Where do you draw story inspiration?

[gunhilltrain]

I mean to give you a prod about your Geek Pride inspiration, once I've read it gunhill. Though, you're more than welcome to share your thoughts here, I don't think I'll be the only one interested in hearing them.

Thank you. If I may pontificate for a moment. The start was when my parents had a subscription to Life magazine. I guess it was in 193-64, and the magazine had a number of issues about the centennial of the Civil War. And these issues had, among other things, reproductions of the most amazing paintings by various artists. Some were realistic, some I'd call impressionistic. The one for the Battle of the Crater was realistic, and every detail was burned into my memory.

I relied very much on the History Channel documentary about it, and also the ones for Cold Harbor and Chancellorsville.

 

[GlennJenko]

Most of my ideas come from things I read. I'll read a story and cull an idea from the story and twist it in my own way.

I'm quite similar to this. Most of my ideas come from stories with an interesting idea, or the basis of one, but one that I overall feel dissatisfied with in execution for whatever reason. I will also shift things around and add my own spin to it to make it my own and whatnot, but the kernel is often inspired by other stories.

 

[MetaBob]

Unless you're deep-diving Arthurian myth, I reckon.

I spent a day at a Renaissance Faire once, in memory of a good friend of mine who'd just passed away (far too young!). He used to attend these sorts of things, competing in the swordfighting contests, among other things. I bought some stuff, mingled, kinda got a feel for the place. I got invited to an after-dark party thingy, not the one for the "nobles" (there's a whole social hierarchy) but the squires and pages and maybe some slumming knights. I forget. They were mostly at least several years younger than I. I got hit on ... who would've thought a candy necklace could be so sexy?! I left before the scene got serious (I already had a partner), which I was pretty sure it would considering how freely the alcohol was flowing. Lots of interesting characters I could've written about, I suppose, but I never did. I thought of it as deep background. I used to DM a D&D campaign while playing in two others. Lots of rich background to draw from there, too.

That said, my one attempt at historical fiction predates Arthurian times and stars several vampires, a mage, several fae, a succubus in a minor role, plus at least one character that appeared in some versions of Arthur that were retconned hundreds-of-years ago to include even more ancient characters like Tristan. All my vampires are female, which is how they want it. These aren't Hollywood vampires, but folkloric vampires. They have some things in common with Hollywood vampires like compulsion, strength, sexual voraciousness, and speed, but no shapeshifting. They also don't die in sunlight, it just saps their strength so they prefer to stay in darkness. I read a fair amount of early vampire fiction as research. Not Bram Stoker's Dracula, but a couple things that preceded it and which I rather enjoyed. There wasn't much of a template for vampire fiction 200 years ago, but there were stories of highly sexual vampires that were many centuries older. So you can sort of see where Stoker (and I) came by some of that inspiration.

I also have a much less-developed idea for a fantasy with orcs and such. I'm sure it'll be fun to write if I ever get around to it. Working title: "The Dwarf's Consort".

All that said, the place I get most of my ideas from is a hiking trail, in nature. I encounter the occasional person, I space out, my mind wanders, I become porous to the energy and moment of my environment, and when I get back I'm liable to sit right down and out pops a story. All three of my published novels start on hiking trails, and all the ones I haven't managed to finish don't. Hmmm ...

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I get most of my ideas from images or phrases from reality. I'm very much a 'slice of life' writer - a bunch of my stories are true or have a true basis that I've flown with.

My most recent story took a game I once played, where a couple added to the usual card-swapping by offering a blow job as a sweetener. A current draft started when a guy stood near me, in snug blue jeans, the size of his cock very clearly substantial.

Some plots come from 'what happens next?' I don't think there's a story in that group playing more board games - I'll go straight to the kinky sex and then discussing other stuff - but I have other characters who would, for various reasons, make lube wrestling into a story. I mean, if you're describing naked lube wrestling, how much plot do you really need?

Threads here also provide inspiration. One of the Interracial threads had me wondering how to subvert the typical black/white clichés. Next day I had a procedure where I swore life was just trolling me - the biggest blackest male gynaecologist ever had his huge warm fingers inside me. We discussed his medical research, while I tried to act totally unaroused by a thumb the size of a typical cock inside my vagina. That's pretty much a story already!

Classic high fantasy doesn't really do it for me (erotic or not), but I'd never say no to a rippling bosom in a corset...

 

[Spongo]

From fantasys about my wife. My story ‘The Sauna’ is centre around her.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Since I'm into this tale that I didn't originally think I'd talk about - the next step in Geek Pride was when I was experimenting with screenplays a number of years ago. That's where I came up with the idea of the Black-owned movie studio making a movie about the battle. Since it was my fantasy, I gave myself a Kubrickian level of creative control and cast most of it, which screenwriters almost never do. As suggested in the story, I cast Samuel Jackson, Pam Grier, and all the others mentioned in the endnotes. Most of the movie-making incidents, like the two groups of actors singing competing 1860's songs, was in there too.

But I gave up on screenwriting because, let's face it, scripts don't stand on their own unless someone actually films them. Also, I had no idea of how to structure a script and I wasn't motivated to really learn it. So that was dormant for more than fifteen years.

 

[KeithD]

I'll get story inspiration--or at least for an element in stories--from right here in the AH. There's a thread on wristwatch fetish going. That's prompted me to use that in two section openings of the story I'm now writing. There are similar section openings for two male characters who eventually will come together. One will develop the character of the man he's lying under by just having the man's expensive sports watch (a Brietling Endurance Pro) staring him in the face. The other guy will similarly be looking at a businessman's Rolex closely characterizing the businessman after sex in another section opening.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Let me finish this thing already. So in January Chloe announced the latest Geek Pride event. I had been in Geek Pride maybe three years ago, and I had little interest in it. Then, over a weekend, it all came together and I knew how to use that old filming of a Civil War movie idea. I needed a witness who had some plausible reason for being there. And I finally went into the 21st Century. Thus the main character: Amanda Watson, a student of the University of Maryland in College Park.

Everything is described through her in a first-person narration. She talks about, it ascending order, her own life, the process of the movie-making, then the Civil War itself, and then comes back to her life again. As the "geek" (although she's not socially-inept) she has a good grasp of all three-levels.

Then it was a matter of figuring out the geography. Since none of the three college-age characters had cars, I had to have them get around by public transit. Thus the Washington Metro, among other methods, plays a part in how the plot develops.

 

[Voboy]

Another route inspiration may take:

I was tapping away at a CNC story last night and decided I was troubled that the MFC in the story wound up more victimized than I wanted her to be. So I solved that by adding a veiled reference to the mafia, which has the benefit of improving the ending as well.

Well, that little reference opened up a WHOLE MASSIVE CHAIN of new ideas in my head. Since all my stories are connected, I now have a crime family I can tuck into other stories, and they can obviously become the stars of their own stories as well.

So. Sometimes, inspiration begets inspiration.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

In my newest story THE PROCESS the character of James Fortesque Alobe III (“you can call me Jim. Everyone does”) is based on the character and look of Ted Lasso.

I wanted to create a charming, folksy, inspirational character who was actually more like the High Evolutionary in Guardians of the galaxy 3 and he does not disappoint. In fact he is less disappointing than a Pet Shop Boys concert…and no. It did not.

 

[oneagainst]

For The Light Between The Trees it was a rumination on the backstories for some of the characters in JG Ballard's novel 'Crash'. If you were into such an extreme thing as autassassinophilia, how would you ever find love? I decided to find out.

 

[other2other1]

I pull a lot of the concepts for stories from my dreams. Right now, I have just under 80 stories concepts written down and I am working on five of them. I find that I often wake in the morning with the fleeting images of a dream in my brain and I have the luxury of being able to lay for a few minutes and play the scene that often becomes the concept of a story over in my head.

Once I get to lunchtime I will open OneNote and jot some notes down about the dream.

The other source for me is that now and then I find a story here that makes me feel I need to write something. 'FS- The Bus' and 'Abandoned Rage' were concepts that came from other stories. I also have two other stories, "Walking Away" and "Look a little closer" which are in the writing stage that is based on something I read that I wanted to use as a concept.

All of us have our muse, that which inspires us, my dreams are mine

 

[AchtungNight]

No time to read over everything here right now. Just put me down for everything already said x2.

I am also inspired by the lives of celebrities and people’s reactions to them. Take my story “Fear, Lust, & Vanity”. That was inspired by a magazine cover. Also several real life events for the author and the celebrities on whom I based characters. Later I wanted to write about another celebrity. A troll on a message board told me- “You can’t fantasize about her. She’s evil and weird!” I researched the celebrity, discovered the troll was wrong about the evil and right about the weird, but the weird inspired my story. Later the same troll called my “Passion” series awesome.

 

[WyreBendr0417]

Inspiration for me can come from just about anywhere if I'm watching close enough at any one time. I'm a film fanatic and a lot of ideas come from characters in movies and TV shows. Sometimes it is a particular actor or actress in a particular role. In my story 'Scratching An Itch', Miss Bledsoe was inspired by the character, Zoe Morgan, in the series 'A Person of Interest', performed by Paige Turco. It wasn't so much Zoe's role in the show, but more her sex appeal and authoritarian attitude. If it had been a different actress I may not have taken any notice. I believe it was the combination of Miss Turco playing Zoe Morgan that inspired me.

Other ideas have come from little 'slices of life' I've been a part of or witnessed, past and present, and using certain aspects of people I've known, but never telling enough that anyone could ever figure out who from.

WB

 

[PandemicReader8]

And most of my fantasy catalogue is one big stonking middle finger to R.A. Salvatore. Who says you can't mix D&D with adult themes, eh?

Didn't Phil and Dixie show us how to do this in the 80s? Or is that just me?

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've always had an unhealthy interest in serial killers. But in fact, while serial killers are vile, disgusting people, they don't account for much of the murder and mayhem in the country. Serial Killers account for a small fraction of murders in the country. Women serial killers are rare, but percentage-wise, make up a larger portion of the murderers in the SK community than women do in murders at large. I have outlined a novella about a male serial killer. The story follows him from his youth to old age. In the outline, there are two separate instances where he has a partner in crime, two different women who assist or kill on their own. I drew inspiration for the story from a lot of research that wasn't directed at writing. Fortunately, I found in doing the research gave me an idea or two. The story won't make the grade here and will be restricted in the marketplace to one outlet or maybe two. Not sure yet.

The thing is, I want Charlie to be likable. That isn't going so well and I'm about 10,000 words into the thing, and doing a rewrite already.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Didn't Phil and Dixie show us how to do this in the 80s? Or is that just me?

No idea who you are referring to. I'm not a US native.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I've always had an unhealthy interest in serial killers. But in fact, while serial killers are vile, disgusting people, they don't account for much of the murder and mayhem in the country. Serial Killers account for a small fraction of murders in the country. Women serial killers are rare, but percentage-wise, make up a larger portion of the murderers in the SK community than women do in murders at large. I have outlined a novella about a male serial killer. The story follows him from his youth to old age. In the outline, there are two separate instances where he has a partner in crime, two different women who assist or kill on their own. I drew inspiration for the story from a lot of research that wasn't directed at writing. Fortunately, I found in doing the research gave me an idea or two. The story won't make the grade here and will be restricted in the marketplace to one outlet or maybe two. Not sure yet.

The thing is, I want Charlie to be likable. That isn't going so well and I'm about 10,000 words into the thing, and doing a rewrite already.

My sister is this way, I think I’m the polar opposite of that though. My interest in serial killers, real world serial killers at least, is usually a fleeting morbid interest that I don’t indulge for too long. They give me the heebie-jeebies something fierce.

Of course, fictional serial killers are another matter entirely. I’m so guilty of crushing on a handful of fascinating fictional guys who’ve got penchants for murdering…

I think the best way to go about making a likable serial killer is to make him exceptionally human. Adding in scenes where he is otherwise just living a normal and wholesome life letting his personality shine through, if probable, could do wonders for giving him a positive personal image just before he starts offing people.

Those characters who Jekyll and Hyde normal everyday lives and horrific alter egos are so fascinating.

 

[PandemicReader8]

No idea who you are referring to. I'm not a US native.

Comic in the back of Dragon Magazine for years.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

Inspiration for me can come from just about anywhere if I'm watching close enough at any one time. I'm a film fanatic and a lot of ideas come from characters in movies and TV shows. Sometimes it is a particular actor or actress in a particular role. In my story 'Scratching An Itch', Miss Bledsoe was inspired by the character, Zoe Morgan, in the series 'A Person of Interest', performed by Paige Turco. It wasn't so much Zoe's role in the show, but more her sex appeal and authoritarian attitude. If it had been a different actress I may not have taken any notice. I believe it was the combination of Miss Turco playing Zoe Morgan that inspired me.

Other ideas have come from little 'slices of life' I've been a part of or witnessed, past and present, and using certain aspects of people I've known, but never telling enough that anyone could ever figure out who from.

WB

I pull inspiration from media as well! I try not to do it too often though, because I really strive for originality. I think too much of a good thing can definitely bleed over into your own creative process and I’d hate to essentially be writing fan fiction or plagiarize existing content.

I’ve heard so many people expressing borrowing their own experiences for stories and taking inspiration from the people in their lives! While slice of life isn’t my typical cup of tea, I’ve got a few stories that would make many blush, and others that would drop jaws. I’ve never really been a “sharer” though… but we’ll see what the future holds.

 

[oneagainst]

No idea. It all just pops up from the ether. And yes, the ephemeral ether, not the stuff in a jar.

If I drew this from real life, I'd be... uh... knackered by now.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

No idea. It all just pops up from the ether. And yes, the ephemeral ether, not the stuff in a jar.

If I drew this from real life, I'd be... uh... knackered by now.

I love that. When a stroke of genius just... comes to you! I've got the attention span of a goldfish so if I don't write everything down it slips right through my fingers.

I don't doubt having to live an adventurous life is needed if you decide to write autobiographical erotica pieces. And eventually if you're not some sex deity, I imagine you'd run out of ideas? I don't know, I feel like even if I changed names and altered circumstances I'd always feel the need to ask permission before I went sharing sexcapades or designing characters after people I know.

 

[Djmac1031]

Most of my stories were basically me trying to come up with my own spin on an already well established trope / kink:

The doctor / patient fantasy.
The CFNM kink.
The incest trope.

My two most interesting inspirations for stories were:

A conversation with @EmilyMiller here where I made a joke about an outlandish story idea about a guy who needed to fuck a nun to save his soul.

I had no intention of writing it until we actually started discussing details.

It eventually became The Devil And Angel Em.

The other was just a very weird thought about the elves up in the North Pole and how hard those poor bastards had to work all year to make toys for kids they'd never meet.

I got to wondering what they'd get up to on their one day off a year.

And my Christmas story. Elves Gone Wild, was born.

 

[oneagainst]

I love that. When a stroke of genius just... comes to you! I've got the attention span of a goldfish so if I don't write everything down it slips right through my fingers.

I don't doubt having to live an adventurous life is needed if you decide to write autobiographical erotica pieces. And eventually if you're not some sex deity, I imagine you'd run out of ideas? I don't know, I feel like even if I changed names and altered circumstances I'd always feel the need to ask permission before I went sharing sexcapades or designing characters after people I know.

I think that writing from what you know is inherently limiting. You only have so many things, right? Better to make that leap out into thin air and see where imagination lands you.

I just jot stuff down until I get a critical mass to precipitate a story.

 

[LegendInMyOwnMind]

My stories are mostly rooted in real relationships, though highly fictionalized and exaggerated. Many were not sexual IRL but I often wished they were. Others were pure fantasy from my own head. Incest is a favorite genre, and I have a slightly older female first cousin I might have married in a different world.

My next story (doing final edits now) involves incest between the 19-year-old protagonist and his smoking hot fiftyish grandmother. They end up in a relationship in grief over the grandfather's death. His grandparents raised him as his parents rejected him, so the relationship feel very mother-son. He later reconnects with the ex-girlfriend who took his virginity (and he hers) at 18. They form a death-do-us-part threesome.

I have an idea for a short brother-sister story, non-romantic but caring (I can't write unloving sex). I also have an after-earth sci-fi fantasy idea (with alien sex of course). My stories get a deal kinkier than I have done IRL or wanted to.