Inspiration

Writers are often asked "Where do you get your ideas? I've never personally been asked this questions, but have spent much time thinking on this in case it should ever come up. And my answer to the question that writers hate: I get my ideas from real and imagined life. Things that have happened to me or to someone I know. Things I wish I could change the ending to--which is why I'm a fiction writer and not a memoirist. And other media inspires me such as TV, movies, video games, and books.

With all that said, I've found there are places and activities that inspire what I like to call "brain blasts" (to borrow a term from Jimmy Neutron--TV what did I tell you?) otherwise known as bursts of inspiration.

This is a short list of those places/activities:
-The Shower
-The Car
-Running
-Sleeping--although when I wake the ideas never seem quite as epic as they did when I was unconscious

Notice that in all of these places I am not sitting in front of my laptop with a blank Pages/Word document. Nor do I have a pen and paper handy in the shower. (One day I will take a whiteboard into the bathroom with me).

But also notice that all of these places/activities have something in common. These are all activities in which the brain is relaxed or on autopilot. Which leaves the creative side (I always forget what side of the brain that is…left?) to wander.

So if ever you need a brain blast, go for a run or take a long drive with no particular destination. Find your places that inspire creativity.