… And every bright neon sign turned into stars…
January 8, 2008
Frank Sinatra is serenading me in the dead of night as I bring this post to you. He, or rather the song he’s singing, is the inspiration for the title as well as the content that follows.
I can’t seem to type a single line of this post without singing along with Ol’ Blue Eyes. I know his voice wasn’t perfect, but it seems to fit this song wonderfully. For those who don’t recognize the line, I’ve had The World We Knew on repeat for Gods know how long. It has been the backdrop for every creative thought I’ve had in the past two days. I have no specific reason for why it’s so inspiring, but the imagery is so vivid it’s difficult to turn off.
The way that the mind gathers inspiration is amazing to me. How is it that the brief tune of a trumpet can turn my brain upside-down and suddenly I have a whole new project to discover? I suppose this is the mark of an artist. The ability to turn seemingly insignificant things into something they see meaningful. Music is an exception to that rule, as it is already in an artistic form, but that’s material for another post. The point I’m trying to make is that inspiration can come from anywhere. It’s the artist’s choice as to whether or not they’ll accept it. Even if it is accepted, there’s a chance of losing it before they can find a pen and paper.
For me, inspiration has a very general pattern. Plotlines and settings are taken from cultures and time periods of interest. Even in my fantasy days, this played a big part in my writing. Characters, however, vary much more. One of my favorite characters in my main project, Thomas Wittmann, originally came into being through a customizable appearance on a video game. His mistress, Tabitha Watson, came from a series of photographs taken by Howell Conant.
The World We Knew has veered me off the path of mafiosi and illegal means of income. Well, “veered” is a harsh word. It’s more like a jug handle along the way. Nonetheless, I should probably make an outline and update my few, potentially faithful readers at a later date. I apologize for my lack of philosophical enlightenment, but tonight just isn’t a night to get cosmic.
I’ll end this post with a question for those who write comments: Does your inspiration come from a specific pattern of things, or does it come from anywhere? Furthermore, what do you do when you’re in a project, and and you’re suddenly ready to start another? Do you write it down for later or charge ahead?
January 9, 2008 at 5:44 am
One character of my current project, Rupert None, was sparked by a philosophical question (how much would a person give up to satisify their deepest desire, and would they regret it afterwards?), a rant on the nature of the hero, and a bit of animalist symbolism.
That’s just one example. Music, movies, other stories, life experiences, and pretty much anything else can catch my fancy, lodge itself in my brain, and pop out about a week later at the most inopportune moment (“So, is it a date–HOLY FREAKING CRAP, PLOT FLASH!” “You’re insane!” “Shut up, lady, I’m thinking.”) possible.
January 9, 2008 at 8:43 am
I get inspiration from a variety of places. Sometimes it’s a daydream; other times it’s a riff on someone I meet. My second screenplay was inspired by a few lines from a song called “The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine” by Spoon.
I started a Google Spreadsheet called my “Idea Box” for when–you guessed it–I get ideas. I have a column for a short jot of the idea, a column for the source, and a column for expansion of said idea should the mood strike. I also carry around my trusty moleskine notebook so that I can write down any thoughts, events, bits of dialog or otherwise that might inspire a story later.
If an idea is really chomping at the bit, I’ll outline it as an apéritif and then set it aside until I can devote my brain to it.
January 9, 2008 at 5:23 pm
My inspiration comes from specific permiability and osmosis with reality.
No really.
Heh. I’ll explain. You go through life and you write. These are almost separate activities. A writer isn’t really a part of life while they’re writing, and when a part of life they aren’t writing. Our curse. But it’s okay. Because when you reengage with life, you’re gifted with the ability to pluck random bits of fluff out of the air, mash it together, and make something of it.
Which is another way of saying ‘who knows.’ I don’t think any true writer (as opposed to a formulaic genre writer that you can find writing cheap mass-market paperbacks with similar themes and characters) knows where they get their ideas. You just stumble across them in various states of awesome, and you pick them up and look at them and try to make them work. If they do, super! If they don’t, you move on.
And that’s the trick. Once you get going you can get new, good ideas left and right. When I’m looking for new ideas I can have 10 new novel ideas a day, easily. That doesn’t mean I should write them all. If you lack something to write, go with it. If not, file them away. Don’t write them down, don’t try to force them into what you’re doing (unless they belong there) and don’t stress over them.
Good ideas are a dime a dozen. You’ll forget hundreds of them in a career as a writer. That’s okay. The worthwhile ones will stick. So if you’re writing and you have a good idea don’t say “now how do I work a love triangle into my police procedural?” That will ruin your book.
Instead, remember your idea. Or don’t. It doesn’t matter. Just carry on. If it’s still around when you’re done and asking “what’s next?” then you know it’s a keeper. If not, don’t fret, it wasn’t worth the other ten ideas that are vying for your attention now.
Just my two cents.