try to make my characters as human as Spidey, the FF and other Marvel heroes.

I don't go for the stereotypical superhero who saves the day, flies off and is out of touch with the common person. My heroes get in there and when they day is done they are "normal" teens. Three are aliens and that'd take a while to explain.

Comics also provide fuel for my imagination if I want to create the ultimate bad guys and Magneto or Dr. Doom sort of set the bar for villians. I've been reading comics for many, many years now and they just spark the imagination to the poinbt where I can say "Hey, I can do something like that."

I don't copy a hero by doing stories about Spider-Man or the X-men. I just follow the fomula that their creators in Marvel Comics have done since the inception of the Fantastic Four in 1961.

What they do is create heroes with faults and problems to get past. There would be issues they'd have to deal with in battle. Some issues involve a choice like Spider-Man would be fighting thugs in one end of toewn while Aunt May is laying in a hospital bed in another part. They also create stories that have a point and morals like how the X-Men's an allegory for racisim and acceptance.

One of my heroes had an abusive father who ragged on him because he was blind. Now he has occular implants and the ability to create psionic weapons. He's still a bit haunted by his mother's murder but he pulls through with the help of his cousin and team leader, Jenna.

The team also tries to get out from under the older heroes shadow as well and strike out on their own as teens try to do.

So, comics are my inspiration for my works. I can't really post my stories here because they're over 100 pages per book and it'd take too long transferring it all O_O.

L_X

 

[Lara Croft]

Wow, lucky me, I get to go against the grain here. Music doesn't inspire me, music *motivates* me. The beat, the rhythm, the interplay between instruments...it all makes me *feel* a certain way, not think.

To be perfectly honest, my inspiration is a perpetual thing, because I never stop thinking, or feeling. It's when my constant stream of thought becomes jumbled or confused that I have problems. I don't necessarily sit on my lawn and look at the clouds and think, "Wow, those are beautiful," then pull out my notebook and start scrawling because there's an ember of that elusive something that's struck me. I'm constantly narrarating life in my head, so whenever a thought is truly poignant, important, amusing, or just sings to me, I write it down. Later, I'll take those random bits of thought and mold them into a story, but that's not being inspired either--it's merely me doing the natural thing and helping that original concept become whatever it's intended to be.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I'm not an inspired writer; I'm not brilliant enough to deserve that distinction. I'm merely someone who observes and writes, so there really is no inspiration or muse for me, just passion.

 

[BenRG]

Inspiration or background?

I occasionally play a CD or two while I am writing, but like RapidashRider, it doesn't really act as an inspiration. I focus on the written word so much, that I rarely am even aware of the music except as environmental noise.

Like Laytona, I also tend to work with a medley of sources and inspirations that all come together. They can be from similar fields or totally disassociated concepts. Who would have guessed, for instance, that my remake of the Season 1 episode 'Clefairy Tails' was actually inspired by the movies 'Apollo 13' and 'Flash Gordon'? ;-)