Inspiration

[CloverReef]

It feels like such a fleeting thing. You feel like you can reach out and grab it, but then it wisps through your fingers and dissipates like smoke. Sometimes I can grasp it for the length of a song and formulate an entire universe, but as the song ends, it fades like a dream and ten seconds later, it’s gone. The details are still there, but the visions, the emotions, the characters voices and desires are suddenly all very 2 dimensional and not strong enough to weave into a good story foundation. 

There are times, though, when it’s not such a flight risk. When I can grasp it and put reins on it and attach every passing whimsy to me like a dog sled. 

I’m not asking for help or advice. Inspiration is such a personal thing, no amount of “try this” will change my reality, but my reality is ever-changing. I’m interested in your experiences with it. Either right now, or over the years.  

[BronxWench]

I can so relate to this. I have so many things floating around in my head, but when I try to pin them down, they’re gone, or else the words are awkward, and don’t fit right. I know what I want to say—it’s right there, on the tip of my tongue—but then I try to define it, and the whole mess falls apart in my hands.

I’ve decided it will be written when it wants to be written, and I can’t force it, whatever it turns out to be.

[GeorgeGlass]

Agree with BW. The really good inspirations are the ones that stay with you, that develop themselves in your head instead of fading away. Any idea that quickly vanishes from your mind probably wasn’t worth your time, anyway.

[Desiderius Price]

When I get ‘em, I write them down ASAP, just because it helps retain it.  Ninja vasectomist anyone?

[CloverReef]

Yeah, I write them down ASAP too, but that helps remember the ideas, not so much retain the inspiration. For me, an idea and being inspired for an idea are two drastically different things, and in my hands, a fully formed idea is worthless without the inspiration to bring it to life. 

[Desiderius Price]

Writing helps, but yeah, inspiration’s easily lost.

[GeorgeGlass]

I find that it helps to let ideas percolate for a bit before I start writing anything. That tells me whether the idea is sufficiently compelling to keep me writing until the story is finished.

[Tcr]

Much like BW, I've got a million ideas in my head...  Usually fighting each other  (...six things on the go and one trying to be published...too many ideas, not enough time)...

I can be inspired (and write twenty chapters pretty much non stop) by a simple song lyric or something I've seen in movies or just random thoughts I have...  Which are most of the ideas...  And where the idea for the newest one came from (two lines in a song, lol)...  But that inspiration can be lost just as suddenly too…

Having a broken spirit kills that inspiration flat dead...  Trust me, I got a lot of Inspiration hidden in the basement...  And for me, that happens a lot... 

Stress kills...  And when nothing's gone right (Just like right now, laptop's fried itself (I hate this damned city))...  And bad times...  And that feeling that, while I know people are reading, it doesn't feel like it... 

The inspiration wavers and, oft times, cracks, breaks, and disappears...  I've been lucky lately...  But even then, the inspiration for STA, BaH, CHHW, even Hunted and BP have all wavered because of those factors all coming together right now...  Sucks when you're always thinking the worst…

 

[CloverReef]

Yes, stress and feeling like no one’s even reading has a huge impact on my inspiration as well. Makes it all the more fleeting. Makes it hard to work up the motivation to attempt to grasp those wisps, and if you manage to grasp one, there’s still the battle of trying to convince yourself it’s worth it to do anything with it. Sometimes it’s hard to see the point.

Sometimes it’s just work and family related stress that completely blows the smoke of inspiration right out of the air, but the will is still there. Stronger even, and desperate for the therapeutic clacking of keys and laying of thoughts, because when you need it most, it’s hardest to grasp. 

At least that’s my experience. 

[BronxWench]

19 minutes ago, CloverReef said:

Sometimes it’s just work and family related stress that completely blows the smoke of inspiration right out of the air, but the will is still there. Stronger even, and desperate for the therapeutic clacking of keys and laying of thoughts, because when you need it most, it’s hardest to grasp. 

At least that’s my experience. 

This, exactly. 

[Desiderius Price]

2 hours ago, Tcr said:

Having a broken spirit kills that inspiration flat dead...  Trust me, I got a lot of Inspiration hidden in the basement...  And for me, that happens a lot... 

Stress kills...  And when nothing's gone right (Just like right now, laptop's fried itself (I hate this damned city))...  And bad times...  And that feeling that, while I know people are reading, it doesn't feel like it...

Sometimes the stress makes my characters miserable too… just saying.

[Anesor]

I’ve lost more ideas when away from my computer and I don’t write it down. Many good ones do not survive the maelstrom of my attention. Scraps of paper get lost. I don’t have to start writing it right away, I can start on an idea from my idea files much later.

I have lots of ideas, but I am planning for the new year to stop chasing fanfic as much, I need more for my Kindle releases. Feeding and encouraging my muse is important: reading fiction I like, watching TV and documentaries, reading thoughtful and wide ranging columns… all work as muse fodder. Of course I can get a story idea that I can tell is hugs and far too big and I almost mourn it.

When writing I can sustain a roll if I have music in the mood I want. Finding and remembering songs is a challenge.

NB: I’m closing in on my Nano total, but had an employee pull a no show…

Edited November 29, 2017 by Anesor
Nano crunch... slow to reply

[Desiderius Price]

1 hour ago, Anesor said:

I’ve lost more ideas when away from my computer and I don’t write it down. Many good ones do not survive the maelstrom of my attention. Scraps of paper get lost. I don’t have to start writing it right away, I can start on an idea from my idea files much later.

I keep a notebook (not spiral, but bound) nearby as much as possible just so I can quickly jot ideas down, in as much detail as I can, which gives a sporting chance at recovering the idea later.

[Anesor]

I lose the notebooks too, and I have issues putting pen to paper. computers are bigger and never go >2m away.

[pippychick]

I think inspiration is dreaming whilst awake. There’s no other explanation for the way the ideas leap between nuances of meaning and plot the way they do. It also explains the way that things can seem utterly silly once that inspiration leaves.

That being the case, I often feel like if I can hold onto the atmosphere and emotion of a thing, rather than the intricacies of it, then it stays for much longer. To keep it is to perfect the art of dreaming the same thing over and over again.

And, since I write fanfiction, I often find once the original inspiration has struck and you’ve begun writing, you need more than inspiration then. You need to a strike a balance between many closely related things. Inspiration is one, motivation, dedication, impetus, fanaticism and total immersion in the source material are the others. Get it right, and the story will flow like water. And if you’re posting, feedback (and lack of it) is a blessing and a curse. Feedback will buoy you up, but it can also interfere with your ideas. Lack of feedback can make you give up completely, unless the muse is particularly insistent.