Inspiration. Where do you pull it from?

[Kiweevil]

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[cherrystark]

Like most people, from everything. I also like to draw connections and ask the big "What If" questions. One that I've been playing with is "what if there was a hero that only became a hero because they were genuinely nice?" That opened a lot of doors to let ideas develop. Connections, for me, are important and really define what's "relatable".

One thing that's really inspired me that I try to incorporate in my works is that people's "extra" abilities aren't curses, they are just a fact of life. Strong smells make me physically sick. I can't wear most perfumes and those laundry "scent boosters" they advertise make me sneeze for the entire wash/drying cycle. Yes, it's an inconvenience to have to walk away from someone or something because of smell, but it's also a gift. I can basically "track" and identify faint, faint smells. I like to show people adapting to their challenges instead of constantly griping about their lot in life.

[Leverance]

For my story His Obsession I gained inspiration from this Youtube video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8XuKg5zBHM ). I made some changes and worked out some kinks to make it work for a short duology.

I gain inspiration from music, games, book, manga, light novels, news, and actually sicknesses. And a bunch of other stuff. I write mostly mature stories so gore or lewd is guaranteed for the most part. Though, I've some books without it.

[silverraven0]

Some came from shower thoughts, some from me daydreaming randomly, sometimes from music, and pretty much everything else.

[rajillustration]

Hopefully this isn't too abstract, but for me it's when I have an idea for a story, I unintentionally build the plot around a theme. Not in a moral story kind of way--just in a "this is the thread that holds everything together kind of way." and then I kind of draw from things around me that have to do with that theme. So for Alchemist Burnouts, I had this theme of "why do you need to sacrifice so much of yourself in order to have worth and importance?" and while I don't think I ever need to answer that question (because that would make it a morality tale instead of expecting my readers to make their own conclusions) a lot of things around me suddenly started to click with it--books I've read, movies I've watched, and even things in history that I could echo in my work.

So in my writing I kind of think of inspiration in the same way I use reference when I draw art. It helps me get an idea of what works, what doesn't work, what's real, what's not real, and helps me to make a more realistic and personal connection when I write.

[Dizwikz]

The first things I saw from the show were clips of serious fights, so I was very surprised when I saw the show and its content in its entirety.

@cherrystarkI think that's an interesting way to tackle stories. Also interesting that you have such a strong sense of smell. Reminds me of Tanjiro from demon slayer. I've met people with the opposite where they can barely smell anything even if the smell is super strong.

@Looks interesting will check out.

@silverraven0 That's relatable. I've gotten some really good concepts for ideas in the shower before lol.
@rajillustration That's a very interesting and broad way to go about creating a work. Sounds like that can yield a lot of interesting ideas and story avenues.

[Eiranyx]

I don't know if this is pretty common but I usually get my inspiration from my dreams -- no matter how good or bad or even weird it is.
I tend to remember every details like the place, what am I wearing that time and how things went through the dream I had at night so when I wake up, I write it down immediately and then I turn it into a new story.
Other than that, i'm fascinated with old things like antique art and stuffs.

[TheBluester]

Almost everywhere but I mainly get it from the animes I watch. Whether it's considered weeby or not, my books are heavily inspired by certain shows I watch due to the creativeness and liveliness they emit and personally? I find those shows to be a pretty reliable source of inspiration if I ever want to quickly jot down a description of a character/setting or anything else.

[WhiskeyMadDog]

Just about everything inspires me, but where I get my inspiration the most is from movies, vintage posters, art museums, music, and cool stuff I find on the internet.

What I highly recommend doing is collecting books for reference (I have about 20 reference art books), and saving images that you find on the internet on a flashdrive or Google doc and put them into separate folders based on topic or theme. That's what I've been doing recently and it's very helpful.

[Crusoe]

That'd be really fun actually if I can pull it off

[BlunderingAlbatross]

I pull it from my a-

I pull it fr-

I guess I pull it from everything I consume, picking up ideas from other media that I enjoy, whether books or shows, no matter the genre, I quite often come across things that I would love to incorporate my work in some way Then there's also good ol' fashioned imagination

[sevenstarsofeightIam]

I am a big 'what-iffer.' It is like thoughts just fall into my head. I have only just come to Tapas and I have only submitted two novels -- three episodes or so each so far. The first was 'The Faerie Dusters' -- as in fairy dust or pixie dust. That is to say, gold. I began this work years ago and the inspiration for it was very small. I sat considering the common 'mood ring.' That was a fad back in the day, a ring that was supposed to change color according to one's mood. My thoughts turned to something on the order of a tiara that warned the average passer-by of the person's state of mind. It would tell whether the person was angry or approachable, for example. Finally, the thoughts came to revolve around a skin that changed color and knowing what each color meant was kept secret. Being able to read the colors was power.

[LadyN]

I want to make the smart remark of “from my arse”

But in general, I don’t get inspired much. It usually just hits me at the most random moments where I think of a possible situation and build it from there.

Other than that, yeah. Probably out of nowhere.

[Shredder]

My current novel is focusing on the character growth of the people involved while still being a scifi and action.

I can't say I have much experience working with science at all other than bullets go up, bullets come down.

a lot of the action and tactics used in my story comes from real-life experience in the army or second-hand knowledge of stories and learning points from the people that did experience it.

Character growth because I realise I'm a vastly different person that signed up compared to when I left.

[Dizwikz]

How do you feel different from when you signed up to how you left.

[MeltingCORE]

Besides for Jack Kirby... I have a lot of inspirations! Early 00s visual novels like Air, cyberpunk anime like Metropolis, horror series like Higurashi, ancient history, physics theories, Star Wars, my dreams, my life experiences, and even my friends (my friendos Sammie and Asia come to mind).

[Penni]

Everything.

My current novel I'm writing was inspired by my Netflix queue so, it an really come from anywhere for me

[Shredder]

I wasn't very confident for a short answer, I achieved a lot of things in the army that did help me build character and self-esteem. There are a few trade-offs, I'm certainly more cynical, sarcastic, and more, but I learned a lot and developed a lot as a person, I'm glad I did, but I wouldn't want to go back

[kmlangleyauthor]

A lot of my inspiration starts with a “snapshot” from a dream. The tiniest sliver of an interaction between full-blown characters and, if they stick in my head long enough to bother me, I write them down sometimes that’s all it is - just a couple pages to get the idea out of my head - and sometimes it turns into an actual story with a plot. So, my theory is that my inspiration comes from most everything and then my subconscious processes it, throws in a dash of my personal creativity, and then gives it back as a dream

[ble]

I steal the inspiration from better artists, like a parasitic demon.