# Inspiration?



## Molotov (Dec 16, 2007)

A lot of writers and poets out in the world, sharing their work with others, allowing the mind to feed off of the energy given to them, to those who listen. Yet I wonder, where did the inspiration come from? 

We all have our reasons why we do this: write, draw, create. What I want to know, is where did the inspiration come from. Was it from a deep, personal experience? Something you saw? Heard? Thought up one day, out of the blue?

I will tell you my reason: guess it's just what I've been through these past 14 years of mine, all the hate, suffering, and shit I had to put up with. It changed me overall, from the confused to the more understanding. A better observer, if you will. Ya, I was weak earlier in life, spineless to a fault. 

Then I thought up some ideas I never thunk of, which lead me to write down some quickie stories. I thought "Not Bad", but figured it could be perfected. Now, ideas just pop into this fragile head of mine, dealing raw and uncut work, like some of the more famous writers and/or poets. 

My inspiration: life in general. Fascinating, but needs one hell of a edit, heh.


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## DerDoberman (Dec 16, 2007)

My inspiration often comes from losing myself in thought, and most of the time stems from my random daydreams that I have when I'm working, walking somewhere, zoning out in class, or just really out of it. It normally starts with a really small idea (in my yiff stuff this is normally a pairing I'd like to see, otherwise it's normally a scene that I think I could develop into something bigger), and blossoms into several pages.

So, pretty much, my inspiration comes from my boredom.

Boredom, my anti-drug


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## TheGru (Dec 16, 2007)

Mine came from years upon years of reading, and eventually group based RP. Everything just seemed to build up from there.


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## M. LeRenard (Dec 16, 2007)

A combination of dreams and things that annoy me, it seems.  For instance; my novel was inspired by a dream I had several years back about a kid who got magically changed into a fox anthro (of course, the novel doesn't even remotely resemble that now), and then I later expanded on it because I got annoyed after reading so many EPIC fantasy novels that were all inherently the same thing.  I was inspired by thinking that I could do better than professional fantasy writers, I guess.
And then just recently our final short story was due for my writing of fiction class this semester, and I couldn't think of a damn thing to write about.  But then, while I was TA-ing during an intro astronomy class, my boss gave a lecture about the possibility of life on other planets, and I got annoyed by how Earth-centric the requirements for extra-terrestrial life were.  So I wrote a story about an alien from Miranda (one of Uranus's moons) who flies by Earth and decides that it's too hot and wet for life to exist.
So yeah... a combination of weird dreams and bitterness is my inspiration most of the time.  That and hideous industrial complexes, like power plants.  You'll see a lot of that in my work, too.  Not exactly sure why.


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## Vore Writer (Dec 16, 2007)

A good amount of my inspiration comes from looking at pictures. There's times I can look at a couple of pictures, and almost instantly a story line will pop up. I'm not sure if this is a good thing to say, but I also get it from movies, video games and books.


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## Rilvor (Dec 16, 2007)

life, and music. Those are my two big ones.


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## TakeWalker (Dec 16, 2007)

While everything I experience influences my writing in some way, true inspiration is hard to come by. Most of my ideas are simply the products of a mind that never stops; eventually something in there catches my attention and I decide to flesh it out. I'm inspired by other works, by words and slips of the tongue, by funny thoughts, odd situations, and what-ifs.


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## WolfeByte (Dec 17, 2007)

TakeWalker said:
			
		

> Most of my ideas are simply the products of a mind that never stops; eventually something in there catches my attention and I decide to flesh it out.



Yay, I don't even have to type my own reply.  

(Though I find my mind-that-never-shuts-up makes for frequent insomnia...  )


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## Poetigress (Dec 17, 2007)

Are you asking what inspires us to write, or what inspires our writing (that is, gives us ideas)?

As far as the first, I'm always surprised that anyone needs to even ask that question.  It's one of those questions that usually has no reasonable answer, and anything you try to say winds up sounding ethereal and stupid.  >_<

So you resort to quotes from other people -- like Asimov's "I write for the same reason I breathe -- because if I didn't, I would die" or Kingsolver's "For me, writing is a way of living in an imperfect world without having to suffer in silence."  (Those are typed from memory, so check around for accuracy before using them elsewhere...)

I've always written, I've always made up stories.  This is what I do, this is a huge part of what and who I am.  It's not a hobby for me, or an amusement, or some kind of intellectual challenge or exercise -- though it may have elements of all those things, if things are going well.  It's far more akin to a calling, though I hestitate to call it that, because it sounds a little too... out there, and somber, and egotistical, than I mean it to.  

Put it this way: birds fly, fish swim -- their natural gifts are honed to their elements, to where they belong.  Every part of a predator is made for the hunt that keeps them alive.  I'm made for this.  I have doubts sometimes that I'll ever get anywhere with it, fears that something may keep me from it, that the writing may stop coming, may become more difficult, that I'll always feel as if I'm doing what's already been done.  But giving up is literally not an option for me, because I would have to give up too much of myself, give up that connection -- to creation, to some part of myself I cannot access except through creative endeavors -- and I realize that, even when I am not physically writing, I am still always viewing the world through the eyes of a writer, of someone who creates.  That's my comfort and my nourishment, my game, my fulfillment.

So there's your ethereal stupid part.  >^_^<  And here's my poem that says essentially the same thing in better words.

*Why I Do This*

Because anyone who's ever
finally found that jigsaw piece
they've been looking for
for almost an hour,
and felt that satisfying
soft-snap fit
knows the pleasure of
things in order, complete,
of things in their right places
and the picture at last revealed.

Because this is the way I know
to make a sweater, a scarf, a quilt
out of lifeâ€™s loose ends.

Because I don't understand,
can't imagine
what people do
who don't write.


_Poem is copyright 2007 Renee Carter Hall ("Poetigress"), don't reprint it, don't redistribute it, feel free to print it out and make a paper airplane out of it, but if you want to use it someplace you gotta ask nicely first._

As far as where I get ideas from, that's everywhere.  Personal experiences, what I read, what I see, imagining what it feels like to be in a certain situation, making connections, juxtapositions... even the ideas that feel like they came out of nowhere were probably the result of random connections made unconsciously, that I can't trace.


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## TakeWalker (Dec 17, 2007)

I forgot to add "dreams" to the list. I've spent a lot of time writing down dreams and attempting to make them into something that makes sense to other people, or even myself. <plug>Check out the first chapter of my story "Maiden M" for an example of just that process!</plug> I've come up with lots of good ideas via dreaming.


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## Molotov (Dec 17, 2007)

Poetigress said:
			
		

> Are you asking what inspires us to write, or what inspires our writing (that is, gives us ideas)?
> 
> As far as the first, I'm always surprised that anyone needs to even ask that question.  It's one of those questions that usually has no reasonable answer, and anything you try to say winds up sounding ethereal and stupid.  >_<
> 
> ...



lol, To your first answer to kick things off. Sometimes the ol' noggin flickers off and on. 

I'm jus' askin' where does one get the ideas from as they write stories/poems. I got yo' honest answer, didn't I? XP.


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## Poetigress (Dec 18, 2007)

Molotov said:
			
		

> lol, To your first answer to kick things off. Sometimes the ol' noggin flickers off and on.
> 
> I'm jus' askin' where does one get the ideas from as they write stories/poems. I got yo' honest answer, didn't I? XP.



Um... well, yeah, you did.  *shrug*


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## Xipoid (Dec 18, 2007)

Dreams do lead to some fun stories. It's always entertaining to look at the 'finished' story and compare that with what the dream actually was to see how much the story has changed.



Hehe, I laugh when I do.


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## Anilothei (Dec 19, 2007)

Inspiration? Hm.. Most of my inspiration comes from those I write to. I try to think of those in bad situations of negative places, and put words to those feelings, to show them they aren't the only one who feels that way.

Well, Let me take a small piece from one of my recent poems..

A piece of "Being Different"

_"I continue writing and for what?
Only to have it thrown at me, like smut?
I'm told, "Keep strong, have faith!" but...
Every new day brings with it a new emotional cut.

So why do I go on, why should I care?
Simply because, there are others out there.
Those that feel the same hate, the same tired old glare.
Maybe my words can atleast make them fair.
To bring them up, to help them bare,
Their troubles of heart, those I too share,
This pain of burden, of hate with care.

Perhaps some day this will lift you up,
Helping you see, life is a half filled cup.

I will strive to write this to you,
Those hearts that beat with pain, on cue.

To help you see that people do care,
Those of us too under that hate filled stare,
That there is a pain that we too share."_

Meh, Mostly that's the inspiration for most of my poems, are the others that directly influence me - one of my friends was having some.. problems, and I wrote this for them. Most of my poems I write about good friends or else some of my own personal experiences.[/i]


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## Molotov (Dec 19, 2007)

By piece, do you mean to show that the "Being Different" poem is a fragment of the entire thing, or that it IS the entire thing?


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## psinoob (Dec 22, 2007)

MY inspiration is really just thinking about something odd. most of my Ideals start off as What if................

My inspirations for my character though comes from hearing music and thinking of who would the song represent.


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## twilightiger (Dec 27, 2007)

Ah the elusive spark, the ephemeral _elan vital _that sends the mind reeling, and sets the wheels in motion. I love asking myself that question. Mainly because every story I write has been inspired by something diffrent. For me, it's the need to ask questions.

I saw a cat wander into a drain pipe beneath I library once and I asked myself where it was going. That gave me 'Hidden Worlds.'

Thinking about the rapid progression of technology versus an ever increasing life expectancy gave me 'Mikomi' 

Although, most of the time I usually write some completely random block of text like.
_A wish _for a new beginning. . .
_A desire _born of deserate dreams. . .
_A sin _that can never be erased. . . 
  We are the discarded the unwanted the forgotten and the shunned. Humanities illegitamate children.
  Our voices join together in a wordless cry that echoes into the still depths of the nothing.
_We exist, and we will not be ignored._

But what inspires me to keep writing after that initial spark? Now that is something completely different.


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