Question 3 from the Ask an Author section of Goodreads:
How do you get inspired to write?
I’m not sure I’m ever uninspired. I might not always be as proficient as I’d like to be, but the desire to write is almost always there.
When my mind wanders, or when my muse resists, it’s usually because I have a story glitch to fix, or maybe I hadn’t given enough thought to an upcoming scene. Or a scene takes an unexpected turn…
That’s when I have to walk away and think things through.
I’m not what many would call a “plotter”. I’m not a pantser either. I do plan my stories, and I do lay out scene progressions, but not in detail. That limited bit of planning works for me. Uncovering certain details as I write is the best part of the work.
When the details I uncover threaten to take the story in a different direction, the pantser part of me is always eager to explore that new option. The plotter in me resists, aware there was a plan to follow – loose though it might have been.
This is the tough part of the job. Do you follow this new lead or stick with the plan? Which will make for a stronger, more satisfying story?
I suppose the inspiration to write comes with the answer to those questions. Because when the answer is there – just beyond that fog of words yet unwritten – the inspiration to write is at its peak and impossible to resist.
What about you? If you’re an author or other artist, what inspires you to write/create?
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great post. i’m exactly at this point in my current WIP. i had plotted a specific day of the week per chapter, but one day has hijacked the story for three chapters, alternating POVs. as much as i want to progress into the future, i think these chapters are totally necessary and level of information is just at the right time. i like to write in 5-acts, so this extended day actually ends the first act, and i’m having to readjust the story timeline, which isn’t a lot of work at all…it’s just work i was hoping to save myself…having already outlined the whole story. but this makes sense in the moment. it may wind up balancing itself out by cutting the days toward the end of the story.
now that i’ve gone off on a tangent – i find inspiration everywhere and find it harder to weed out what is inspiring for me, but not necessarily interesting to anyone else : ) sometimes in a song. or a chore. or in a conversation. or in the news. or some random overactive, suspicious thought that i think would be a crazy/entertaining idea. sometimes i just take a nap and let the idea percolate, and if it turns into something more than YAY. if not, then there is always another idea waiting in the wings.
looking forward to book3 ~ can’t wait to get to know The Watchman better ; )
It’s as much fun when a plot steers itself as it is a headache. I understand what you went through as your outline shifted. But how cool that it all needed to be there and you let it happen. That’s the best part of this creative process, I think – not just telling the story we think we want to tell, but allowing it to become the story it’s supposed to be.
About inspiration – isn’t it funny how one overheard sentence or glance at a headline can stir up a whole story idea? I love those moments and have files filled with one-liners that intrigued me. So you’re right – there certainly is always another idea in the wings.
When The Watchman is complete, you will be among the first to know. I have a soft spot in my heart of that guy. 🙂
An anecdote I enjoy:
Somerset Maugham was asked if he wrote on a schedule or only when he was inspired. He said he wrote only when inspired. Fortunately inspiration struck every day at 9 am.
Wish I could say the same.
I love this, and I wish I could say the same, too. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have such a specific and secure schedule? I’m sure, to some degree, it’s a mindset. If you tell yourself you have to do it, eventually, the habit will take hold. Or, at least, that’s what I’d like to think.
Though, I am always inspired to write. Truly. I might not always have the words but the inspiration is always there. 😉