Sep 21
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Monday, September 21, 2015 in
My life, WritingA long time ago, I read some writing tips shared by Agatha Christie. She recommended reading the news.
As it happens, I read a lot of news online, not because I’m really interested, but to stay busy and keep my mind occupied (too much info?). Unfortunately, I have never really felt I had one single good idea for my writing from that source. I suspect it’s because this advice came a very long time ago (a lot longer ago than when I read it) – at a guess, maybe in the 1930’s, which of course would be extremely different in many ways).
Personally, I get my ideas from a mix of my book reading (mostly fiction, but naturally also non-fiction) and real life. It goes something like this: Why is it like that? (Usually feeling bitter and upset about something) Why isn’t it like that instead? And I start writing a story about that. Actually, I have on occasion (just a few times) been inspired by real, actual dreams. And why not? In Swedish we have a saying that goes something like this: All ways (methods etc) are good except the bad ones. Which is true.
In fan fiction though, I have to admit that most of the time I’m just inspired by a handsome face.
Where do you get your inspiration for your writing?
Dec 19
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Friday, December 19, 2008 in
WritingThis is nothing new, I know, but I think it’s quite interesting that dreams can be inspiration for fiction.
In my case, it’s happened a couple of times already. Once, it was a horrible nightmare (which might not sound quite as horrible if I recounted it), that turned into a short horror story (which is extremely rare for me – normally, I neither read nor write horror).
In fact, thinking back, I think most of my ideas based on dreams, have been horror or at least scary. One reason might be that those dreams stand out, which makes me remember them.
On the other hand, I once had what was (at least when I woke up) nothing more than a scene, but that one scene turned into a fantasy story. I can still remember how it felt to be ‘there’ – where I witnessed the scene. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to work all that into the story, but I was quite happy about it anyway.
Aug 25
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Monday, August 25, 2008 in
WritingSuddenly, I lost my inspiration to write. I think I can guess why. Lately I’ve had mood swings. Some nights, I almost cry. In between I feel perfectly ok. Oh, well. Blogging and writing fan fiction can wait. The real problem is that I still haven’t been able to finish my novel, but nothing’s really changed there, so that’s a different problem.
Of course, in the meantime, I still have a couple of other finished books that I’ll submit to a publisher. As long as I can stay cheerful and I’m doing my best with that. Going for walks, even on little outings, looking for cool things to photograph, watching movies, even once or twice a week a tv show I actually like.
Though as far as tv is concerned, this is probably the worst time in a long time. Right now, as far as I know, there’s just one thing worth watching. Don’t get me wrong. I’d complain just as much if there was one or more shows per night, but this is going a little too far in the other direction. No wait, I think Heroes will be back. In that case, I can’t complain.
Jul 31
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Thursday, July 31, 2008 in
WritingI thought I was done with fan fiction – at least for a while – but I got inspired again and that was that. Though in the past couple of days I’ve been too tired to finish my last fan fic in the new fandom. Hopefully, I’ll feel up to it again soon.
I haven’t even blogged that much lately, so it’s great to be writing again. Hopefully it won’t be long before I’ve recharged my creative batteries so I can finish my novel.
Dec 10
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Monday, December 10, 2007 in
WritingWhat inspires you to write fanfiction? I’ve given it a lot of thought and I’ve come to the conclusion that you need to like the fandom enough, but not too much. Why do I say that? Because if I don’t care at all about the fandom there’s no point in spending time making up stories. It simply won’t happen. There’s nothing to catch my imagination. On the other hand, if I love the series or movie too much, there won’t be anything to add. I won’t be inspired either.
Now what does tend to inspire me? Good characters primarily. If they’re interesting, moving, attractive – or – fascinatingly unpleasant, I guess, then I take more interest than if the characters are badly developed. Of course, I can always develop them more… Their interaction interests me a lot too. And the type of series/movie is important too. For instance, I tend to get inspired to write mystery stories based on cop series and when it’s a sci fi fandom I can widen my choice of plot. In a way, the sky’s the limit. That can be limiting too of course. If anything at all is possible, what could I add to the fandom?
I’ve gone into this elsewhere, but I suppose I could mention it again. One major motivator for writing a fanfic is to resurrect a character who died. Naturally, many people like to pair up characters who don’t normally get to be a couple. That’s usually two men (or two females) but could just as well, at least in my case, be one male one and female (or one female and two males… LOL). I guess I tend to go for the more unusual straight couples (or threesomes…).
Speaking of the type of series. I’ve found that when the atmosphere, the undertext of the series (or movie) doesn’t appeal to me, I’m not inspired. There’s only so much you can do to change the ‘spirit’ of the fandom. Beyond a certain point, it simply won’t be worthwhile.
