I find that inspiration comes in a variety of different ways for me. But my favorite way is through dreams! I have some very vivid dreams sometimes and when I wake up and write down everything I remember, it saves me the trouble of having to make up scene later ;) When I do this, I jump out of bed and write until I get cramps in my hands because I HAVE to get it down ASAP.
But I also love to people watch, and make up stories for people I am watching. Sometimes when me and my husband are out - like at the theater waiting for the movie to start - we make up stories about the people who come in. Deciding who is on an awkward date and who was dragged to there against their will. But I also love to watch people at the airport, mall, bus stops, and the park. The ideas are endless.
And sometimes the ideas come to me from movies. When I have movie that inspires me, I watch it over and over. Now I'm not talking about inspirational movies in the traditional sense. I am talking about the movies that I watch and decide how I it would be to be one of the character's heads. And what if the time period was different? Or what if that person had super powers. Then I watch the movie over and over as I plan out my new story in my head. Sometimes I forget I'm actually watching a movie as I plan a new life for these characters or move their situation to a new time or place. I introduce new characters to their plot, or change their major conflicts. It's really fun!
So for me, inspiration comes in some crazy, and some simple ways. But whenever it strikes, I am ready with over 4 dozen little yellow notebooks at my disposal - placed in strategic places around the house, car, and in every purse :) I grab one and write like crazy cause I don't want to forget it, even for a moment, or it's gone!
How/where do you get inspiration?
My very first story came from watching The Pirates of the Caribbean (the first movie in 03) and after it left the theaters, I wrote a sequel. I still say my story is soooo much better than either one of the sequels Disney managed to produce. The next story I wrote came from a dream I had, but it was only one scene that I remembered. From that one scene I managed to write over 900 pages of a paranormal book, which I have since then managed to rewrite into a trilogy. Yeah, it doesn't take much to induce a story from me. Just a single idea with grow like a weed in a summer rain. It's so fun being a writer. My husband calls me "a world builder" and somewhat of a control freak. He's right, but I'm a reserved control freak over my writing when I don't have control over anything else in my life. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteYes, that makes sense! I'm glad you are getting inspiration so fast! I love when I get a little idea and it grows rapidly into a full story!
DeleteStupid auto-correct... will grow like a weed in a summer rain. Stupid auto-correct...
ReplyDeleteThis is why I keep notebooks all over my house, cars, purses etc!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to have found your blog. New follower here. I'm stopping by from the "A to Z" challenge and I look forward to visiting again.
Sylvia
http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/
Thanks Sylvia! I went to your blog and found that apparently I am already following you too! LOL I had no idea! Loved reading it though.
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