It has been long debated where to fin true artistic inspiration for a story.I myself wish I knew the source of all of my crap, since I can write stories off of taking a shower or watching Stranger than Fiction, even from walking across a field while looking at the lake beside it. Some authors I find have an overload of artistic capability to produce work, like Stephen King, who says he writes at least four hours per day. Where do you find inspiration to write?

To be, or not to be....
You get the idea.
And read Just a Puddle, too. (See my profile content)
I'm happy. I'm crazy. I'm friendly. I'm Timmy. So be it.

Sometimes I find my inspiration in music. This doesn't always work out, though, since listening to great music often inspires me to write music, and I'm no musician. There's something about music that cannot be transferred into written words. The lyrics are the only part of a song I can really draw literary inspiration from, but if I'm listening to music while I write, it has to be music without any lyrics. Otherwise, hearing the singer's words keeps me from coming up with my own.

I'd like to say I also find my inspiration in something symbolic like nature, but that doesn't happen very often. More often, I find my inspiration in video games, movies, and other literature. (Oops?) I'm not sure if anyone would call this plagiarism, though. When I "take" something from another literary work, it's usually something very simple, like a feeling or an idea. Reading a sad story might inspire me to write something sad. Playing Diablo inspires me to write about demons. Whatever.

In any case, I'll be the first to admit that the greatest source of inspiration for young writers like myself (or perhaps writers in general) is angst. I wrote better poetry when I was single.

Funny, I write better poetry when I'm in a relationship. Also, I get inspiration from music, mostly from the classic rock I listen to, like Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix. Movies are a big source too.

To be, or not to be....
You get the idea.
And read Just a Puddle, too. (See my profile content)
I'm happy. I'm crazy. I'm friendly. I'm Timmy. So be it.

I have no idea how I come about writing my articles. Usually, I ponder something that I find strange in the world and do a little research on it and eventually it transforms itself into an article. I love to make people laugh, so humor is always my aim in all of my writing. I suppose you could call that my inspiration, to find things to make humorous. With every new piece, I hope to improve upon the last one and keep getting funnier and funnier.

My inspiration has usually come from an intense feeling of panic when a paper is due for my writing class combined with sleep deprivation.

Other than that:

You know those conversations you have, usually with your closest friends, that somehow get taken too far? Take my first posted article for instance (The 'distrubed narration' of a guy who has a girl captive etc.) That story was inspired from this hot girl we saw walking, here is the gist of the conversation:

Will: Dam, she is super hot.
Soli: She is divorce hot!
Chris: She is rape, prison, death row HOT!
Soli: Woa Chris don't be a pessimist, you could get away with it.
Chris: How?

And on we go into some sick and disgusting, yet plausible, planning of the kidnapping of this good looking girl. It's crazy conversations like these that I think, "Man, this could BE SOMETHING." And off I go to write!

The process of creation does not begin with inspiration. It is the Will to create, then soon afterward follows the process of inspiration then respiration. To be inspired is secondary, and any contrived encounters or sought for symbols will yield that which will not fully satisfy the creator. It begins with motivation, and that motivation determines and arranges the conditions through which some external source will pass. The manner in which it is received then determines how this stimulus will mingle and bump around with the other ideas already living in the head. For that reason it is important not to contrive any instant of inspiration. The overtones and strong-essences of the numerous stimuli then slowly make their way out of the mind and into the world, as a work created by an individual though separate.

This is my thinking on the process of creation. An order out of disorder that starts and ends with Will.

Wow, that was one of the most insightful things I ever read.

When I am inspired to write, it just comes from no-where really. Sometimes I see a picture or an advert on TV which gives me an idea, but I cannot directly link them, how I got from A to C, if you get me. I am writing a novel at the moment and spent around three hours a day working on it, but then at other times in the year I won't write for months as I have no inspiration what do ever.

~ Hєaтнєя

I tend to work a lot like you Heather. I can never force myself to write something. I have to be inspired and in the mood to crank out a good article. Sometimes I can do one right after another or I could spend months on a single work-in-progress.

My inspiration comes from my feelings about what man is doing to our environment. As a scientist, I know we are going down the wrong trail. As a reader of medical thrillers, I am inspired to use this genre to vent these feelings. Michael Crichton did this in his thriller "State of Fear". I have tried my best attempt in my novel "Green Power".

Charles Vrooman
http://www.freewebs.com/vrooman