Inspiration is something that really fascinates me. It’s quite the magical and mysterious process, whereby either synapses and brain gunk align just so or the idea fairies flutter down from the magical idea kingdom and knock you over the head with idea wands. You know. Depending on your belief system.
What I find interesting about inspiration is that it’s something that’s mainly outside of our conscious control. It would be pretty nice if you could just make inspiration strike on cue, but then, that wouldn’t be much fun, would it? Also it would be annoying to walk down the street shouting, “EUREKA!” every five seconds.
So where and how did you come up with the idea for your work in progress? How fully-formed did it emerge from the inspiration ether? What do you do when you need inspiration to strike?
JACOB WONDERBAR emerged very roughly formed: all of a sudden I decided I wanted to write a wacky middle grade science fiction novel and then simultaneously thought of one of the planets the kids visit, which I shant share because it’s a spoiler alert. Everything after that emerged from staring at the screen and wringing out ideas.
What about you? How did you come up with your idea?
Scott says
My novel started out as an attempt to write a screenplay for the Rush "2112" suite of songs. I love dystopia stories and I loved early Rush music, especially 2112.
But not being close personal friends with Neil Peart and Rush, I knew it was a dead end. So I turned it into my own story, inspired by 2112's sentiments of individuality and breaking free of oppression. I morphed it into a young adult novel (and I'm playing with a screenplay version of it as well).
MZMackay says
The idea for my WIP came from a freewrite exercise that seemed to revolve about a floating ball of light. The result of the freewrite was utter gibberish, but I found a seed in it that I have now planted and am nurturing to full growth. I hope…
Josin L. McQuein says
I saw an interview with someone who was talking about a nightmarish experience on vacation where ants poured into their room from a tiny hole in the wall.
Once the lights were out, the interviewee and her partner were set upon by this horde of little feet as they covered the room (This was a rustic hotel in S. America where they turned the generator off at 10pm to conserve fuel).
One jumped up and ran for the shower to get the ants off, the other grabbed a flashlight to see what was going on.
That interview triggered the idea for a scene with this kid waking up to find her wallpaper moving… and the rest came from there.
The in progress MG novel came from a phonetic hiccup where I heard something the wrong way and thought "That would make a great story!!!"
destrella says
The Goonies. What kid would not want to read about friends, treasure, bad guys and pirates????
Deb says
My WIP is a revenge novel. At the age of 9 I was angry at my parents for being odd and controlling, and the only thing I could do was vow someday to write a book about it in which the kid triumphs. Here I am, at 40, doing just that.
jill says
I'm currently working in three different 'universes' of stories. The first story in each started with a dream — My muse/subconsscious gave me the first one I wrote (after many years of real life keeping me from writing) almost complete. For the second two I only got the first scene and had to figure out who these people were and what happens next.
Subsequent stories in the universes start with thinking about what would be hardest/worst/challenging for this character to do next.
K.L. Brady says
Watching too many friggin' romantic comedies.
I love romantic comedies and watch them over and over and over again. And sometimes I think I hold real men to movie standards which is bad bad bad…because the men in those movies only exist in scripts.
So, I thought about what would happen if some quirky (slightly delusional) rom-com addict tried to find love by recreating her favorite movies in her own life. Thus, Who Wrote MY Script??? was born.
It's been a hoot to write. Lots of humor but lot's of truth about women and our often skewed perceptions of what relationships are supposed to be…and learning to accept men for who they really are.
Aaron Pogue says
My most recent series came out of a philosophical conversation. I was talking with a friend about the impact modern (and near-future) surveillance systems could have on the old religions.
Specifically…what happens when there are no dirty little secrets anymore, when core human behavior gets exposed for everyone to see? I wanted to know so badly that I built and populated a whole world to see how it played out.
Answer: Better than you might think.
mkcbunny says
A series of stressful events happened in my life. While I laughed at some and resolved others, I thought, how would a less stable—OK, completely wacky—person handle all of this? And thus an eccentric character portrait was born.
Kate says
I wanted to write a story set in my home state, where I no longer live (but long for), one that illustrated its crude flaws as well as its awesomeness.
Then, I started analyzing every story I encountered–in books, television, movies, etc.–in terms of "Why is this awesome? What makes it so? What makes ME love it? Or NOT?" I noticed trends in the moments, plots, and dynamics that I particularly loved, as well as in stories that didn't love as much.
And without a doubt, characters and plot lines in my WIP have been inspired by real life experiences of my own or of others. Some characters are caricatures of people I've known in real life.
Lastly, my WIP has gone through several drafts in which the plot has changed significantly. Because I got another great idea that emerged through writing. Characters changed and got all feisty on me. I think I'm there now.
Maybe…
Munk says
Music, exercise, bad movies and sticky situations… its been said that sticky situations are the mother of eureka… or something like that.
Misty says
Hey Nathan, I lived mine. And then I padded it with fiction. The others, I pick a place I've been and make a story out of it. Or I read something and >pouf< or I smell coffee and >tada<. Cinchy. Yeah right.
hollywoodclown says
I’ve been keeping a journal since I was 18 years old (I'm now 40), I performed at children's birthday parties here in Los Angeles for several years and I have every party I’ve ever done written down. I never realized how competitive and political the world of kid’s parties was until I was deep in it.
When I traveled and told people that I was an actor in L.A. and rather than wait tables to make ends meet, I dressed up like Barney, a Teletubbie or a pirate for birthday parties they were always fascinated, especially by the celebrity stories. They would always say, "You should write a book."
So I did using the notes from my journals. I have been told by some writer friends that once my book gets published I may never work as an actor again because of the celebs I name in my book (Steven Spielberg & Kate Capshaw
Robert De Niro & Pamela Anderson Lee to name a few). But I'm willing to take that chance.
Anonymous says
My husband and I write together. Our inspiration for our latest novel came from our cat. Have you ever noticed that there are times where for no reason you can readily see a cat will run out of a room? Where is he going? Why now?
How did he get that scratch on his eye when he has no claws? All interesting questions…
PLJ
Rick Daley says
FATE'S GUARDIAN was born from tragedy. In 1999, I lost my father-in-law in a motorcycle accident. In 2001, I lost my mom to cancer. The differences in their passing – one sudden and one slow – got me thinking about life and death in new ways (at least new to me at the time).
Ultimately the line of thought led to a story where a man must die in order to save his soul from a vengeful ghost, even if it means leaving his family behind.
On the lighter side, one day a thought hit me out of the blue: God is going to destroy the world but he can't decide how to do it, so He comes down to earth and hires a consultant (EARTH'S END).
Also, when my oldest son was a toddler he would fart, as toddlers are known to do from time to time. "Who are you? Rudy Toot-Toot?" I would ask him.
"Who's Rudy Toot-Toot?" he asked in response.
I had to think of something, so I said, "He's a little boy who was born on a bean farm." And I'm hoping the rest will be history!
Rebecca Lynn says
I had a dream. Pretty much start to finish, the plot line was just there in my head. I had to go back in and add some back story and put a bit more at stake for the characters, and do a lot of research. But I literally woke up one morning and wrote the synopsis of my current WIP from the dream I'd just had, like I was watching a movie in reverse. It was amazing.
Matilda McCloud says
My ideas come out of nowhere and I can't force them–I just have to wait until one appears. The last idea came to me while I at a synagogue during a Bar Mitzvah. Boom–I had an idea….but I think it had been kind of percolating in my mind for a while. Then it was reinforced by a fortune I got in a fortune cookie at the reception later!
Regan Leigh says
My 1st WIP idea came from a short writing exercise I found in The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley. I wrote one scene and realized that I could see how the story would keep unfolding. (Great book, btw.)
My 2nd WIP idea started with the MC. His character/personality popped into my head after I decided on a name. His voice was very clear and I felt I knew him well. The plot came from that.
Sarah Mullen Gilbert says
My husband was wandering the house in his underwear, and this paragraph about boxers vs. briefs popped into my head. It didn't make it into the WIP, but gave me a strong start on the middle school voice! (My husband didn't find the paragraphs very funny, fun hater)
Jille says
I was watching a mediocre show and became interested in one of the minor characters more so than the main ones. I was like, "Huh, I wish they focused on her more." Then I started to think about what her back story would be and one thing led to another…
and now I'm doing rewrites on my second draft. which I really, really want to finish b/c I just had a dream about another idea that I can't wait to get started on.
Valerie says
I was having a really crappy weak and I wanted to read something where a girl who's underestimated kicks butt. I couldn't find anything, so I wrote it myself!
Holly Bodger says
I was working on a different book about a quirky, bad-ass kind of teenage girl when I went on vacation to Cavendish, PEI. While there, I was thinking that it looked like Anne of Green Gables threw up on the town and that gave me the idea to immerse bad-ass girl in AGG Land.
Ainsley MacQueen says
For some unknown reason, my attention is drawn to the screen in my head and I watch a scene.
For the next hour I think about what I've seen and the possible backstory, and then I go forward with what happens next.
If that isn't inspiration, I don't know what is.
Ulysses says
The germ of the idea hit me while I was listening to Enya's Oronoco Flow. Throw in creation mythology, the Spanish conquest of the New World, the slave trade, and the war on drugs.
Weird, huh?
Scott says
I pretty much start with a general idea and sort of wing it. The project I'm getting ready to query sometime this year emerged from real life events that I decided to fictionalize to the best of my ability. My current WiP, well, it's an idea that I've been knocking around in the recesses of my mind for a while and finally decided to put down on paper.
abc says
I have a few WIPs. The one I'm working on most heavily is inspired by an event that happened in my childhood–a fellow 6th grader getting in an accident and dying a few days later. We didn't really believe stuff like that could happen.
Another one is based on a mix of my own high school experiences and those I would have liked to have had.
And for another I had the title just pop into my head. It was so intriguing I decided I better write a book to go with it.
Anonymous says
My husband is a deputy sheriff, so he comes home with interesting tales. Once he told me about a death that was called a suicide with the body in one room, the gun in another, and the house caught on fire. Hmmm. Also, we have a "spa" that rents out hot tubs by the hour. (ahem) It's been raided several times. One of the workers threatened to spill a clientele list. Voila!
I have a former spa girl with a history of cutting that is found in the woods and dead by slit wrists. The teen who found the body watched as his deputy father and his co-workers look over the scene and dub it a 'suicide'. He and the victim's cousin solve the murder mystery. 10-41 DAVID is in revisions as I type.
WandaV
MC Rogerson says
I get a lot of ideas from places and landscapes – they inspire me to imagine hidden worlds.
Folklore also plays a big part in my stories. I love bridging between legend and real life. I'm a complete fantasist!
S. Melville says
I was cutting an onion (or something) on the cutting board with a really huge knife, and I wondered what would happen if I accidentally cut one of my fingers off. And then I wondered what would happen if I cut my finger off as a mentally unstable man from the 70s with drug problems. Viola, I found myself stuck with yet another novel.
Josin L. McQuein says
Oh yeah, the opening scene to my novel out on sub at the moment came from when I almost drowned at 15. No idea how I forgot that one.
Project Savior says
I start with What If?
Like What If Huxley's "Brave New World" and Orwell's "1984" existed at the same time?
Would it be an all out war? No
Would it be like the Cold War? Probably.
Why would they have conflict? Resources.
How would they interact? Badly
Where could this take place? The Inner Solar System.
And finally who would stop them from destroying each other? My Hero is born.
From that What if, I just needed to add the journalistic 5 W's and the book (or in this case the trilogy) is mostly written.
Mira says
Cool question, Nathan, and your first paragraph was really funny. I liked the belief system part. 🙂
Interesting to read the comments.
One way inspiration sometimes strikes me is through words. A phrase hits me, and I can see it as the title of a book or a chapter. Then I put together the puzzle pieces of the work to match the title.
For example, in conversation yesterday someone said to me the words, "It's an act of great cruelty." Part of it is the context – it was a truly profound comment in context and it really struck me.
All day today, I've been rolling that over in my mind – the words, the meaning of the words, how I could express that….the chapter title: An act of great cruelty…
Keren David says
News reports. Possibly because my background is news journalism. For my first novel When I Was Joe I saw a report about a boy who was a witness in a trial, and whose family had to have new identities. I began thinking about how the witnesses had suffered almost a worse fate than anything handed out to the criminals.
For my WIP I read a news report and thought yes!!!!
Kristina says
A character just kinda hit me. Then I thought about a protagonist. Then the situation just kinda flowed.
A lot of my ideas from dreams. A LOT.
Anonymous says
OMG! The i-pad!!!!!! I WANT it!!!!!!
Allison Harter says
Coffee, lots of coffee…
Southpaw says
Walking home in the rain and watching the rain splatter on the bricks.
Karen says
My TOTALLY FICTIONAL work-in-progress is semi-autobiographical. I took a situation from my life and and reworked it so that it turned out the way I wanted it to. Oh, and I made it funny instead of angsty and sad.
Veronica Barton-Dean says
My current project is based on my hockey goaltending sister and her former boyfriend who also goaltends. In September, he signed with his first professional team. This milestone brought about numerous conversations amongst my siblings. It brought about the "what ifs" and that brought on the project.
Bane of Anubis says
NFC or OoTA usually.
Samantha Clark says
I got the inspiration for my work in progress when I was digging new flower beds in my backyard with my dad. I got the inspiration for my planned next book while I was watching a show on TV, but I can't remember which show. And two days ago I got inspiration for another book while I was walking our dog past a lighthouse at the end of our street.
All three came to me as a kind of one-sentence pitch, but with a little more rumination I had the whole basic story and characters for each, just not the details. Those come with the writing.
Not if I can only get more time…
J. Koyanagi says
I write speculative fiction; for me, plots emerge from "What if?" questions. I know I've got a good one if I'm still excited about that single "What if?" when I wake up the next day.
Snarky Writer says
Interestingly enough, an academic paper for my Folklore class. I was researching the folklore of Appalachian miners and found the whole thing so fascinating I decided I needed to set a short story there. It's not a short story anymore.
Polenth says
Mine was a mix of getting a cockroach as a pet and noting that animal companions in books were always things like dragons or wolves. It all built from there… thinking about the sort of person who'd bond with a cockroach, what sort of world a cockroach would thrive in, etc.
If it ever gets published, I'm dedicating it to my cockroach.
robin says
Pretty much all my ideas come from other books or movies — it can be a short scene, a comment or something which causes me to stop and think, "What if it didn't end like that but like this?" By the time I've written the book, however, it so little resembles the original story (which inspired the idea) that I often can't remember where I got it — this happens especially often because I tend to mix stories/settings/characters, etc to make it work the way I want it to.
Richmond Writer says
SnarkyWriter,
Hey if you're researching Appalachian life check out the Library of Virginia. You can inter-library loan some excellent books on general life in the mountains.
Katrina Powell wrote two good ones.
John Gaventa wrote Power and Powerlessness which is about the coal miners in Tenneesee. It really opens your eyes to their situation.
DG says
I've always loved to write but was not even thinking about writing a novel when the inspiration for my first novel hit.
In 2003 when Columbia broke up on reentry, I read every article I could find on the subject. Then the Columbia Accident Investigation Board report was published that explained the accident in great detail. I read every word of it. In doing so I discovered a well hidden appendix that outlined a rescue plan NASA engineers had devised.
In the aftermath I found myself sort of blue, upset that the rescue hadn't happened. I thought of all the implications the rescue of an international crew would have had on the world, with America still reeling from 911 and the war with Iraq just a month away.
Anyway, I realized the only way I could get peace was to rewrite history. So I did.
Paul Greci says
My idea for my current WIP emerged from two very different things. One was a remote beach in Alaska with huge, thousand year old trees, the other was interacting with my students, many had absent fathers.
Suzannah says
I moved to a different country a few years ago. After being away for so long, I started to appreciate home all the more.
So I began thinking about the connections we have to the places we consider home, and how we (some of us at least) can never really get away from our roots.
It was the setting, more than anything, that really got me. A place that once seemed so mundane became fascinating, beautiful, and dangerous, once I had a chance to distance myself from it.
My characters and conflict arose from there.
Now, back to work. You're very bad to distract us with such interesting questions.
Joya says
After I read Marley & Me I thought that I could take the stories from my travel journeys and transform it into a manuscript. I figured that if that many people connected with a man and his dog, then there are just as many people out there who might connect with my travel stories. I love travel and enjoy writing about it so why not?