Inspired, On Occasion.

When writing, I find inspiration in several places. While some authors tell you to people watch, I find that since I’m writing about fantastical worlds, looking at people in my world does not inspire characters. Now characters, in any genre, should resemble people we know (maybe not personally know) for the sake of the reader’s ability to sympathize with the character, but I find that most characters are created in the depth of my mind and I give them personal traits, not from people watching but from my own personal experiences.

One source of inspiration is artwork. Beautiful pictures create or reinforce stories in my mind. While working on a story about the four horsemen of the apocalypse and searching the web for research, I came across an awesome depiction of the four horsemen which I had to buy.

(http://www.revelationillustrated.com/shop/image08.asp)

This picture still sits on my desk to inspire me. I’m not saying you have to buy it; I’m just using it as an example.

Another source of inspiration is nature. Beautiful plants, trees and landscapes can bring up wonderful images in my mind. Also, the weather is a great inspiration. If I sit outside with a notebook while a storm is brewing, it is easier to create a dramatic or dark scene for my story.

Probably them most important inspiration is music. I enjoy all types of music and listen to different artists or genres to write different scenes or to get into different moods for writing. I love Gershwin and Tchaikovsky, Yo-Yo Ma and most things Celtic. World music and classical music hold such a variety of sounds that it inspires a plethora of images in my mind, while some rock inspires kick ass characters or fight scenes. With most stories I create a soundtrack, essentially. When I want to write a specific scene or about a specific character, I’ll listen to a specific song. At the bottom of this post I included an embedded music player (care of www.seeqpod.com an awesome site for finding songs to listen to without having to buy the entire CD), which contains a list of songs I listen to often when I write.

Whenever I feel uninspired to write, I listen to music, explore nature and view art. Hopefully this post makes you think of what inspires you and gives you more ways to inspire your own writing.