Where do you get your inspiration?

[SR Roddy]

I get my inspirations from many places. Sometimes a verse in a song will trigger a scene in my mind or something I see while driving down the road or looking out my window. My dialogue is inspired by my teenagers and the crazy conversations they have. Of course there is my life experiences, some scenes are just an embellishment of a real life event. Then there is my writing itself. I can't tell you how many times my stories have taken on a life of their own and went in a direction I never intended to go.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by gmw

Standing desks seem to be gaining popularity - though I don't think I'd like it much. See these at Human Solutions - and they have links there to blog articles about the supposed benefits of spending more time standing.

I have my desk at work situated to do either or. I find on days when I am tired (due to lack of sleep, or etc) I can be much more productive standing up then sitting. It also allows some variety in my day.

[Harper Kingsley]

I get most of my inspiration from episodes of Family Guy or Futurama, lol. I'll see something or hear something and a scene will pop into my head. I'll take that brief idea, then I'll build the world around it and introduce the kinds of people that would be caught in such a situation and why.

Just like to add, sometimes I'll think I'm being hilarious and someone will take the story seriously. The gushing "I love this story! It's so real!" always leaves me speechless. I'm a terrible review responder because I never know what to say.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WordCountess

When sitting down to write a story or book where do you find your inspiration?

Personally, I find it in many places. Nature is by far my biggest source of inspiration. I live in a Yup'ik Eskimo village on the tundra of Alaska. The landscape and culture always play a big role in my writing. My children and pets do as well. But also things I enjoy- arctic fox, northern lights, blizzards, snowshoes, dogsledding, etc.

Wow. AK! Thanks for starting this discussion topic. I have a son that is an AK State Trooper (Kenai peninsula).

I can't say I have any particular 'inspirations' that I can rely on, but am often inspired by nature and science as is the 'Sense of Wonder' of both.
The amazing size of the universe and how it works, life and its evolution, and of course 'stupid human tricks'

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by cromag

Sorry. The North Slope of Alaska -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_North_Slope

I worked on oil wells there in the winter and spring of '75. It was very dark and cold when I got there, and less dark and less cold when I left.

Unfortunately, these were the days before ereaders -- most of my reading was confined to technical manuals and cereal boxes.

Woo-Hoo! That's definitely Sci-Fi territory!

[kennyc]

I picked up a used pbook "The Spooky Art" by Norman Mailer (The Naked and the Dead author) http://www.amazon.com/The-Spooky-Art...t_at_ep_dpt_11

and even though his fiction is a bit far from my type/style of writing and is in a different age time-wise (even before me. ) I'm finding it very inspiring.

[PainMike]

I went to shelves and found this: A book with notes.

A pathetic or grand attempt to revitalize something long dead, I still have great time with it.
Other thing with the Satire, daily headlines beat mine, in this order:
http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2013,1054.html
and
http://www.thefrisky.com/2013-02-05/...he-experience/
Who the hell needs satire?

[ebooklovers]

I too have a lot of inspiration when I write a book... Nature, an emotion, or sometimes even the weather LOL. I love writing when its raining.. it makes me feel like I have all the time in the world

[kennyc]

Welcome to MR ebooklovers...

[GlenBarrington]

An interesting thread. I'm still trying to figure this writing thing out. But I'd have to say, my most common inspiration comes from reading.

Sometimes it comes from when you read something and say to yourself, "The author got it all wrong!". Other times, something I've read makes a connection with me in some way and sends my psyche down a path I've not been before.

But I'd say my inspiration is almost always a string of text in some way.

[Alex Bleach]

A lot of my inspiration comes from real life, situations I've been in, not so much people I've met, but there character flaws may help me create a character. I sometimes think of a good line or joke and try to incorporate it into a story.

[mores]

I'm not a writer. But recently I stumbled upon this (well, okay, I got the Newsletter from Brad)
http://bradmeltzer.com/book/the-fifth-assassin/

Read the Q&A at the bottom, it'll show you how he got his ideas.

I found it totally fascinating how a writer's mind starts spinning fiction around a few facts, connecting dots etc.

[M.T. Miles]

My inspiration comes primarily from the world around me. For me observation is the key.

[J. Garrett]

Sometimes when I'm watching/reading/playing something, I'll come across a plot point/character/setting/event that's really interesting. But then the game/movie/book does something different with it than what I was originally thinking. So, then I start to think about how I would have used that instead. That's where a lot of my inspiration comes from, seeing other people's work and then thinking about how I would have handled certain things, or taking an element from another's work and then spinning an entire story around it.

At its most basic, I'm stealing other people's ideas and using them in a way that's more interesting to me personally.

I mean, I once wrote a 1000-page scifi epic that inspired by the location used in a single episode of TV series that I liked.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by J. Garrett

I mean, I once wrote a 1000-page scifi epic that inspired by the location used in a single episode of TV series that I liked.

Sounds interesting. Did you ever have it published?