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?
Jessica Hill says
I'm currently working on a short story that was inspired by a song. My sister and I were talking about it, and how it means two completely different things to each of us. The next time I listened to the song, I tried to think about it from her perspective, and the idea just hit me.
reader says
With 251 comments so far, I'm sure any insight I could possibly have at this point has already been voiced by someone else.
Lesson One of Why Nathan's Blog is so Popular: writers like to talk about themselves! 🙂
reader says
Oops, I meant 252…
Jenny says
I wrote what I thought was a short story. Then my writing workshop said no, this is the first chapter to a novel. A lot of little images popped into my head after they said that and I realized the images were scenes. Then, since I dug the characters and thought that the legend I based the story on could hold up a novel, I went for it. So, a whole little series of inspirations.
Terri Molina says
I was watching A&E's City Confidential and they did a story about a woman who hired hitmen to kill her daughter's exboyfriend because he broke up with her daughter…but the hit was made after the woman sought help from a "witch" with "love spells" to get the kids back together. I should mention this happens in a border town where belief in magic and spells is common. There's a lot more to the story but that general idea came into my head and formed the plot for House of Cards. At the same time I was following the Laci Petersen murder so the combination of the two murders plus another murder that happened 20+ years ago turned into a mystery/suspense (with supernatural elements). Sounds confusing right now but that's because I don't want to give it away either. 😉
Caroline says
When I was in high school, we read Jack Finney's "Time and Again." During the discussion, our English teacher asked us if we thought we could survive in an earlier time period. One guy piped up and said that he could see me being a Civil War era bounty hunter.
About two years later, I was stalling out on a novel that I had been working on for a while, and I started thinking about what that guy said. And so my main character was born. If I manage to get published, my dedication will be to that classmate!
CMR Prindle says
Many times I'll come across an image– either in real life or in my head–that I want to explore, and so I write just so I can get the image down on paper. The story I'm posting on my blog worked that way: I saw 3 kids standing around outside a store and just latched onto that picture. It rattled around in my head all day until I started building a story around it.
Other times I have some crazy dream that sticks with me, and so I write it. My novel is one of those. From a very detailed dream, which was kinda creepy, extremely intense and (more importantly) memorable I now have an equally strange, though possibly under-detailed, novel…or perhaps series.
How the rest of the bits and pieces come together (since I'm often writing towards a scene or two) is sometimes beyond me. I think I tend to mull over something until it hits me over the head. That or writing while only half conscious produces better results than you'd think.
Nathan Bransford says
simon-
Wanted to write. Wacky middle grade sci-fi isn't exactly the hot genre du jour.
Steven Till says
I've been writing stories since I was in elementary school, and sometime around middle school, I became really interested in the medieval period. I think it had something to do with Kevin Costner's Robin Hood movie.
Anyway, after taking creative writing in college and upon graduation, I decided to try and write a novel. I had read Michael Crichton's Timeline and Lord of the Rings recently, and since I was out of school and could concentrate more on studying whatever I wanted to, I began my research into medieval history. I suppose I'm a bit of a medievalist now that I've studying the period for the last 8 years, and during that time, I've also been working on my novel.
The idea has evolved since then from a stronger fantasy base to more of an historical fantasy with a strong lean toward realism instead of the magical. The full version of my writing journey can be found on my site: https://steventill.com/about/, but in brief, that's how I got started.
Joyce says
I love seeing all the ways writers come up with ideas!
My WIP was born shortly after I was fired. I was a police secretary and the township manager didn't like a blog post I wrote. The Chief didn't back me up even though he approved what I wrote.
The Chief drops dead on the first page of my WIP. Heh.
J.J. Bennett says
I was watching TV one day and flipped past two random channels and an idea just can to me. It took two ideas and pulled them together in a way I never thought possible. Then after some research on the subjects and the friendship of an internet buddy. I came up with a plan and story… It was born.
Cassandra Bonmot says
Simple pedestrian-type routines such as chasing a wad of dog hair with the vacuum cleaner or alphabetizing my CDs may trigger an inspiration. But, like campaign promises, they’re unreliable. The nauseating smell of month-old asparagus left in the KitchenAid crisper may take me back to my eccentric childhood in 1972. This was the year a lonely geriatric couple moved in the brick house up on the hill and stole my effin’ dog named Genie. They fed my collie steaks and it ended up dying of heart failure. ‘Mr. and Mrs. Sleep Number Bed’ never bothered to tell me my dog had died. And, thus I never had an opportunity to weep or mourn. Good-bye Genie. I owe the rotting asparagus left in the refrigerator a big thank you. The rancid herbaceous perennial plant reminded me of my suppressed pain and vulnerability, which has plagued me for decades.
goldchevy says
I was on a first grade field trip at the Sacramento zoo and since I'm a teacher, his teacher gave me the 6 most ADD boys (my son included)to keep out of trouble. I bought them zoo keys for animal information boxes and I chased them around from box to box. They loved inserting the keys. They didn't listen to the information much. They didn't even really look at the animals. But they had a great time and nobody ended up jumping into the lion enclosure. At some point I was struck by the number of endangered species signs around the zoo. The next thing I knew a story was forming in my mind . . . I went home and started to write and here I am, with my son now in 4th grade, still writing the same story (and loving every single minute of it).
Annette Lyon says
My upcoming release was sparked by a freelance article I wrote–the topic kept haunting me, and a scene came to me. I realized there was an entire novel there. (It'll be out in about 5 weeks.)
My current WIP was sparked by a conversation with my cop brother paired with a random line from a TV show.
Charlee Vale says
My current WIP actually came from a really, really, horrible story that i co-wrote with a friend when I was thirteen. We didn't get very far but it was fun.
Years later I pulled it back out, shuddered at the horrific writing, but realized that the story itself wasn't that bad. I scrapped everything but characters and basic plot, and BAM! = WIP.
CV
Abby Stevens says
I wanted to write a YA fantasy, but was having trouble coming up with something other than tried-and-true (or overdone, depending on how you look at it) witches, wizards, werewolves, and vampires… (oddly enough) after finishing Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, I was trying to figure out what hadn't been done yet, and it finally HIT ME!
https://www.thetabbycatt.blogspot.com
Christine says
Current WIP: First came the title– a joke between a friend and I. Then came the story.
Next WIP in Line: saw someone drown on the beach after saving his kids from riptide. I wondered about the kids when they grew up. Story evolving around that theme and idea.
Other WIPs: newspaper articles, death notices and general observations that make me wonder "what if X? happened to that person or those people?"
Nic says
I'm not sure what brought it up but i was thinking about the nature of beliefs and why people believe what they do when some of the beliefs to me seem rather far-fetched so i decided to explore that by creating a very human like God character and tell the story of the world from his/her pov rather than the believers. Ideas then start flowing out of that.
Nicole says
The one I hope to start querying for in April was a very random thing. I was watching a movie one day and thought it might be fun to rewrite a few scenes to my liking.
Then I thought I'd do a few more.
Then I thought I'd change the entire concept so it would work.
Then I pretty much changed EVERYTHING because by then I'd been hit in the head by a muse and went on a crazy writing spree.
So it started out as a fun writing exercise that totally mutated into what I have now.
Just goes to show, you never know…
Merc says
Short version: I wanted to use "sparkling, tentacled elven Lovecraftian gods" in a fantasy where goblins and necromancers were the heroes.
Jm Diaz says
A single sentence in the lyrics of a song. That spwaned over 70000 words.
hannah says
the idea for my last WIP came from reading David Levithan's LOVE IS THE HIGHER LAW, which explores the effects of 9/11 on a group of teenagers in New York City. It's not about falling apart; it's about coming together.
I lived (still do) in a suburb of Washington D.C. during 9/11. I was ten. But when I think back to events that really scared me around that age, it's not 9/11 I think of, but the sniper attacks in by city in 2002.
And I realized…most of the world doesn't know much about them.
So I wrote a book about two teenagers during the sniper attacks outside Washington D.C. And it's not about coming together; it's about staying together.
Erin says
"I could, but won't. Should, maybe, but shornt. What part of shornt don't you understand, Kevin?"
And with that, I will have missed the point of this post completely. It's your fault for saying "shant."
Elena says
My idea came out of necessity…if I didn't write it I'd go insane. Since it's a true story I just couldn't accept that so many people are oblivious and willing to be hoodwinked (or just choose to turn a blind eye) so easily.
I will not have my father's death be in vain and hope that others who find themselves in my predicament will learn from my mistakes, or better yet, not get into it to begin with.
Unfortunately every time I think I'm done, the "sociopath" enters my life to give me another chapter. Sigh…At least I'm still under 100,000 words…
Mrs. Parker says
I know this sounds stupid, but I dreamed about the story I just finished. I saw a commercial on t.v. one evening, then dreamed about a story involving the cat I saw on the commercial. After that, everything just flowed; all of the major plot points were right within my reach when I needed them. This is not the first time a story has evolved this way.
Chad says
I imagined a character that starts sentences with "No offense, but…" and then proceeds to really offend another character…
Grapeshot/Odette says
I was all set to write another book: characters, story outline, research, and then this voice came and started talking to me and telling me her story and naturally I began to write it down and it was pretty good and unlike anything I'd written before, and then about 70,000 words in, I ran into issues and took a couple months off (obviously no deadline), and now she's talking to me again, and I just have to finish writing it.
Wondering how hard it will be go get back into the book I WAS PLANNING TO WRITE.
Oh well, how often does anyone sit on your shoulder and tell you her story?
jongibbs says
Mine seem to come from nowhere, usually when the last thing I need to be doing is scribbling ideas down in my notebook.
Naughty Muse! She gives me some great ideas, but she has a cruel sense of humor 😉
Fawn Neun says
Well, hmmm… one came from a music video I fell in love with. One was wondering vaguely what happened to the Tuatha de Danaan when they were banished to the underground and one of the older works was inspired by thinking about how screwball it would be if me and my girlfriends actually got what we wanted out of life.
Kim Batchelor says
Last year, the night before Halloween, I was listening to Celtic music about fairies–and not your quaint fairy story but songs of women kidnapped with their babies, for example. Then it came to me, what if a girl finds out she's part fairy? and so The Mists of Na Crainn was born.
Jenna says
Oh, goodness, how many different ways??
I've had some come out of dealing with grief or adversity (divorce, massive loss of loved ones), I've had some come out of random reading bits of "hmmmm… interesting" info-type articles or books, and I've had ideas come up and wallop me over the head when I wasn't looking. I've had a couple of key points pop up in dreams. I've had the ideas present themselves out of a well-chosen phrase or a name or title.
By FAR the best way for me to get rich, fleshed-out ideas is to be obsessively involved in something else… like writing a novel. When I'm writing, I constantly have to take notes to siphon off the ideas for OTHER stories that will not stop popping up.
Another type of obsessive involvement would be school – I am in this heinous math class right now with a hippie musician weirdo kind of math teacher – awesome guy! But I've had math-brain for 4 weeks, and have had no creative outlet. One type of math problem juxtaposed with my teacher's social awareness asides generated not one, but THREE novel ideas in less than 10 minutes earlier today! Such riches!
On re-reading, one of them may flesh out another, older plot idea, so much so that the original idea is just hinted at. However, the other two are so brand-spanking-new that I just don't know what to do.
I can't wait until this semester ends! I need to write!!!
Disgruntled Bear says
Actually, I read a bunch of YA fantasy and wanted to write a book about a bunch of "normal" teenagers who happened to have special abilities. Forget the magic and the supernatural stuff! I wanted to show the real-world issues having super-powers would entail, like the problems that pyrokinetics would have if they set fires in their sleep. I started thinking about the "sparks" and built from there. The story really started to click when I thought about the plusses and minuses of being telepathically able to read your boyfriend's mind, and what kind of guy would be OK with that. I now have five books in various stages of notes and drafts (only the first book, MINDER, is polished enough for outside eyes), and I think there will be at least seven books in the series.
JDuncan says
My Deadworld series began from a simple question. How can I do something different with vampires? The rest sprang up from that.
Thomas Burchfield says
"Dragon's Ark" In the summer of 2002, my wife and I were walking at sunset along Highway 99 in remote Alpine County in the Eastern Sierras. The road is a major conduit for trucks coming through the area and I shuddered as they passed by a few feet away, again and again.
My wife somehow failed to notice my anxiety. "What are you so afraid of," she smiled up at me. "Count Dracula of Alpine County?"
And then the sun went down.
Thomas Burchfield says
"Oscar's Ghost" I'd been watching an old 1940s romantic ghost comedy on Turner Classics and had lost patience with its thinness and lack of real wit or atmosphere. I retreated to my chair in my reading nook and my mind started to grind. I looked down to find our dear calico Flo romping around my feet and remembered someone saying, "Only cats can see ghosts."
Anonymous says
I don't know. I had a starting-place (fighting vampires in the woods), a thing I wanted to talk about (the transsexual experience), and an emotion (two people I knew died before and during the first draft) and the novel wrote itself. I don't know when or whether it became more coherent than that. There was never just one idea.
Naya says
I was actually inspired to write mine after reading The Celestine Prophesy. I like the idea of writing a story about someone on a spiritual journey that completely turns their world upside down. It's altered a bit from my original version, but I think it's better because of it! 😀
It's one of those stories that is almost writing itself… I love it when they do that. You tend to look back and think, "OMG, did I really write that?"
Veronica Bartles says
My current work in progress is a reaction to my own life. I have a brain tumor, and I sometimes wonder how my children will react if I die while they are still young. I try to make sure to tell them every day how much I love them and how blessed I am to be their mother. Still, I can't help but think that, if I were to die tomorrow, there would still be more that I wish I had told my children! I'm sure that they would have plenty of questions for me that they never thought to ask until it was too late. With that in mind, I'm writing "Letters from Heaven" – a young adult novel in which the main character finds herself in a penpal relationship with her mother from beyond the grave. It's probably the most difficult thing I've ever written, because it hits so close to home, but it may just end up being the best thing I've ever written too!
Lani Longshore says
I was thinking of the trial of Joan of Arc, and wrote a short story about an insectoid accused of terrorism by the human military governor of her planet. My critique group said the story wasn't finished, so I wrote a few more pages. Three sessions later they said it still wasn't finished, so now it's becoming a novel.
elizaw says
1. For the novel I'm about to shop…
Why do ghosts wear clothes?
The clothes are not apart of a soul. Neither really is the face, the body, the physical image. We're not seeing a soul, then. We're seeing a memory.
Combine that with a twist on traditional necromancy and a love of fantasy political intrigue.
2. My current WIP (56k in):
Resurrection is possible, but illegal. Mister Maxwell Gallows doesn't care.
author says
I decided since my favorite genre wasn't selling all that well and fantasy was, I'd write what was selling. So I got a bazillion books, took copious notes, and found a Sweedish fairy tale that screamed, "Rewrite me in modern times." The rest is history. When I get stuck I go read more books and pace the floor and eat chocolate. If I sell this book, first thing I'm gonna do is replace the carpet.
Mary Malcolm says
I realize I'm a bit late coming to this, but I couldn't resist commenting. I write romance, short stories and literary fiction. The romance is always geared toward a specific publisher, so written toward their guidelines, not much inspiration there.
The short stories and literary writing, on the other hand, is completely me. I have these whacky dreams. Not scary but sometimes just so completely strange that I wake up and think, "Wow, I have to write a book about that." I have two like that now. I won't write what they're about, but I am SO excited to write them that I practically burst every time I open the files.
So dreams. That is my big source of inspiration. The crazier, the better.
Anonymous says
Created some charcters many years ago, created some more, linked them all up in multiple family trees. Come up with the stories from there. (My WIP is a multi generational story with a lot of strands)If an incident is based on real life it is often noticed by me well after. I find the varying relationships of the charcters often in ways I haven't noticed before (eg- what do you mean they're second cousins?) and that is enough to set off a story
Ieva says
I was putting my baby daughter to sleep and wondered whether I'd love this much if I was just pretending to be her mother (and why on earth would anybody want to pretend to be a baby's mother).
Of course, there's nothing from this idea left in the novel. That's fine with me.
WV: misfi=even the "t" didn't fit in
Ed W says
You in corporate circles when they divide everybody up by their attributes, interests and strengths? I'm typically standing alone or with one or two other people. Apparently creativity doesn't come instantaneous and natural for most people. Took me almost my entire life to finally realize that I was just born with that good fortune.
Jaleh D says
I don't have a problem coming up with ideas, only in expanding on them. I get ideas from dreams, what-if brainstorming sessions with my hubby, ideas sparked by books and movies, and roleplaying games.
It's funny, but gaming is what got me back into writing. I created characters, and then in order to "get into character," I had to create enough backstory and traits to help me determine what my persona would say and do in various situations. And next thing I knew, I was creating basic stories around them.
Colleen says
The novel I'm working out was inspired originally by a night out with an unexpected group of people. I have long toyed with the idea of "giving into the night" and where it takes you which mostly is good and sometimes disastrous.
I'm constantly thinking of characters and writing down random phrases that I want to use at some point.
Azarin S. says
I'd say out of my fear of dying!
For years, every night, I went over the same scene, imagining every gesture, everything I had done, or I hadn't…over and over. And each night I told myself to let go of the past and not to carry it around.
At 17, I had already decided to become a writer, but I left Iran in 1983 and went to France. It meant that I couldn't be a writer anymore. Then I moved to the US in 1996, and – already lost between languages – I learned a third one.
In 2006, I realized that to get rid of my nightly ritual, I had to go after my all time dream: writing; I had to write about everything that was haunting me.
This is how I was inspired to write my first novel.
Andrew Jack says
My current WIP was an idea that spun out of the last book I finished (which was dreadful and shall never be mentioned again). I thought of a really great idea that just didn't fit that first story, so I worte it down and came back to it later when I'd thought about it more.
The main character dies every morning come sun up, rising again at nightfall. He spends his time (alive) looking for his brother and acting as an occult "salvage consultant".
I liked the idea of a supernatural character who had a terrible flaw, but no real powers to speak of. It forces him (and me) to use brain power to get him out of bad situations.
Selestiele says
It just hit me one day when I was searching for new authors to read. As I wrote it, three characters decided they wanted their own books. The titles and some of the premises are based on constellations of the zodiac (astroNOMY, not astroLOGY) and someone asked if I planned to do the rest. Now I'm sitting on a 13-book plan with the first one 98% written, the second 50% written, and ideas/outlines for another 10. The last one is still eluding me. But the more I write, the more the ideas come to me.