Inspiration

     You know what the hardest part of being a writer is? For me, it's wanting to write. Yes - every ounce of my body is constantly yearning to create a world. To finish that novel. I'm always building stories or thinking about my characters, but sometimes getting those words and figments onto figurative paper requires a little willpower and a lot of what we writers have dubbed "inspiration."   
   The goal is to look at things in a different way. Then, and only then, will they be able to help you in your writing. Horses. Flowers. Wallpaper. Homeless people. Your nasty aunt's cousin's husband twice removed. As Sam suggests in her Defeating Writer's Block post, find inspiration in everything.      
   I'm going to share with you a few of the ways I find my muse. I'm not saying they write my novel for me, or that they fuel my mind all the way to the denouement. Only your own force and personal imagination can do that. But, I have found them to be helpful in shoving me along the road towards a finished story. More often then not they give me the spark I need to write something.
   
Music;
    It is popular amongst writers to listen to movie soundtracks whilst they are typing. At least, it's a "thing" among us OYANers. I find that good background music can sometimes mean the difference between dragging your fingers and racing them across the keyboard. 10 words per minute or 75? If your iPod is chock full of Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, and John Williams, you're probably a writer. Sometimes I create individual playlists for each story I'm writing, to get me focused. When you're trying to write an Amish Romance, perhaps Star Trek is not the best soundtrack to listen to. Context applies not only to words and phrases, but to music as well. Sometimes I get distracted if what I'm listening to doesn't fit what I'm writing.

Movies & Television;

Ponyo

    Although 12-hour marathons would probably better be classified under "procrastination," I think that many films and shows can help yank on that evasive thread of inspiration dangling in some forgotten corner of your mind.    There are a few movies - for me - that succeed in inspiring me every time I watch them. The works of Studio Ghibli (Ponyo, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro) make up quite a handful of those few. It may be the vast, sweeping landscapes that Miyazaki creates for each one, the colorful characters, the strange and sometimes macabre mythical beasts, or the zappy plotlines, but I always find my fingers itching after I watch these movies.
     A couple other films and shows that do this to me are movies like Inception, , Les Miserables, The Adventures of Tintin, assorted Disney films, Harry Potter and shows like BBC's Merlin, Sherlock, Doctor Who, 
    These are the sorts of stories that make me want to "write like that."
Have you ever watched something and thought:
"I want my character to be this beloved, this cheered on, this pitied." 
"So that's what absolute desolation looks like - I could write that."
"I want to create a story world similar to that one - ooh, maybe I can put a spin on those flying letters - or those jellyfish!"
      After all, every story has been used before in some way. I'm not saying to plagiarize, but many famous stories (Ponyo included) were based on some other tale. Don't make them too similar, but modeling a character after another in a way that still makes him original is perfectly fine. In fact, it may even help your story.
    Countless films and books have taken a story and twisted into something entirely of the author's mind - and no one elses. No one - not even whilst writing the same story - can possibly write the same thing. So what's your favorite inspirational movie?

Books;
    Few things are as sparking as reading another author's successful work. Even awful books have inspired me to write. In a rather haughty way - I will admit - I have thought to myself, "Well, if they can get published, I definitely can..." 
 
    I had to read a novel - and I use that term loosely- for a book club a while back. I hold to the fact, even now that it is the very worst book on the entire planet. It was completely one-sided, generally rude, very disrespectful, and altogether angry. All the characters were repulsive. There was no plot. I don't even think I can call it a story. And yet there are six books in the series. (HOW?)
    The answer, of course, was that it appealed to a variety of people. I can't even begin to understand it, and it's a little sad to me, but I feel obliged to point out the most probable reason.
    This book was nothing to me, except that the phrase above - "I CAN GET PUBLISHED" - kept popping into my head. I know this isn't true, but it was rather comforting. Or, at least, inspiration to write, eh?
    Reading good books also inspires me, especially when I find a writer I can look up to. I like vivid descriptions (and adverbs), so a few of my authorian heroes are Markus Zusak, Charlotte Bronte, and J.K. Rowling.       

Art;
    I am not, and probably never shall be a famous artist, but I do find myself appreciating art in many different forms - not just in writing. I love paintings, because I think that they are bigger on the inside. You can look into them, and there's a story world behind the canvas.
     Hobby Lobby sells these awesome "famous painting" wall stickers. They're huge, and almost look like the real thing. Almost every time I get the chance to stare at a Van Gogh, or a Monet, I'm filled to the top with a bubbling wonder.
    If you haven't done it already, try to really see a painting. Stare past it - what the artist created is just the gateway. Even abstract art has its own universe. You'll never be bored again. 

Van Gogh's "Starry Night over the Rhone"

Traveling;
    GO PLACES! That's what your characters do, isn't it? Even if they don't actually "travel" somewhere, they do - I hope - have some sort of adventure, whether it be moral, physical, or mental. Not to sound like a telemarketer, but YOU CAN TOO! Learn things. I know this sounds a little crazy, but you know where I got the most inspiration last year?
     My AP US History textbook. Now that's probably just because I'm a historical fiction writer, but it's worth pointing out. Inspiration is a wee little devil that likes to hide from us authors as much as plot bunnies like to introduce themselves. You've got to seek it out.
      As to actually going somewhere - do so if you can. It doesn't need to be Timbuktu - it could be the local zoo. Heck, you could travel to the grocery store. A local cemetery. The park. For myself, being cooped up in the house for days on end smothers my drive to write. How much inspiration can that clock on the wall really give you?

How cool is this? I saw it in Chicago on the way to the Summer Workshop. Not long after, I actually
went to a steak restaurant, and decided to use that exact setting in my novel. It's set in the 1920's.
Never ignore a coincidence. Instead, write it down.

Ordinary Life;
    I carry a notebook everywhere. [5 Stars makes the best]. There are probably six of them sitting in my room somewhere, water-stained and chock-full of scribbles.
    Ideas and inspiration are fleeting. You've got to grab them out of the air and tie them down so they don't fly away. I heard a story once about a writer who - no matter what she was doing - dropped it and bolted inside to write something down if it came into her head. That could be potentially catastrophic, but - let's be honest - what's more important? That pie, or finishing your novel? RUN!
     Try to find something wonderful in everything. And then write it.

     I told you before how to find inspiration. It's easy, really, and the cure for both monotony and writers block. I'll tell you again. You must look at things in a different way.

    The best of luck to you and your novel!

- Elly Gard (Eshe)

*First four pictures from internet, last two taken by me*