Pulling inspiration

Inspiration comes from many different places for everyone. It can be from a song you heard on the radio, a single picture you've seen or a dream you had. I've gathered inspiration from all of those places before, building around a landscape I come across as I'm driving during a road trip or a scene that forms in my head that goes with the pacing and beat of a song on the radio. Inspiration can be found in most anything, and yet at the same time can be hard to find as you're staring at the screen of your computer or the blank page loaded in your typewriter. 

I've found that inspiration often strikes me as I'm laying in bed trying to fall asleep for the night. I'll start thinking on some thread of my story, and soon I'm weaving together new plot lines or building on those I've already put into place. This is great from the stand point of creating my stories, though it can at times lead me into a lack of sleep if I don't remind myself to shut it off and let myself rest as well. It can be very easy to also find those ideas aren't as clear anymore in the morning, and you have to walk your way back through your thoughts to get them pulled together. 

Sleep has often given me another means of inspiration as well, one that is even harder to grasp ahold of in the morning. I can have very involved dreams, and sometimes I remember them as clear as a bell when I wake up and other times it's just the sense that I've had some strange adventure while I was asleep. I've pulled elements from my dreams out before to use in stories, an example being in Gabriel where a certain creature that makes an appearance was one I had dreamt about leading up to my work on that novel. 

I will often have music playing while I'm writing as well, and each book I work on usually has a playlist where I've dumped music into it that seems to fit to me. It's rarely one song or band, but the string of them together that can bring out something in a character I hadn't noticed. I'll do this while I'm driving and listening to the radio even, where as the songs change I allow the feel of them each to build on something as a whole. 

Really, inspiration can be found almost anywhere, but I find it to be the hardest to come by while sitting in my apartment and trying to force it. I actually write more when I'm out than I do at home. Whether I'm sitting waiting for a class to start at school or on my lunch break in the middle of night at work, I find myself able to sit and get the words out better. I think a part of it is the distraction of other things I could do around my apartment. Also, it may be the fact that my apartment doesn't lend itself to much outside my own world. Perhaps someday when I have a house of my own I'll find a space within it that suits my writing, one that isn't also my living room or dining area. 

I would suggest that if you're having trouble on a scene and you find that you've been staring at the blank page for far too long, simply get up and get out of the space you're in. You don't have to particularly go find a coffee shop to write in as the hopeful writers are often portrayed as doing, you don't even have to take the work with you. Go for a walk or a drive out somewhere away from your norm, and let your mind wander and lead you to a potential solution. It doesn't always work, but I doubt will it hurt much to get out and take that breath of fresh air either. 

Until next time...