Sometimes ideas just come to me. Out of nowhere. When I don't want them, e.g. at work when I'm doing something extremely important but have to stop mid-task to email myself a brilliant phrase that popped into my mind.
Sometimes, there's never a follow-up idea and the first bit of inspiration fades, like a lit match dwindling away. And sometimes the match lights a dazzling firework of Creativity.
Thank you for knowing the story of the Little Match Girl. It is beautiful.
As a writer (albeit an amateur one), I realize that it is key to be ready for Inspiration at any moment. You never know when it may strike! I recommend keeping a notepad at your bedside for any ideas not worth getting out of bed at three in the morning. These glimmers of wisdom may eventually blossom into a masterpiece. And you certainly won't remember it in the morning if you turn back over and go to sleep!
Edit: if those ideas occur while pulling an all-nighter, write them down for their humorous appeal, because they probably aren't very wise.
However, I've also figured out over the years that inspiration, while elusive and evasive as an egg-shell in a bowl of batter (pardon my culinary simile, inspiration is a bit sleep-deprived), it can be coaxed (but never coerced!) to appear. Since many of you readers are likewise writers, I thought I'd share some of my favorite methods:
- Reading. If you run out of ideas, filling your mind with the ones that made other authors successful is bound to give you some. Though I have only ever written one very small piece that can be termed 'fanfiction' (I usually shy away from the genre, having encountered too horrific examples of it), I believe strongly in the influence of greater minds on great ones (because anyone who derives inspiration from Tolkien or Dostoevsky or Lewis is a great mind).
- The great outdoors. This one never fails me. Writing instrument and journal in hand, I find myself a seat in the shade and open a blank, blue-lined page. Words just come.
The only flaw to this method is mosquitoes. - Silence. Best when combined with the great outdoors, silence closes the door to distraction and opens the door to creativity.
- Classical Music. Classical music really forces you to imagine (I intend another post solely on this subject). Phantasms float to the front of your mind and inspiration (sometimes) follows.
- Random things. Like I said, inspiration is fickle and moody. The lady behind you at the grocery store may become the heroine of your next best-selling short-story. The picture of a strawberry wedding cake on pinterest may suggest a horror story about a psychopath whose bloodlust is awakened by the sight of strawberries (sorry if you'll never look at strawberries the same way again.) Be alert at all times, lest a fantastic opportunity for creativity slip by unnoticed.
A writer must always be ready for inspiration's call to invent.
What inspires you?
