Inspiration issues.

[UnintentionallyHeroic]

I haven't been on here in forever. Mostly because I had abandoned the story I was working on in the premature stage; I barely had the basis of how my characters looked and behaved and had what was a train-wreck of a first chapter. Then I left for about a half a year, and now I'm back, wishing to continue but lacking the inspiration to do so. Something tells me I need to tear down and rebuild all I had going, but that's not why I'm here...
Tell me, what were some inspirational moments for you guys? Things you do to renew your drive to write after going stale?

 

[Anders Ämting]

Well, my latest idea came from a joke I made on a different forum, which involved using one of the title randomizers at Seventh Sanctum, picking three titles and writing down a brief blurb for whatever came to mind.

One of them I liked so much, I decided to combine it with a concept I've wanted make something of for quite some time but never had a solid idea for. Amazing what you can get from just a single title.

As for your troubles, my suggestion is this: Don't rush in. When you get an idea, don't write it down right away. Let it float around inside your head for a while. Allow it to be vague and imprecise. Allow other, smaller ideas to stick to it. You probably won't forget about it, and if you do it probably wasn't that good to begin with. I personally find that ideas turn out the best when I allow them to mature on their own first.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Write something else. If you get stuck on a story and can't get motivated to work on it further, start another one. That way you're at least getting lots of writing practice done. (It's better than not writing at all!)

 

[TWErvin2]

I guess that I just think I have interesting stories to tell. That's what keeps me going.

Maybe don't start with a character(s). I normally start with an idea or situation. As such the character's don't come first. The plot (events) do.

 

[San Cidolfus]

Mister Clayborne speaks wisdom. Inspiration is a fey thing, and it behaves differently for everyone. If you just can't simply muster the enthusiasm to work on your project of choice, then turn your attention to something else. Change your genre, change your POV, switch up your characters; write what you feel you can write. Dash out a short story, scribble stream of consciousness, look at one of the challenges here, copy a paragraph from a book you like and write your own stuff from there; what's important is not what you write or how lousy you think it is, it's that you write.

Get your mind in the space it needs to be to create, break the rust off the mental clockwork, and eventually the process will smooth and you'll be comfortable spinning text. Then, when you're limber and refreshed and ready to groin-punch the beast, reconsider your target work.

We can't always wait on inspiration. Nor can we always hunt the bitch down and lasso her. Sometimes we just have to make due with being wordsmiths until the fickle minx decides to visit us. And when she does visit, we wow her.

 

[Anders Ämting]

I normally start with an idea or situation. As such the character's don't come first. The plot (events) do.

I'm exactly the other way around - the characters come first, then the plot. If I don't know the characters, I wouldn't even know where to begin putting the plot together.

 

[TWErvin2]

I'm exactly the other way around - the characters come first, then the plot. If I don't know the characters, I wouldn't even know where to begin putting the plot together.

Which is exactly why there isn't a 'this way is the right and only way' to write a novel.

 

[Xanados]

Write something else. Keep a list ideas. Read. Watch documentaries (History - that's what I like to watch.) Listen to music. Music, most definitely, is my primary source of inspiration. Nordic Folk music, instrumental game music, etc.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Which is exactly why there isn't a 'this way is the right and only way' to write a novel.

Well, I never claimed there was.

(Though, going by the OP, it sounds like Heroic did start with the story before she had her characters nailed down.)

 

[UnintentionallyHeroic]

Well, my latest idea came from a joke I made on a different forum, which involved using one of the title randomizers at Seventh Sanctum, picking three titles and writing down a brief blurb for whatever came to mind.

One of them I liked so much, I decided to combine it with a concept I've wanted make something of for quite some time but never had a solid idea for. Amazing what you can get from just a single title.

You know, that actually sounds like a fun idea. Seventh Sanctum is quite the lifesaver, isn't it? I might try that sometime, too.

 

[UnintentionallyHeroic]

Thank you all. Maybe everyone's right, maybe I do need to take a rest from the one idea I've been trying to nail into my poor hard skull. Oh, and Anders, I did start with my characters first. Though... that was probably a bad idea. What good are the characters I'm so close to if I don't even know what situations to put them in? Then again, on the other hand, good characters can be placed in any situation and have a kind of lifelike quality about them. Oh well, there's no wrong or right way.

 

[Anders Ämting]

You know, that actually sounds like a fun idea. Seventh Sanctum is quite the lifesaver, isn't it? I might try that sometime, too.

Oh, I almost never use Sevent Sanctum. This was an exception, which I guess makes it even more of a happy accident.

Oh, and Anders, I did start with my characters first. Though... that was probably a bad idea. What good are the characters I'm so close to if I don't even know what situations to put them in?

Well, I'd say the characters, setting and the general situation are connected, coming together to form the plot. Of course I need an idea of where the characters are and what they want to achieve as well. But the plot - here defined as the events taking place in the story - is created by the actions of my characters, in the place and situation they are in. Even if I know what is supposed to happen, I need to know the characters before I can figure out how it happens.

Then again, characters are by far my strongest point, and I write very character driven plots in general. Perhaps your strong point lies elsewhere?

 

[Jabrosky]

One of my chronic problems is that I absolutely fall in love with an idea for one moment but then eventually grow bored of it or see how stupid it actually is and abandon it. I can never commit to an idea for very long.

 

[UnintentionallyHeroic]

One of my chronic problems is that I absolutely fall in love with an idea for one moment but then eventually grow bored of it or see how stupid it actually is and abandon it. I can never commit to an idea for very long.

I know exactly what you mean. As a matter of fact, that's a big problem with me, too. I hate hate hate it. That's why I'm probably never going to sit down long enough to get anything published.