[Avicenna]

There has been times when I have sat down, planned on writing something, and could think of absolutely nothing to write about. Although I actually have a lot of random thoughts going through my head and each of those something to write about; there are times when there is just no hope of thinking of anything to write about. So here is the question for all you writers: Where do you get the inspiration for a topic to write about? Do you merely sit down and start writing about the first thing that crosses your mind? Or do you go searching for topics?

Something I tend to do is to open a news website such as CNN, read up on a major world issue, and make a fictional story out of it with that central issue as the theme. Other times I just open up Microsoft Word and start writing about a random thought in my brain, or something in particular that might grabs my attention at that certain moment. School essays and articles are easier to write because the range of topics that you can use are much narrower, so I never really have any problems with ideas for those.

So, how do you guys come up with ideas for your writing?

This post has been edited by Avicenna: 07 November 2009 - 04:36 AM

[Takla]

I don't consider myself much of a writer but when I can't think of anything to write about I usualy just thy to come up with the most random picture I can think of and try to take elements out of that to inspire me. For example I once had to rewrite a fairytale so I chose to rewrite Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The picture I thought of was a dwarf in the tub playing some air guitar to some screamo music. After a few minutes I realised that I could write about Snow White ruining the dwarf's sceamo carrier and so on.
Most of my writing is pretty "out there" and not very serious though.

[THE_NACHO_99]

heres what you do for inspiration: read an addicting book series then make crazy fanfics for it that are totally off topic.

ITS REELY FUN!

~Taco

[RVR]

Honestly, I walk around observing. I wouldn't be anything without the secrets of our existence. ;D

[Wriste13]

I think. Sometimes my ideas lack closure whenever I try to think of whole stories, so just sitting down and writing something by way of full-fledged stories is a dangerous and disappointing hobby - lots of thought must be put into a plot.

Short stories are harder, though. Inspiration for them is a bit rare for me, so I can't say much by way of that.

I can say that random words and phrases I hear inspire me, though. I think on them, and say "what if this were like that?"

[Devin]

I need to be in a specific mood to write. Calm, but not tired or anything. A few wacky sentences will come to me, so I put them down and after a while I have a paragraph of random and non-related lines. I choose the words I like best and then just roll with them from there.

[Mud Arrow]

That really depends. I never sit down to write without an idea, I have them before going anywhere. In first person stories, I usually start by quoting something said by the author that will possibly influence the whole story.

Sometimes I'm sitting somewhere doing nothing and all of sudden a whole plot comes to my head, from start to the end. The worst part of it is that most people, including me have more ideas than time or will to put it in a paper.

[Imperial]

I don't plan to write. Ever.

Think about that one.