Inspiration is Random

 

Where do you get your initial spark of inspiration? Is it from anything important? What else about inspiration intrigues you? What is your advice to other people to kick start their inspiration? 

I'll try to keep this short and simple.

Inspiration is rather random for me. It comes from everything, even the smallest thing. I was once inspired to write a novel around a necklace that I made. If I’m desperate for inspiration, I look around DeviantArt and look at all of the amazing work posted on there, or I listen to music. I’m a daydreamer and I tend to get caught up in them while music is playing. I have no idea why. The music doesn’t even filter in to my daydreams. Other places I look for inspiration…prompts. Lots and lots of prompts or I use my Tale Craft Cards or my Story Cubes (not so much anymore but I love to play the game with the kids).

I have a love/hate relationship with these random bouts of inspiration. I accept them willingly but they always come at the wrong times. Sometimes it happens when something goes wrong at work or when I’m driving. Inspiration never fails to hit me while I’m in the middle of writing another novel. The best thing I can do is write them down while I can. If not, then I’ll probably forget. Some of the things I come up with have me questioning my sanity. Where do some of these ideas come from?

Everyone has a different way of finding inspiration. My friend takes her inspiration from the History Channel. My other friend gets inspiration from her old relationships – she can create some pretty good poetry from it (not in a Taylor Swift sort of way). Knowing where you can get an idea is always a good place to start. Constantly questioning things can help turn that idea into something more. It’s a method I use with my writing buddies whenever they get stuck. Just start questioning everything. Your muse will start answering eventually. There are tons of ways to help you move an idea forward, you just need to figure out what works for you.

Well...I hope that made sense...