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What inspired your current novel?
- Thread starter Xitra_Blud
- Start date
Mythopoet
Auror
The Book of Lost Tales, J.R.R. Tolkien's oldest version of what would later become The Silmarillion.
Plato's Timaeus
Various world mythologies
Tim Power's The Anubis Gates
Plato's Timaeus
Various world mythologies
Tim Power's The Anubis Gates
- Thread starter
- #23
Xitra_Blud
Sage
Isn't it amazing how something can start with something so small and then grow into a whole world and adventure? I like to watch it grow. It's interesting to see it go from one thing to the next. Anytime I look at or think of the source that inspired me, I'm in awe, but everything comes from a seed. I sometimes get teary I'd when I think about it :')
Eagle
Scribe
My story began as a Final Fantasy VIII rip-off. Now, it is truly it's own entity and I am proud that it no longer borrows so heavily. Themes are also slightly inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire. 
teacup
Auror
Eagle, good thing it's it's own entity now. FF8 was a mess
(let the game wars begin)
(let the game wars begin)
Mine is deliberately imitative. The earliest full novel I can remember reading was an adventure story about some kids at some place on the British coast. It involved smugglers and an island and caves. Mostly what I remember is the sense of excitement I had in reading it.
I already have a well-developed fantasy world, so I thought I would try my hand at telling that story, set it my world. It's no longer on the coast of Britain, it's in the Harz Mountains in Germany, but accomplishment sometimes wanders far from inspiration.
I already have a well-developed fantasy world, so I thought I would try my hand at telling that story, set it my world. It's no longer on the coast of Britain, it's in the Harz Mountains in Germany, but accomplishment sometimes wanders far from inspiration.
The Dark One
Auror
Some great ideas here...
My recently published book was inspired by jogging around a park which features heavily in the story (the main character jogs around the same park and cooks up his evil schemes while doing so).
It was also inspired by my own brand of anonymous pranks which I call life sculpture. Our hero is a life sculptor par excellence, and through his pranks gets caught up in something way out of his control.
My recently published book was inspired by jogging around a park which features heavily in the story (the main character jogs around the same park and cooks up his evil schemes while doing so).
It was also inspired by my own brand of anonymous pranks which I call life sculpture. Our hero is a life sculptor par excellence, and through his pranks gets caught up in something way out of his control.
GeekDavid
Auror
Orson Scott Card
Malik
Auror
25 years ago, I had an idea about a David Blaine-type magician (okay, David Copperfield, back then; but David Blaine would have been a better model) who had a whole shtick about being in touch with dark forces. He had facial tattoos, rocked the goth look, etc. He even had accumulated an occult following; ironic because it was all an act. The magic, though, was real. In my original version of the book, he ended up in the fantasy world where his family had originated, and used what he knew of Earth -- finance, road-building, basic governance, etc. -- to build an empire while becoming a powerful sorcerer. A neighboring country then decided to recruit someone else from Earth as his foil, and a war ensued to unseat him.
After a couple of rewrites I realized that I had my protagonist and antagonist reversed; the magician was turning out to be a selfish, conniving prick and the guy brought in to counter him -- a down-on-his-luck stuntman with a drinking problem and a vigilante complex -- was clearly the hero. They're both fairly gray as good guy / bad guy, now; where it really gets black hat / white hat is when they're each against a wall. That's when the magician turns very dark and nasty to get things done and the hero just gets funny.
After a couple of rewrites I realized that I had my protagonist and antagonist reversed; the magician was turning out to be a selfish, conniving prick and the guy brought in to counter him -- a down-on-his-luck stuntman with a drinking problem and a vigilante complex -- was clearly the hero. They're both fairly gray as good guy / bad guy, now; where it really gets black hat / white hat is when they're each against a wall. That's when the magician turns very dark and nasty to get things done and the hero just gets funny.
Ayaka Di'rutia
Troubadour
The overall story of Warhammer 40K provided a lot of inspiration for my WIP, mainly in the area of epic war/army ideas, although I've never read any of the W40K books (or played the game) and it isn't as violent or bleak.
Eagle
Scribe
Eagle, good thing it's it's own entity now. FF8 was a mess
(let the game wars begin)
Oh you did not, good sir! But I do agree, FF8 had it's fair share of shabby plots. My story was more based on the whole concept of students being trained to be mercenaries and then fighting a sorceress. It's very different now, thankfully, but the initial influence will always be the same.
RS McCoy
Scribe
This is such a great thread! How often do we writers want to share the origins of our stories?
My book Sparks follows a mind reading teen who attends a school to train students to use their special abilities, or 'sparks'. Some students are talented with fire, others with animals, some with languages, etc. The idea started with the idea that there are people who are just ridiculously good at something, whether it be writing, or painting, or what have you. Those people don't have any physical trait that distinguishes their ease in their area, but they nonetheless have something special.
My book Sparks follows a mind reading teen who attends a school to train students to use their special abilities, or 'sparks'. Some students are talented with fire, others with animals, some with languages, etc. The idea started with the idea that there are people who are just ridiculously good at something, whether it be writing, or painting, or what have you. Those people don't have any physical trait that distinguishes their ease in their area, but they nonetheless have something special.
- Thread starter
- #33
Xitra_Blud
Sage
My idea honestly started as a video game idea, which then turned into a movie saga idea (six films, to be exact), which then I got an idea for a prequel. The prequel came from a smaller part of the episode (which, alone, was inspired by a dream). I already had another prequel idea for the movies that evolved around one character and I didn't want to have two movie prequels, so I decided to write the main prequel as a novel, and that's what I'm working on now. From a picture of MCR, to a video game idea, to six movie ideas (seven if you'll count Lance's prequel), to a novel that I'm working on now. It doesn't seem like it's been over a year since I got this idea. I love watching my work grow. Is like seeing your baby go from the crib to learning how to walk. Just hope I get to see it graduate
Sam Evren
Troubadour
I was walking down the street, I saw a scene in my head, and I built the book around that scene. But not right away.
What really inspired me to write it was a letter from a girlfriend I found one night. I was at my desk. I was lost. I didn't know what to do, not just that night, but at all.
My desk is a large, old roll-top from the late 1800s. It's filled with the last 26 years of my life. Sometimes, when I'm lost, I just open the drawers and look through my past.
That night, the night I started writing my book, I opened a drawer and found a letter. It was from my first "serious" girlfirend. The post mark placed it 13 years in the past. It was unopened.
I opened that letter. We were, at the time she wrote it, still in college. It was another time when I'd been rudderless in my life, and she'd written to encourage me to take Creative Writing classes.
She wrote one line, a line about looking at a blank page and realizing that you have 200+ pages to write not being easy, but you have to start somewhere.
I realized she was right.
I started writing my first book that night. I wrote the bulk of it over the next few months. I didn't finish it until last week. I did finish it, though.
And she was my inspiration for starting it.
What really inspired me to write it was a letter from a girlfriend I found one night. I was at my desk. I was lost. I didn't know what to do, not just that night, but at all.
My desk is a large, old roll-top from the late 1800s. It's filled with the last 26 years of my life. Sometimes, when I'm lost, I just open the drawers and look through my past.
That night, the night I started writing my book, I opened a drawer and found a letter. It was from my first "serious" girlfirend. The post mark placed it 13 years in the past. It was unopened.
I opened that letter. We were, at the time she wrote it, still in college. It was another time when I'd been rudderless in my life, and she'd written to encourage me to take Creative Writing classes.
She wrote one line, a line about looking at a blank page and realizing that you have 200+ pages to write not being easy, but you have to start somewhere.
I realized she was right.
I started writing my first book that night. I wrote the bulk of it over the next few months. I didn't finish it until last week. I did finish it, though.
And she was my inspiration for starting it.
Mindfire
Istar
I actually keep a list of all my influences and what parts of my work they inspired, from the Codex Alera to Thundercats.
My current idea was originally conceived as being "Justice League Unlimited + Sky High, but in a fantasy world where superpowers = magic." ...It's evolved a LOT since then. The superhero aspect is 100% gone. There is no more international order of peacekeeping knights or a secret training academy based in a sinkhole city originally built by dragons (it made sense in context... I think). I ditched the generic elves, dwarves, and giants. And I no longer have gimmicky phoenix demigods (who in retrospect were strangely similar to the Golden goddesses from Zelda).
My current story I guess you could say is inspired mainly by the Codex Alera and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not necessarily plot-wise, but style-wise.
My current idea was originally conceived as being "Justice League Unlimited + Sky High, but in a fantasy world where superpowers = magic." ...It's evolved a LOT since then. The superhero aspect is 100% gone. There is no more international order of peacekeeping knights or a secret training academy based in a sinkhole city originally built by dragons (it made sense in context... I think). I ditched the generic elves, dwarves, and giants. And I no longer have gimmicky phoenix demigods (who in retrospect were strangely similar to the Golden goddesses from Zelda).
My current story I guess you could say is inspired mainly by the Codex Alera and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not necessarily plot-wise, but style-wise.
Addison
Auror
I honestly don't know where a lot my story ideas come from. Sometimes I'll just be googling images for random things and one will provoke an idea or a question that I seriously consider. My current work is a combo of question and life inspiration. The question was "What would life be like if magic and all its creations didn't disappear?" a question I thought of while in a very dull class of high school history which I completely blanked on as I imagined myself in a history class where I was learning about the peace treaties between dryads and lumberjacks.
I have had a lot of ideas floating around in my head. I picked one and am now running with it.
The inspiration? Firstly my own cats. At home we love giving them voices and figuring out their characters. Secondly, Neil Gaimans 'The Price'. I love this and set me off on writing loads of ideas down.
I have drawn lots of inspiration from fantasy films, Tolkein, Lewis etc and then just said 'what if i did this with cats? Could i combine the two elements?!'
I have been recommended a series called 'The Warriors' to draw inspiration from but i think i am going to have a go first so i dont get too heavily influenced!
The inspiration? Firstly my own cats. At home we love giving them voices and figuring out their characters. Secondly, Neil Gaimans 'The Price'. I love this and set me off on writing loads of ideas down.
I have drawn lots of inspiration from fantasy films, Tolkein, Lewis etc and then just said 'what if i did this with cats? Could i combine the two elements?!'
I have been recommended a series called 'The Warriors' to draw inspiration from but i think i am going to have a go first so i dont get too heavily influenced!
Inkling
Jabrosky
Banned
I've finally got around to writing a novel outline all the way to the end. I will confess though that the plot owes more than a bit of inspiration to Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, most of all his short novel Hour of the Dragon. It is about a queen who must go on a quest and fight her way to reclaim her throne after all.
Mythopoet
Auror
As a lover of Howard's Conan stories, that sounds like excellent inspiration!
