Where do you go when you need a little inspiration for your writing? What do you do?
For me, it’s often music. Sometimes a certain song will tweak an idea in my mind, a seed that then grows into an idea for a story – not a simple retelling of the song’s lyrics, but more a feeling, an idea that springs from it.
Other times, I’ll be stuck somewhere in a story, and I’ll be in the car on the way somewhere, and again a song will tease an idea free in my head, which will link to something else and then something else.
I also have been finding a lot of inspiration lately (for short stories, at least) from anthology calls from various publishers. They come with two important features – a theme and a due date. I’ve written several stories now to submit to particular anthologies, and ended up going places with the writing that I hadn’t anticipated.
So how about you? Where do you find inspiration – for new stories, or for ones you’re in the weeds on?