How would you go about finding inspiration to write?

[unseelie_sidhee]

i'm not sure what i think about this poll, because it pigeonholes something that most here seem to agree is too vast, liquid, and variable to summarize catagorically.

but, on the other hand, the poll is just a means to an end. the idea is to get the wheels turning upstairs and open up dialogue. so i guess it's a success.

anyway, my inspiration is not conditional or circumstantial. for example, i don't have to be consumed emotionally by something, i just have to care about it enough to pick up the pen.
as long as i am alive, no matter where i am or who i'm with, i will have inspiration, because inspiration comes from everything, everywhere, everyone. if i shut myself in a closet and closed my eyes and hardened my heart, i would speak abstractly, into the darkness, a description of what nothing is like.

so, if i could've, i would have voted three times. once for each source, no matter what the sources specified were.

[Metatron]

I really don't get much inspiration from other writer's or movies. Most of my inspiration comes from dreams, the people around me, and my beliefs. I write as though there's something hidden in my poetry, and I'm trying to discover what it is. My writing, in a way, is sort of like religion. I'm always working to get the perfect piece that will just 'click'.

[joyslayer]

My writing, kind of scare me really. I don't understand more than have of it. But, hell, if it works...

[·Kaôh·]

Hmm... I guess that my inspiration to write comes when I'm in the classroom (yeah.. I know), with my headphones on, playing something I like and watching all the stuff around me. Or, when I'm in my bedroom with music on. And I write almost about everything.

[joyslayer]

Yeah, me too. I feel anything that is still standing deserves to be written about.

[Dark_love_2008]

Personally, there are several ways I am inspired. I take Comments and use ideas that my friends and family tell me (for a mention in the dedication page). Also when I cant think of anything I get away from it for a while. Ethier I write something else (books) or I read to get more ideas. When I do I read Poe or Stephen King.

[joyslayer]

Hmmm, yeah, same here.

[Saxie]

my inspiration, along with other books, is my gothic girlfiend named Berglend. Because of her, i write novels, poems, & songs.
__________________________________________________ __

"ika nga, parang si kiko balagtas, ang inspirasyon niya ay babae"

[Blushing Heliophobe]

I think it's safe to say that 'inspired' writing (other than newspaper, assignments, research, etc) comes from the author writing about issues/people/events/places that emotionally move him/her for various personal reasons.

As I drive to work, I think about last night's dreams, and things on my mind/in my mental skeleton closet. When I get to work, I write it down.

[joyslayer]

I write, when there is something to write about.

[dreamydancer]

I would probably steal Anne Rice's big juicy brain.

[PhilSmith]

Ah, the obligatory 'where do you get all your ideas from?' thread.

Speaking for myself, it's all down to motive. Sometimes I'll just look around, seeking information for its own sake. Occasionally something inspiring comes out of that.

Other times I might enjoy some other piece of fiction but feel a bit dissatisfied because (to my mind, at least) certain things haven't been taken all the way to their logical conclusion, and that'll prompt me to have a go.

On other occasions I might just want to get into a character's head; find out what it's like to be in his or her shoes.

Just keep your mind open, really...

[monsterdownthestreet]

Most of the time I writ things based on what I am reading but I also incorperate my dreams into them as well. Some of the stuff that comes out of my head are just messed up.

[epithet]

Inspiration, for me, is not something you find. It's something that finds you. It comes to me most often when I'm doing something that doesn't require thinking. Maybe I'll be playing music, or cooking or something. Random thoughts drift across my mind with no real prompting, and every once in a while, one of them is a good idea for a story.

So basically, I find that the best way to get inspired is just to not try too hard. You'll never write if writing becomes a chore.

[Ikaros]

Funny.
When I'm having difficulty writing it's usually because I'm in a mental rut. When I'm in a position to write what I want, when I want, as it pops into my brain and sends everything else out to restock the fridge, I'm fine: an essay here, a review there, a godawful wreck of a poem in between.

What screws me up is when there's something specific I really SHOULD be working on. Even if it's something I can sleep through (and trust my nose to hit the right keys), the moment it becomes an obligation, it becomes a problem. The keyboard feels wrong, the pen seems too big, and all I can think about is how I can't think about what I need to be thinking about.

The best trick I've found for dealing with that is to simply run with it. If I can't seem to write, I'll write about how I can't write. I'll let myself go, let the structure fall apart, the metaphors get silly, the prose go to hell, and before I know it I'll stop dead in the middle of a line because the thing I needed to be working on is half-written in my head.

As far as inspiration goes, I like going with the gut. Something that grabs me, something that hits me, something that gets my attention is probably something worth writing about. If I see or hear something that pisses me off, it's something to write about. If something pops into my head when I'm sitting up alone at night, something that scares me, unsettles me, and makes me wish my wife was awake so she could make the feeling go away... hell, that's DEFINITELY worth writing about.

I think part of the reason that some people have difficulty writing (i.e. difficulty believing they have something to write about) is our natural tendancy to avoid. Whether it's pain, passion, or trust, there are experiences we'd rather not deal with, and by the time we're old enough to talk about them we've learned dozens of ways to NOT talk about them. Video games, movies, idle conversation, obsessively baking cookies: lots of little tricks, plenty of loopholes.

If I'm just dry on ideas, there's usually something I can STOP doing to get them flowing. If nothing else, a day or two without a cigarette rattles my cage enough to get something started, even if it's just catching up on dishes =P

[Surgeon Méchant De Sang]

A beautiful atmosphere really inspires me to write, especially historical museums. I also find that I like to write stories about particular buildings that I see. I like creating ficitonal stories about the supposed people who lived in the building.
Plants and food to also have the same effect on me as well.
Pictures are a really good medium as well, but I find it harder to write using a picture as an inspiration...

[Nemesion]

I am inspired by a lot of film-noir. Victorian, Edwardian, 20's to the 40's and modern culture as well. A lot of my poems are inspired by simply observing the idiosyncrasies of people I meet.

[She_Is_My_Sin]

Usually it's watching films, or listening to film music. I'm not sure why. But if that doesn't get me in the mood to write it will either be after I've painted something I think has potential, reading a book, listening to some "fantasy" music or occasionally something from a dream.

[Juliet Bathory]

There is inspiration to be had in everything, it is perception and experience which renders a moment as inspirational. The funny thing is, I've never seen a severed head in real life.....

[spookypurple]

People-watching.