Inspiration and Ideas

Ideas are those elusive things which appear to be all around us, yet often remain invisibly silent! When an idea strikes do we merely ponder it and let it pass unnoticed? Or are we simply not looking hard enough or 'thinking' deeply enough about the world around us?

Some tips here for finding ideas would be great for those who seem to find it difficult to do so. Where do people out there gather their ideas from, how difficult do you find it to make them up from scratch?

In my case I don't seem to have too much problem finding 'ideas' but I definitely get stuck in developing them into more solid plot possibilities. Hopefully with practice I will be flying through my outlines with ease!

The way I find ideas is by looking at normal people in much more detail than usual. Normally I would never usually pay much attention to detail, I would notice things, but not really register them. For instance, I would notice a passing middle aged woman who had a very crinkled pantyhose walking past. I would find that a detail I could use in my characterisation.

It's just a matter of being observant when you wouldn't normally bother!
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Sometiems the bester ideas are dreamt - as long as you can remember them. Unfortunately the best ones seem to evaportae as soon as you open your eyes!

Crakan68 wrote:Sometiems the bester ideas are dreamt - as long as you can remember them. Unfortunately the best ones seem to evaportae as soon as you open your eyes!

maybe they are just too good for this world??

Crakan68 wrote:Sometiems the bester ideas are dreamt - as long as you can remember them. Unfortunately the best ones seem to evaportae as soon as you open your eyes!

I think that's because trying to remember a dream makes you forget it ironically. Anyway I've had some dreams that I've thought to myself that would make a great book or even film. However once my brain is properly awake I realise it really was actually shite. Then there's the other ideas I just forget like you Crakan.

With poems, they just pop into my head and I have to run to get a pen and write it down...sometimes even at 3am!!!
With writing (well writing excercises) I just sit and think where am I and take it from there...maybe that's why I have no plans to take writing further lol...can't imagine stories like, the lord of the rings came about so easily.

I think that writing is not that different from poetry at all except in structure. I know some people prefer poetry but I can't imagine not being able to write freely using whatever sentences I like to tell a story. I find poetry a bit limiting in that way but thats just my personal thing.

Yeah the Lord of the Rings is a whopper and took Tolkien what, twelve years to finally round it all up? That is not what you call an average author writing an average sized book in 3-12 months. That's a lifetime aim and achievement. Plus he was an Oxford uni professor of english literature etc so he really was in a bit of a league of his own. There is no way most people can replicate that, so far just a rare few like some of the very successful fantasy authors you get today...JK Rowling or Robert Jordan and his 12 book series?

Regular authors are no way near as prolific as that lol.

MistyBlue wrote:Robert Jordan and his 12 book series?

He never finished that series and he died earlier this year. Pity cause I read the first eleven. Someone else was due to finish the last one but now its been split into 4. :'(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Memory_of_Light

I am one of those people that never come up with any ideas, original ones anyway.. I can spend 6 months thinking about an idea before even touching pen to paper.

TheJoker wrote:I see things visually at first, does anyone else do that? I picture scenes and colours then I follow them wherever they lead in my mind and later turn them into words and stories.

To a certain extent, I try to visualise the 'scenery' to get a feel for the atmosphere etc. I think 'The Time Travellers Wife' does a pretty good job setting the scene for each time travel episode the hero finds himself in.

I think not everyone visualises (or dreams) in colour though, am I right?

I don't know misty....I dream in colour, and I also die in many of my deams lol maybe I just don't like myself much when I'm asleep lol

Dying in your sleep is supposed to mark the end of a bad period in your life not the end of your life lol. It can often be affected by your last thoughts or state of mind before you fall asleep, which is why I think some people recommend a bit of meditation or prayer before sleep.