# What inspires you?



## w.riter (Jun 9, 2017)

Is there a common means of inspiration used by all writers?


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## sas (Jun 9, 2017)

Some will consider the ability to be empathic as not a trait that inspires. I believe it is the most important one. To put oneself  wholly in another's place, in another's mind, whether an admirable one or not, sets the good writer apart from others.


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## bobo (Jun 9, 2017)

Writers are just as different as are all other people, so what inspires one doesn't necessarily inspires others 
Personally I get inspired when discovering *excellence* - and *beauty* !!
What do inspire you, yourself ??


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## JustRob (Jun 9, 2017)

There cannot be a common means of inspiration because not all writers have the same reason for writing.


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## K.S. Crooks (Jun 10, 2017)

The notion of creating something that in some small way the world has never seen.


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## J Anfinson (Jun 11, 2017)

You know those weird ideas you sometimes get? Like when you say to the person next to you, "wouldn't it be funny/awful/incredible/etc if..."

Rather than shrug those off, if they're intriguing enough a story starts taking shape in my head. That's specifically how I get inspired.


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## Powerless (Jun 11, 2017)

Life.


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## Newman (Jun 12, 2017)

w.riter said:


> Is there a common means of inspiration used by all writers?



The most common is to not wait for inspiration.

Inspiration comes when you get on with it.


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## NicaNieves (Jun 12, 2017)

Goodness different things. If I see a girl with beautiful long hair, I'll want a character to have THAT hair, or if I see a painting  (which I actually did today) of a park bench snuffed with fresh snow and a single lamp post glowing yellow, then ill want that scene in my story. Writing in general, the get-your-butt-to-work kind of Inspiration is more of will power. I've found that if I force myself to write even when all I want to do is climb in bed and watch garbage TV it'll start the snowball effect and inspiration will come after. Read, write, explore, those are the things that inspire me.


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## Jessica Stemmer (Jul 10, 2017)

NicaNieves said:


> Goodness different things. If I see a girl with beautiful long hair, I'll want a character to have THAT hair, or if I see a painting  (which I actually did today) of a park bench snuffed with fresh snow and a single lamp post glowing yellow, then ill want that scene in my story. Writing in general, the get-your-butt-to-work kind of Inspiration is more of will power. I've found that if I force myself to write even when all I want to do is climb in bed and watch garbage TV it'll start the snowball effect and inspiration will come after. Read, write, explore, those are the things that inspire me.



I couldn't have said it better. I tend to draw inspiration from many different sources. For my novel in progress Mercy a single thought inspired the whole thing.


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## haribol (Aug 4, 2017)

The beauty of writing surpasses the rest of other creations, for when I compose something I feel I  am a creator and creation is something divine and that connects  me with God or divinity. I write for sheer joy and nothing else even publicity and popularity is not that important to me.


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## Tella (Aug 5, 2017)

Many factors. Creativity, the wish to communicate, affect those around you. Boredom.

I think the most prominent one for me hinges on Tolkien's premise of fantasy:

*“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . . If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!”*

Now my prospective writing ranges from realistic fiction, fantasy, scifi, etc... so not only fantasy. But the notion stands: I am bored of this world and a story helps the pain subside a little. It's like a fix I need to have every once in a while.


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## Jan (Aug 5, 2017)

I write because I keep making up stories in my mind. I've always felt like I have a great amount of fantasy in my head. Whenever I want to get some of that creativity out I start writing. I write stories I feel are interesting to myself. With the hopes that maybe someone else would like to read them.


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## old.bull.lee (Aug 5, 2017)

"I've always found that writing comes from a great inner pain." - Barton Fink


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## moderan (Aug 6, 2017)

I write things that I would like to read. Perspiration is more important than inspiration, I would hasten to add.


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## Marsha Dev (Aug 11, 2017)

All writers are different as well as their reason of writing. What personally inspires me doesn’t mean others also will get inspired by that. My source of inspiration has always been life as I feel there no greater teacher in life than life itself.


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## PiP (Aug 11, 2017)

Marsha Dev said:


> All writers are different as well as their reason of writing. What personally inspires me doesn’t mean others also will get inspired by that. My source of inspiration has always been life as I feel there no greater teacher in life than life itself.



Hi Marsha and welcome to WF. I also use life as a source of inspiration, especially nature.


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## Phil Istine (Aug 11, 2017)

I find inspiration in a variety of things, but most of it seems to spring from the gritty side of life.  Making up a story about the guy who was still asleep in a shop doorway (I needed to wake him so I could wash the windows - even though I left it until I had finished the other jobs), the kid in the coffee shop who looked like she had self-harming scars on her arm, the guy in the wheelchair who deliberately dented a car that was bumped up the footpath, mutilation of the traffic warden to was too ticket happy etc etc.  Sometimes I fictionalise the pieces into a world that doesn't exist, and other times I keep it closer to likely reality.


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## sas (Aug 11, 2017)

I deliberately mutilated a car once. I was inspired to do what would be unthinkable for me, by the car parked so close to mine, on the passenger side, that a door could not be opened. It had been parked after mine. Whoever was in it had to use their passenger door to exit. Really. My mother was in a wheelchair, and the parking lot sloped, so if I left her there it would roll. I keyed the car. Felt good, too. Never regretted it. 

So watch out when you park, folks, you might be inspiring the devil in someone.


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## Phil Istine (Aug 11, 2017)

sas said:


> I deliberately mutilated a car once. I was inspired to do what would be unthinkable for me, by the car parked so close to mine, on the passenger side, that a door could not be opened. It had been parked after mine. Whoever was in it had to use their passenger door to exit. Really. My mother was in a wheelchair, and the parking lot sloped, so if I left her there it would roll. I keyed the car. Felt good, too. Never regretted it.
> 
> So watch out when you park, folks, you might be inspiring the devil in someone.



Oh yes.  Recently, very early in the morning, I had a car blocking the driver and passenger doors.  Even though my handbrake is on the door side of the seat, I couldn't even open it enough to let the handbrake off and push forward.  In the end, I got a short pole from the back of the van, opened the driver's door and pressed the pole onto the horn button (on the steering wheel) until someone came out and removed their vehicle.  The next step might have been damage but it never got that far.
A rather pointed note was left under the wiper of the other vehicle.  I somehow refrained from using swear words.
Sorry.  This is off topic


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## sas (Aug 11, 2017)

Well, since I took this thread off-track, I should bring it back.

I know that I am working on what will be a crap poem, even if executed well... you know, the rhythm, assonance, alliteration type stuff. So how do I know, in advance, I'm writing crap? Because it is a "big philosophical thought", not about the small things that touch us, and really mean something. So, when those small things cross my path, I grab onto them, and write...grateful. Take out your magnifying glass, not your telescope pointed, at the stars. Inspiration is nearby.


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## bazz cargo (Aug 11, 2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqZc7ZQURMs

There are loads of lyrics  that just scream 'write! write! write!


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## Theglasshouse (Aug 15, 2017)

Painful sad experiences, happy moments admirable qualities( the protagonist) in people or undesirable (opposite of admirable) qualities(antagonist) in people are some wells of sources of inspiration feelings or emotions that people must examine. Then breathe in as inspiration and create these feelings as characters. (I am asking these questions and providing answers for a future short story I want to write and this is what makes sense to me). Adversity and conflict. When both are combined it helps create reader interest because of creating sympathy. Real people and their dialogue, their appearances. I've been reading a lot, and this is what sticks out. For depicting people some people put character traits or tags of real people. Tags as in how the trait is manifested. So real life inspiration is a big one. Passion is another what is important in your life? Is it love, the environment etc? Justifying why and a memory of the moment helps make it a possible way to know if you really cared. I like the environment since I had a biology teacher who made me appreciate mother nature. Plus I don't like cruelty towards animals since I have witnessed their deaths (childhood memory of people selling in the marketplace animals that were once living). So I have a specific memory of this passion. There are many different places.


(below quoted from Jack Bickham writing the short story a hands on program.)
(definition of adversity: Adversity is conflict such as in a rainstorm and people lose gold in a rainstorm example.)
(conflict: two people wanting the same thing, or one standing in opposition. In the story of conflict the central character selects some specific story goal the attainment of which will he thinks make him happy but someone else in the story of opposes his quest and so there is a struggle in the end or climax the two major opposing characters usually have an ultimate face-off of some kind and someone wins and someone loses.)

Decided to give the book a chance since I am using my dragon speaking software microphone and reading it ultra slow to understand every point made in his reference book.


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## JJBuchholz (Sep 5, 2017)

Inspiration is an interesting thing. You can't always go looking for it, because you might not find it. You also might be doing nothing at all at some point, but then it hits you out of the blue. Personally, I've been inspired by odd things more often than not. Things like:

-Sitting on a beach alone as it's enveloped by fog
-Watching a train go by
-Looking at something at work that reminds me of subject matter

Those are only a few examples. Inspiration is a strange bedfellow indeed.

-JJB


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord (Sep 6, 2017)

Daydreams, mostly. I daydream quite vividly, for fun or as something to do while I'm waiting. Situations and characters just come to me; I can generate them on command if need be, but most of them appear out of nowhere. As a result, there's a lot of characters walking around my head and they all want to get out onto paper, whether by drawing or writing or both.


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## Folcro (Sep 9, 2017)

The feeling I get when I experience a great story, generally in video games. I find that every time I try something new I also get a new idea for a story. I need to try new things more...


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## JustRob (Sep 10, 2017)

Unbelievably, I am apparently inspired by events that will happen in my future life, if my past writing is any guide. However, I am seldom inspired to write anything, which leads me to suspect that my future life is going to be pretty uneventful. I'm content with that. Second-guessing what fate has in store for me whenever I read back what I write gets tedious. Of course I don't know whether the converse is true, that what I write actually influences my future. How would I know though? Maybe it does. The outcome would be exactly the same in either case.

As I wrote previously, there are many reasons why people write, but for some of us there may equally be reasons why we don't.


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## Job (Sep 10, 2017)

"Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work."  -Chuck Close


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## SueC (Sep 10, 2017)

I have amended the old adage "write what you know" to "write what you see."  Be observant, especially if you feel a little stuck. What do you want to say? Be empathetic.


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## Roac (Sep 11, 2017)

Sometimes I use writing prompts from various websites. The randomness forces me to be creative.


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## Ultraroel (Sep 12, 2017)

I got inspired by starting to write by the horribly poor starwars movies of late.


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## Nellie (Sep 12, 2017)

Cruelties of life and people. But of course the goodness, also. Life's happenings are what inspires me.


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## Chipchase (Sep 12, 2017)

w.riter said:


> Is there a common means of inspiration used by all writers?



In a way, there is a common means of inspiration for writers. It's called life. Your senses. What you see. What you hear. What you smell. What you feel. What you taste. It is half the reason why even the successful writers will keep something they can write notes on because inspiration can strike at any moment but you can't necessarily magic a laptop out of thin air. 

I think a better question would be how can a writer turn inspiration into something worth writing about. 


For example, imagine we are both sitting at the local park. A gentleman is walking by. He has in one hand a leather bag typical of lawyers. Tucked under his arm he has the local newspaper. He's wearing a two-piece suit. Some people wouldn't see the potential there. He's just a lawyer going to work. But a skilled writer can turn that guy walking by into anything. 

Ditch the bag he's a businessman or a police detective. Toss the suit he's a student or a lecturer. Maybe he's not even on the "right" side of the law. Maybe he's not even on Earth. 

But let's keep him on this planet & as a lawyer. What sort of lawyer. Defense, prosecutor? Criminal, libel, estate, etc.? Is the case a simple hit & run, relatives screaming murder over some rich relative's fishy will, or maybe it is an immigrant pleading mercy instead of deportation and likely death. How about the mob or some convoluted investigation on crooked cops? 


Inspiration is everywhere. 

It's up to the writer to use it.


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