Things That Inspire You

Siriano;:

The Cure, big time.

This so incredibly much. I've been writing with their greatest hits cd in the background for weeks now.

The view out the window of the flat I'm staying in, especially at five or six in the morning when it's just getting light.

Pretty much everything, but my friends are my main source of inspiration though.

Instrumental music.
Dreams/daydreams.
Snatches of conversation.

Ooh, and contest prompts. I've written about thirteen things this year for various contests, they're great.

My mind
I can literally be anywhere and suddenly I'll just get this idea. And no matter how long I put off doing it, it stays in my mind, bugging at me. It kinda explains me problem with too many stories.

Loads of my inspiration comes from music--basically anything, though my recent 'Dreamers' books have been inspired by the album 'The Unforgiving' by Within Temptation, and also by 'Hurricane' and 'This is War' by 30 Seconds to Mars.

I also get tons of inspiration from TV/films/other books. I know that sounds bad, but I see the tiniest thing--it could even be an advert or something--and that just inspires this entire story, which ends up nothing like the thing that inspired it, but it's only there because I saw that thing :)

My dog

Names. When I find a good one, I just want to use the name a million times right now, my top five are probably Darcy, Sophia, Olivia, Emmie, and Rebecca.

Weird beauty and cosmetic things such as shampoo and perfume bottles. I've gotten inspiration for a oneshot from a John Frieda Brilliant Brunette bottle before, as well as some of the names for Bath and Body Works fragrances

The weather, particularly if it's raining or snowing.

A lot of the situations and relationships from sitcoms, such as Friends, Seinfeld, and The Office, inspire me because most of the time, they're realistic and genuinely comedic without being too sarcastic or off-the-wall random. They're just funny without coming off like they're trying too hard, and I admire that aspect of sitcoms.

More recently, since I've been doing a ton of online shopping for back-to-school clothes, I've been inspired by the names of Abercrombie & Fitch clothing (their pieces are given more uncommon people names, such as Reese, Alyssa, Reiley) and Hollister clothing (they name their pieces after various beaches in California). It's just a little tidbit that pops into my mind, such as "what would a character with this name be like?" or "what moments would take place at this scene?", that ends up snowballing into something all its own.

Music-wise, Maroon 5's latest album has been really inspiring, not so much lyrically, but the actual music has so many different layers that convey all these different moods and emotions that I want to capture in writing.

Oddly enough, Lady Gaga's music inspires me, even though I don't really like it.

Also reading really bad stories on here inspires me, which is kind of mean and really weird. But I think it just makes me think, "I can do so much better than this." And then I proceed to do just that.

Random words. But they have to be sort of uncommon words, that I don't hear very often.

Also, pictures. Any picture at all can sort of get my brain moving.

Names, too. I like unconventional ones, because they are the sort that can really define and build a good, identifiable character.

Other works of fiction.

My most recent story Thunderstruck was inspired by a story I read on ff.net. I loved the writer's writing style and decided to try something similar. It may not work - in fact, it may end of failing miserable - but I love when I read a piece of work online that inspires me to at least try something with my own writing I wouldn't have tried before.

My everyday life. I'll let my imagination go wild.
I could be busing home, and start to imagine it crashing. What would one of my characters do? And then I have a whole new scene and such.

David Johansen, Johnny Thunders, and the work they did together as The New York Dolls inspire me.
I love the music. It's just...I can gather so, so, so many idea and plots from just listening to one song, you know?
It's lovely.

Cartoon and video game myths and glitches. I love reading about them and their backstories even if they scare me to death.

Xavier Dolan's film 'Jai Tue Ma Mere'.

Easily one of my favorite films, and the fact that he wrote the script for it when he was 16 blows my mind.

Photographs and artwork inspire me- I'm a highly visual person. I like to browse pictures of faraway places, and fantasy artists have continually helped me to find my muse.

Also, as somebody else said about the place they live, the scenery around me is pretty inspiratinoal. I've had the benefit of growing up semi-rural, spending a lot of time outdoors and taking trips along wide, open roads. Australian landscapes can be truly breath-taking. I think they make an ideal stage for stories of all proportions.

Something else that inspires me is a good challenge, like having a deadline to work to. Although that might seem more motivational than strictly inspirational, I get inspired by the records other people set (finishing novels under particular circumstances, etc), and that motivates me to get to work on my own goals.

Needless to say, other writers also inspire me. I think J.K Rowling is inspirational because she wrote a good story and managed to reach so many people with it. Among writers I most admire stylistically and intellectually, Mervyn Peake is probably the best example of someone who inspires me, if only because his level of genius is too great for me to aspire to.

Lately I've been drawing inspiration from the music I listened to way back when in 2005-2006. Like, Fall Out Boy and Hawthorne Heights, that kind of stuff. It helps me get in the mindset to write Spin, since that story takes place at around that time period, and it helps me realize what my roots are and how to get the inspiration that I seem to be lacking right now.

I'm trying to get back on the horse with Who Knows, Who Cares since that's the only story that I'm actually in-progress with rather than just being in developmental stages. I don't know why, but whenever I think of my first date with my boyfriend and the environment it took place in (downtown in our hometown, at the local bowling alley to be exact), it feels so much like what I imagine the setting of WKWC to be like. I'm surrounding myself in music that makes me think of that, like The Cars, Tegan and Sara, and the music I'd listen to as a kid while being taken through that area every so often (mostly 80s pop). And of course, considering the subject matter, I'm also drawing inspiration from school spirit that circulates around my high school. Heck, some of the events that Jeremy takes part in as Crispy the Tiger are gonna be almost lifted straight from my own alma mater.