-
Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!
Where do you get inspired from real life?
- Thread starter d0glife
- Start date
Joe McM
Minstrel
Yes. I’m a spirit healer. My fantasy series is about a young gay boy who discovers he’s both a physical healer and a spirit healer, and facing challenges and dangers as he does so. So there are many elements that reflect my journey. The characters have some bits of me, my husband, and others who I know. FYI: My work as a spirit healer is simply to help people remember their best selfs, enjoy life and discover their passion.
Jackarandajam
Inkling
My kids: some of the stuff they say ("laster-day" made its way into one of my characters common lingo, for instance. Who ever heard of a "yester" anyway??) They're prone to draw too, and some of the stuff they come up with is truly of the nightmare variety... even if it's supposed to be a giraffe. Really fuels my creature feature.
Work: I worked Construction for a long time and now have a rich mental portfolio of some really fascinating, sometimes even shocking characters and situations. I travelled for work and spent tons of time with them, so I got to really know how they ticked, sometimes whether I wanted to or not.
Haven't done as much people watching since moving to the country, but I used to love chilling around people having conversations and taking notes on casual dialogue cues and clever phrases: "I'd pat you on the back, but your hand is in the way," I heard once. Pure gold.
Work: I worked Construction for a long time and now have a rich mental portfolio of some really fascinating, sometimes even shocking characters and situations. I travelled for work and spent tons of time with them, so I got to really know how they ticked, sometimes whether I wanted to or not.
Haven't done as much people watching since moving to the country, but I used to love chilling around people having conversations and taking notes on casual dialogue cues and clever phrases: "I'd pat you on the back, but your hand is in the way," I heard once. Pure gold.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
I am a solitary sort. I like being solitary. Most of my inspiration comes from inside, the feeling that I want to accomplish this. Also, that I want out on the market what I don't see out on the market.
I've always enjoyed Fantasy, and swords and sorcery. I dont really know why that and not something else. I also like westerns and space. So...I tend to write in those genres.
While I'd not call it the same as inspiration, I do find that many things I try to capture and include do come from real life. I tend to be counter group-thinking, and question a lot. If everyone is going one way, I tend to want to go a different way. And so, to the degree that I see trends and things just being accepted and unquestioned, I tend to go after them.
I find I have things I want to say, and my stories sometimes let me say them. But...you know...stories are pesky. They have their own path and direction, and sometimes it does not line up with my own.
I wish to finish my story before I die. Since I haven't yet, that is a motivation
I've always enjoyed Fantasy, and swords and sorcery. I dont really know why that and not something else. I also like westerns and space. So...I tend to write in those genres.
While I'd not call it the same as inspiration, I do find that many things I try to capture and include do come from real life. I tend to be counter group-thinking, and question a lot. If everyone is going one way, I tend to want to go a different way. And so, to the degree that I see trends and things just being accepted and unquestioned, I tend to go after them.
I find I have things I want to say, and my stories sometimes let me say them. But...you know...stories are pesky. They have their own path and direction, and sometimes it does not line up with my own.
I wish to finish my story before I die. Since I haven't yet, that is a motivation
Last edited:
Not_Alice
Scribe
I find most inspiration in situations where I don't need much brain, and can just let my thoughts run free in random directions. Walking the dog is great for that, or cleaning the house, or listening to music, or traveling (unless I'm the driver, it's a bad idea to get caught in story visions when you're doing 130km/h on a highway...). People can be an awesome source, too, ranging from funny stuff the kids say to co-workers to that oddly dressed stranger on the tram. And song lyrics. I find some of my best ideas in music.
For me, it's history. I'm a historian by training, with one degree in medieval and another in early modern Europe. So I have wide fields and deep on which to draw. I clearly remember discovering a huge trove of primary documents readily available and telling myself, well if I can't get a dissertation out of this, I'm no historian. Decades later, I looked upon my accumulated knowledge of medieval history and told myself, if i can't spin stories out of all this, then I'm no writer.
I'm a writer.
I'm a writer.
Mireille
Dreamer
History because nothing is stranger than truth.
Finchbearer
Istar
Yes, I’d agree that real life is stranger than fiction. Many great works of fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction are inspired by the real world and are richer for it. Lord of the Rings for one example, Handmaid’s Tale for another.
FatCat
Maester
A sentient bike exists, with a dutch accent. He peddles around america pleading the case for cyclists as a way to avoid the total heat death of the sun. Plot twist, some dude in a truck coals him hard, and the protagonist must now bike on the sidewalk with limited vision.
Absolutely everywhere. We were inspired to create an entire series arc based on a K-Pop video. They're all like that. I'm probably going to have one last story idea and then die while swearing. (If anyone doubts that I will die while swearing, get to know me. ) Ideas are like getting locked in a cash cage without a notebook. Good luck and godspeed.
) Ideas are like getting locked in a cash cage without a notebook. Good luck and godspeed.
>Yes, I’d agree that real life is stranger than fiction.
If real life is stranger than your fantasy fiction, then you aren't doing it right.
That quote is by me. You can quote me. I do it myself all the time.
If real life is stranger than your fantasy fiction, then you aren't doing it right.
That quote is by me. You can quote me. I do it myself all the time.
Gurkhal
Auror
While inspiration can come from all manner of sources, music is perhaps my greatest source of inspiration. Reading history often helps but its music that makes a scene or story, often but not always, come alive for me.
Demesnedenoir
Myth Weaver
Yesterday, I read an article about the morgue dude at Harvard who was selling body parts of cadavers... that got my brain rolling, heh heh.
Also, a great quote from a guy who last helped write laws in regard to human body parts. Paraphrased: We didn't write a federal law covering this because we didn't even think of it.
Also, a great quote from a guy who last helped write laws in regard to human body parts. Paraphrased: We didn't write a federal law covering this because we didn't even think of it.
Ned Marcus
Maester
Isn't the truth too strange?
Read this a while back. Lessons from the UFC: How to Keep Blood-Sports Interesting Instant obsession. Now my lovely little book which was originally titled Rosemary for Remembrance is now All the Devils because the body count plummeted and now it's basically Circus Maximus meets Vampire Prom. And it also is half of an in-series duology.
Ban, you will pay.
Ban, you will pay.
Prince of Spires
Auror
I'd read that, just on that pitch alone
I always find this an interesting question, simply because it's not something I worry about. I find inspiration everywhere. It's usually little bits that lodge themselves in my brain and displace stuff my wife wishes I'd remember (like shopping lists or to-do lists). They come from everywhere. History is always a great place (I write epic fantasy). Did you know that in the Roman empire, there was a year of 6 emperors? Or that a guy once bought the Roman empire and became emperor? Boom! Instant story inspiration.
On the other hand, it can also start small. I've just finished up a story that began in my head when I misread the sentence "a knight or heroine" as "a knight on heroin". And a few years ago, when my daughter was maybe 2 or 3, my wife uttered the unforgettable sentence "No Lauren, you're not allowed to magic away grandma." Just for context, my daughter had been given a wand (no, not a real one, I know how you guys think), and she was playing with it together with her grandmother. But that sentence has been with me ever since, and it's just begging for a story.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I can keep going on and on, because my life is full of these things, from big to small. I never give much thought to where they exactly came from. I'm more worried about how I'm ever going to get all those stories written...
