Your 'spark'

[Guest]

Hello Everyone.

So, I am working a writer's challenge and I cannot get the words to come. I have two pending stories and one posted. Those came easy.

I had a visual for the first one that I worked up to present. Not a big deal. With a little editing it became fuller.

I had a sentence for the second one (and the third which is a sequel). A friend said "I'd do anything for these boots". so here comes the second (and third) stories of mine.

Now, I'm stuck. My characters no longer speak to me, and someone shut off the plot faucet.

So...when it comes to starting a new story, where does your inspiration come from? Do you look at a photo and the plot bunny hops by? Does something that someone says to you stick, and a story grows from those roots?

I'm not finishing my challenge just yet the words just won't come right now. But.... I'm interested to know how you got the inspiration for some of your stories. Links aren't necessary, unless you want to post them. I'm not asking for you to provide ME with inspiration.

I guess I'm just kinda curious if I'm normal as far as this sort of thing is concerned.

Thanks.

~Paul

 

[vrosej10]

Hello Everyone.

So, I am working a writer's challenge and I cannot get the words to come. I have two pending stories and one posted. Those came easy.

I had a visual for the first one that I worked up to present. Not a big deal. With a little editing it became fuller.

I had a sentence for the second one (and the third which is a sequel). A friend said "I'd do anything for these boots". so here comes the second (and third) stories of mine.

Now, I'm stuck. My characters no longer speak to me, and someone shut off the plot faucet.

So...when it comes to starting a new story, where does your inspiration come from? Do you look at a photo and the plot bunny hops by? Does something that someone says to you stick, and a story grows from those roots?

I'm not finishing my challenge just yet the words just won't come right now. But.... I'm interested to know how you got the inspiration for some of your stories. Links aren't necessary, unless you want to post them. I'm not asking for you to provide ME with inspiration.

I guess I'm just kinda curious if I'm normal as far as this sort of thing is concerned.

Thanks.

~Paul

One of the best stories I ever wrote came to me after I chatted on line with a woman who believe she knew a real vampire. She believed he had cured her infertility and she claimed he had a weird smell and all these powers. I think she was delusional but it was a great tale and I worked it into a tale with a story I had been told by a schizophrenic I was friendly with.

I also use a meditative technique to drum up ideas for stories. I go into a trance and let my mind wander.
I also rely a lot on my dreams. I am a very vivid dreamer and I get a lot of ideas that way. I wrote this poem based on the dream described in it:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=456289


If I get jammed during a story, I meditate and visualise the main characters. Sit down and chat with them in my mind. Wander through the landscape of the story, picking up detail.

 

[oggbashan]

I have more plot ideas than time to write.

Anything can spark a plot with a "What if?".

Looking around the room:

I have pictures on the wall. Ideas from one of them:

Ship in Avonmouth Gorge, Bristol

- Sailor leaving port after several encounters;
- sailor entering port to find wife/girlfriend is pregnant
- or has left him for someone else,
- is hungry for sex;
- woman going to sea as the only woman on board - what could she get up to, with whom? etc.

The calendar picture shows a railway bridge covered with heavy snow. Ideas:

- Stuck train. Passengers get together for warmth and other things.
- Couple try to reach nearby house to get help. House is empty. Why?
- House isn't empty but is being burgled. Couple get tied up and left.
- House isn't empty. Owner gives them drugged wine and then?

I could go on for pages.

My problem is writer's diversionary activities. I have too many other things happening in my life to find time to write.

Writing on threads is the worst diversionary activity. It gives the illusion of writing without actually producing a story.

Og

 

[Guest]

I have more plot ideas than time to write.

*snip*

Writing on threads is the worst diversionary activity. It gives the illusion of writing without actually producing a story.

Og

That's why I have been so prolific here, I am stuck lately. I can't even come up with ideas for the 200 word writers challenge. I'm just 'in my head' so to speak. I'll get it fixed, most likely after the holidays (and when my story comes back from editing).

 

[Guest]

Finished the writer's challenge but I'm not happy with the tone of the piece. I'm just not. I look at it and I cringe. But, oh well, it's submitted.

 

[VeritasMaximus]

The only thing I can do when I come up against a wall is write past it. I accept that what I write during that period of time may be less than good but it is a necessary step to get through the wall and on to the next moment of inspiration. I don't have any "spark" in particular only determination.

 

[TxRad]

Having a backlog of stories is sometimes a good thing. When one set of characters stop speaking to you, you can move on to others.

Like Og said, plot bunnies are everywhere if you look at ordinary things from a different angle. Pictures and watching people are two of my best sources for stories. You're in Korea, I know there are a ton of interesting things over there that just scream to be written about.

Go anywhere there are large or small groups of people hanging out. Find a quiet corner and watch. Find a few interesting ones and try and put a story with them. You might be surprised what you will come up with. Take a note pad with ya.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

TEX & OG are correct. Your world is filled novelty.

Here's a trick I used in my latest story; I got the idea from PSYCHO.

A girl comes home from her job breading chicken and okra at THE BIG CHICKEN. She lives in a rental trailer. Some VIPs want her dead. Two detectives get the job; they hire a violent, psychotic teen to kill her. So she comes home, putzs around, and goes in the bathroom. She pees, brushes her teeth, turns on the shower. The kid hears all the noise in the bathroom, hears her humming a tune, hears the shower running, and slips inside. Inside he gets a large knife from the kitchen, walks down the hall to the bathroom, raises the knife, and yanks the curtain back. The shower is empty. She's behind him with a pistol.

 

[Handley_Page]

After a more lucid period of writing, I've ground to a halt (again!).
This time, however, I wrote a few ideas down at the bottom of the page. And I re-wrote a large chunk of it.

It's not easy. I must practice more. . . . .

 

[Lisa Summers]

I get a lot of my inspiration from various songs that I like a lot. For example, my current series, 'Willing,' came from Linda Ronstadt's version of the song, and other songs on the Heart Like a Wheel CD. It served as a big plot device, but it also set a mood for me, while writing, and for my characters' motivations.

 

[_Lynn_]

I get a lot of my inspiration from various songs that I like a lot. For example, my current series, 'Willing,' came from Linda Ronstadt's version of the song, and other songs on the Heart Like a Wheel CD. It served as a big plot device, but it also set a mood for me, while writing, and for my characters' motivations.

I love to use lyrics as my inspiration. My page has several stories from songs.

 

[3113]

Turning the Faucet Back On

Fresh inspiration for a fresh story, I find, is often easy. What you're really asking is how to get the faucet going again on an existing story, and that's a bit different--and harder. Because it usually means one of two things--either your mind is tired and needs to rest and be refreshed (a good book often does it for me, or a dumb movie, or going out and having a great night with friends and good conversation)...or something is wrong or missing from the story. That wrong or missing bit is the bitch! Because your brain plays coy. It doesn't tell you what is wrong--and it doesn't know what is missing. It just crosses it's arms and says, "I'm not working again till you figure it out!"

Ay, yi, yi!

If something is missing, then you're shit outta luck, because you're going to have to wait till you find that missing thing. I found it once by reading a road sign. "Oh, shit! That's what the story needs...." It's inspiration, but it's not. Because it's specific to you and your story. It's like, you see a dog and realize, "OMG! my character needs a dog!"

If something is wrong, that's easier to fix. The translation of "wrong" here is that the story has run out of steam, gotten boring or fallen flat and needs a pick-up or change to get going again, like revving an old fashion motor with a crank. There are a few things you can try--Raymond Chandler, for example, used to say that when things get boring, bring in men with guns That's one option! If the story has run out of gas, try:

(1) Changing the setting you put the discussion in--maybe it needs to be in a nightclub with a drunk bothering them rather than at a quiet dinner table.

(2) It might be time to introduce a new character, or re-introduce an old one. Boyfriend and girlfriend characters may have run out of things to say--but what happens if her old flame shows up, wanting her back and flirting like mad?

(3) Complication--essentially what Chandler said. Maybe things are going too smoothly. Time for the nightclub to catch fire, or your protagonist to get kidnapped. Cat goes missing, someone sprains an ankle. Something they planned hits a snag or goes really wrong.

(4) Move to Scene "C". Sometimes, we think we need to have scene A move onto scene B and then onto scene C. But the truth is, we're chewing at the bit to get to scene C, and so scene B doesn't work or drags or stops dead. Usually, when you feel this way, you're right. Scene B probably doesn't need to be there at all, and the info in scene B can be gotten across some other way. So jump to scene C, the one you really want to write...suddenly, the story is cooking again.

(5) When in doubt, ask the characters. This works for some of us. You close your eyes, you envision your characters before you, and you ask them, "What's wrong? Why have you stopped talking?" Pretty awesome when you get an answer

Hope one of those helps!

 

[Lisa Summers]

-Raymond Chandler, for example, used to say that when things get boring, bring in men with guns

In my case, it's 'bring in a pretty girl who's anxious to be f*cked' (whether she knows it or not.)

 

[JackLuis]

Sgt, 3113, thank you. This was a big help to me. I had been dithering on a story for about a year now, did some other things and, did some 'fill-in" but couldn't get past a period in the story that was bugging me.

Now I see that I was too faithful to my initial idea to write each day of the story. I can, and should, tell instead of show those troublesome days, and get on with the rest of the story.

It can be a pain to cover a year in the life of my MC, lots of fun but difficult to manufacture the side issues, characters and action needed to fill in the build up to the "Grand Clusterfuck" that concludes the story.

 

[Nightwork1]

Like others have said I use ideas I get from songs I like, I also draw on past experiences and "twist" the facts so they are dirtier than they actually were. I'm also lucky to have many interesting people in my life which also help to give me inspiration. I've only published two stories on this site (so far) but have about five which are almost ready and another five which, with some work could be ready to be published.

 

[Guest]

You know, I started this thread, and I think I figured out what my problem is.

The walls are closing in on me. I am doing nothing in Korea but going to work and back. There are no new encounters, and nothing but my room and work. To remedy this I am going out for New Years. I plan on hitting up the jazz bar and maybe going to Uijonbu (about 30 minutes from here). There should be plenty of inspiration for writing even if some of it is non-erotic. Here's to hoping.

~Paul

ETA: I need a new LEGO picture.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Real experience is a great ice breaker when your mind is frozen.

Sometimes I stand outside and make notes from what I experience. I make notes of what races thru my mind. Like, just now I adjusted my shorts because the seam stitch irritated my testicles. I will insert it in a story when the need arises.