Inspiration

Ah, the magic word for any of us who work in literature (or almost anything for that matter), inspiration. We just know when it hits us, we've come up with a million dollar masterpiece...And then a while later we can evaluate it rationally and maybe it's not quite so great, but we can make it so, regardless of what it really is.
The problem is when we can't find any inspiration. I'm not talking writers block, when we might look at anther project for a while, or take a quick break. I mean when try as we might, we have nothing. We can't add to a current story, or edit it, and we can't come up with something new.
What do we do at times like this? You can't just sit at your desk (or wherever else you write) and wait for inspiration to come to you. It just doesn't work. All you've got to write about is your book, your desk, and the wall in front of you.
The best answer is plan ahead. Whatever you do, or whoever you are, it's best to have a notebook of ideas stashed away somewhere.Whenever inspiration hits, grab it out, and jot down whatever came to mind. It doesn't matter if it's part of a story your working on, or a new idea. Get it down somewhere where you can always find it again. Don't just rely on your brain to remember. We're writers. We put down our stories on paper so we don't forget them. Why should our inspiration be any different. The most important thing is to have your notebook on hand when that inspiration hits.

You've probably heard before that most of our story ideas, our biggest pieces of inspiration for new projects, comes from before we've finished school. Early on high school, about mid year 8, my family went on a holiday to Dubbo zoo. Afterwards at the gift shop I picked up a notepad, pencil, and rubber at the gift shop. Yes, I like my living megafauna, the giraffes. After we got home, these items found a home in a special pocket of my school bag, seperate to my pencil case. Every time I got a new idea, I'd pull out the notebook and pencil, and jot down a few words to remind me on a spare page. After school, waiting for the bus, or at lunch time, I'd fill up the two sides of that one page with everything I could think of for that story. A full two pages, with no crossed out stuff (that was rubbed out and replaced with something relevant) would give me a detailed enough outline to start working on that story. Some ideas have been abandoned or put on the back burner since then, but every time I'm at a loss, and open it up, I find another idea I had long since forgotten about, but can still make a great story. If you're still in school, keep your inspiration book with you at all times.
For those of us who have left school, all is not lost. If your school years were the only time you could find inspiration many great writers would have had to find a new job just a few years in. "everybody was past a thousand story ideas every day. The goos writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any." - Orson Scott Card. Of those thousand story ideas, the five or six you notice is different for everyone. The trick is learning where the ones you see come from.
Lots of people get their idea from dreams. It doesn't happen that often for me, but from time to time, I do get a really good, solid idea; one that I want to turn into a story. The Warriors fan fiction I'm writing actually came from a dream. All the dream gave me was the last part of the final chapter. I decided I wanted to further explore this world with the rest of the story. I just had to decide how to introduce it for myself. Other times all I've been given is a character, or a chance meeting, but, as you instinctively just know some things in dreams, that's been enough to give me an entire chapter, and story outline. If this works for you keep your inspiration book next to your bed, and start a first thing in the morning routine of writing in it.
Another great place to get ideas for new stories is from the books you read. I'm not talking about changing the setting and spitting out a cheap copy, though. We want an original idea. Stories show events happening in a certain order. To get the same story, all those events have to happen exactly the same. Some great fan fictions come from giving others an alternative universe where things happened differently. However, creating new characters, in a new story, in the same starting situation, and then switching it, gives us a great new novel. And don't worry if someone else has the same idea. Only you can write the story the way you want to. This is why we are always told to read widely. If reading helps you come up with great ideas, keep your inspiration book in a cosy corner, or wherever you most like curl up with a good book. (And don't forget to borrow those amazing lines!)
Finally, if you need to come up with a new idea fast, and nothing fits in past ideas, or you don't have time to read, go for a walk. A walk around your house, down the street, or in the bush opens you up to some great ideas. If you regularly go for walks, either with your pet or by yourself, if you think about it I bet some great ideas have come to you while your out. If this is your gold mine of writing ideas keep your inspiration book near the front door, and even consider brining it with you on your walks.

Remember, inspiration strikes all of us every day. Be prepared, and have a book at the ready to jot down ideas as they come.

Be inspired,

       Teen Fantasy Author