Inspiration

Current Project: Untitled WIP
Status: 547 words of ~100,000

I'm back from my trip, complete with a cold. I've been trying to catch up on blog posts and emails and what-have-you, but haven't really been able to retain much due to the whole feeling loopy from being sick thing. Of course, having about 2,000 new work emails plus several hundred personal emails to go through might also have something to do with it. Ah, well, I'll get there eventually.

I was reading Paty's post from yesterday about light bulb moments during research (paraphrasing here, sorry Paty) and got to thinking about inspiration in general. I'm not sure why, but I always find it interesting to hear from other writers about the genesis of their stories. Maybe it's because everyone takes a different path and the leap from that first spark to finished creative product seems so mysterious.

The new project I'm working on started with a initial flash of inspiration from a certain image. It was the kind of inspiration that hit hard, like having the wind knocked out of me. I honestly have no idea where this is going to take me, but that flash was so strong that I know I have to follow it. And if past experience is any indication--and if I'm very, very lucky--just about everything I see, read and hear in the next several weeks will reinforce that inspiration.

Looking back, I can trace almost everything I've ever written to a first flash of inspiration, that sudden thought that "hmm, I could use that in a story." My inspiration has been as varied as a song, a scene from a movie, an image on the web, a couple of seventeenth century portraits hanging in a bedroom in a castle in Copenhagen, and a fragment of a very vivid dream. In one particularly productive instance I wrote over 100,000 words of a story that was initially inspired by a 15 minute segment on NPR's Science Friday about gene therapy. The eventual story had nothing to do with the segment, but the segment was most definitely the catalyst. Some day I'm going to have to re-work that idea and write the story it really deserves. *sigh*

That initial flash of inspiration isn't the only thing that goes into a story, of course, but it always feels like once you have that spark--and if it's strong enough--everything else starts to fall into place. Have you ever noticed how even information that you've ignored in the past, that's been right in front of you all the time, suddenly jumps out at you if it fits into the story you're working on? This is similar, I think, to what Elisabeth talked about a few weeks ago regarding Magic happening. Sometimes I picture the process of writing as a little bit like creating a Witch's brew. A little Eye of Newt, a pinch of sulfer, a dash of oregano, stir and bring to a boil, then simmer for 100,000 words and voila! (Yes, and sometimes I wonder about myself, too.)

So, what about you? Where do you find inspiration? Do you remember what started you on your current story? Does the initial inspiration stay vivid for you or does it fade over time until all that's left is the finished creation?