Where do you get your inspiration?
Inspiration is like a well. I read that somewhere once. You draw from it, and sometimes when it’s really flowing well you can complete a project.
So where do you go to fill the well?
If you’re a writer, you read something, right? Well, what do you read? I have a stack of books to get through, everything from Stephen King to Dostoevsky. I’ve read a lot of first chapters, but nothing has really grabbed me recently.
See a movie? I used to draw inspiration from Hitchcock, I loved the intricate way he designed films, his innovation, his mis en scene, his humanity — but I’ve seen all of his great films about a hundred times. I need something new.
So help a brutha out. I don’t care what you do for a living, where do you go to get inspiration? What inspires you to do what you do? And please explain why it inspires you. Please don’t cop out and simply say “my family,” because if you mean “cause I gotta put food on the table” that’s what COMPELS you, not what inspires you.
Is there a painting? A quote? A movie? A book? Mike Schmidt’s 500th at Three Rivers? What can you go to that instills within you a desire to create? And why?
Is this thing on? Anybody out there?
I go for a walk or a drive and pay attention to the beauty of nature (how corny is that?). It’s part of the reason I live by a creek and a mountain — because I can always feel inspired by the beauty of what I see around me. I also love going outside and just staring up at the stars on clear nights.
Ironically, the thing I have the most trouble writing is descriptions of scenes.
Comment by Amy — October 7, 2009 @ 5:12 pm |
No, that’s cool. So the beauty of it makes you want to create something that beautiful yourself? I’m sort of lame, I guess. When I go hiking, usually I’m thinking “I really should go hiking more often …” The stuff I tend to draw inspiration from is prefab crap (movies, other people’s work). Maybe I should look to nature more. It worked for the romantic poets, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, et al.
And maybe that’s why you have trouble writing description — because since you draw your inspiration from it, you want to recreate it in print form but you realize nothing you write can adequately capture precisely how it makes you feel.
Thanks Amy! Think I’ll go for a walk.
Comment by landauerfiction — October 7, 2009 @ 7:30 pm |
I try to get inspired by the little things; the seemingly insignificant details of everyday life. Try to look around…there are many things to be observed that can very easily be missed if you aren’t paying enough attention.
Comment by Sooz — October 8, 2009 @ 1:19 am |
That’s true. Sometimes you get consumed with day-to-day stuff so much that you fail to recognize the things that can inspire all around you. I know I sometimes get obsessed with work, writing blogs, etc., that I fail to focus on what’s important.
Thanks Sooz! FON!
Comment by landauerfiction — October 8, 2009 @ 2:17 am |
I am inspired by weird things – a line in a song, a bright-colored piece of scrapbook paper, a split-second glance into a neighboring car.
The image that sticks in my mind the most is something I saw once, for 2 seconds, about 9 years ago. And if I ever do write anything worthwhile, you can bet this weird little image will be there.
One day, in a drizzling rain, I passed a motorcycle. The driver was a man of about 35 or so, jeans and T-shirt, no helmet. Behind him was a little boy, about 7, wearing a huge helmet (the man’s?) and a tiny red backpack, clutching a single flower in his hand.
Any time I need a pick-me-up, I imagine who that man and boy were, and who that flower might be for. I’ve imagined so many different things now that I could start 400 stories. And probably none of my imaginings have anything to do with what really happened.
Comment by Joan — October 8, 2009 @ 8:43 pm |
Wow, that’s a great image, Joan. Sounds like a Spielberg movie, somehow.
And you’re right, images like that can certainly inspire. It’s like Sooz says, you gotta keep your eyes open.
Comment by landauerfiction — October 8, 2009 @ 9:04 pm |