Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hmm, inspiration?

Discussions with my best friend might spark a story idea every once in a while. Reading other fanfiction that ends up going a completely different direction than I thought it would sometimes gets me excited enough to write my own idea (and often combined with ideas I got from other stories that are vastly different too). Canon itself is inspirational, and there's always some situation that a character can be placed in that hasn't been covered, or hasn't yet been covered (if a yet is to come), or won't be covered by canon. That, or if the world of canon is just too cool not to do something with it (whether using the characters of that world, or creating OCs to interact with it).

I'm the type of author who plans stories out in massive detail before writing (even for one-shots... and most of my stories are one-shots...). For me, this is the best way. I keep the characters in-character. I get all of the foreshadowing done properly (for multi-chapter fics). I make sure the flow is good (and it does go through a ton of editing after it is written too, before it ends up posted online). And, most especially, with all the planning, I'm able to keep track of several storylines at once (main plot, subplot 1, subplot 2, minor character plot 1, etc) (again, for multi-chapter fics, this is essential for me).

The most I've ever had to keep track of was 13 characters/character groupings (aka multiple characters who share the same storyline) at once, so it really helped having the plan in place. I was able to breakdown the timeline and see where each character was during any point along it (and if they were missing for a significant gap, I'd come up with at least a plausible explanation about their whereabouts, whether that made it into the fic or not). In other words, I'm able to keep tabs on all the characters at all times throughout the entire fanfic.

It doesn't feel forced when the story is finally completed. It's actually really easy to write when I've got a guide to follow (I'll break down each chapter into point form by plot point or piece of dialog I want to include, and then just write it from there, checking back on the point-form breakdown every once in a while). And I think the level of writing is pretty decent. I always get some form of positive feedback for any of my stories (whether, at the very least, a positive review, a follow, or a favorite), so I must be doing something right.

I don't listen to music while I write. I find it far too distracting. It ruins my concentration. I love listening to music, but I just can't do it at all when I'm writing. Or planning out a story.

"Sometimes you can't wait for Inspiration. Sometimes you just have to sit and write."

Words I have taken to heart since I first saw them because that is what usually happens to me. The times I do get inspiration, however, it generally comes from music; in fact two of my stories were born this way. (Thank you Simon Curtis!) The rest of the time it comes from reading other stories, getting extreme feels from watching something related to my favorite characters or just going: Hey. What if I put these people/this person through this scenario?

Other times I rebound ideas off of a friend until it becomes appealing enough for me to write. Unfortunately this friend knows nothing about the fandom I write for. Fortunately, it doesn't stop him from listening and tossing out the occasional input if I am really stuck and is always up for giving me writing prompts. (I am surprised he hasn't dropped me like a bad habit considering how much I probably annoy him)

All ideas I get I write down although they very rarely become stories. Either due to my incompetence or just being unsure how to actually put the ideas into words... they just can't seem to get past the paper I wrote them on.

Being emotionally invested tends to produce some of my best stories and I've actually cried while writing one of my death fics.

Generally though, no matter what I do, waiting for inspiration is like waiting for it to rain in the desert for me. It only happens once in a while and when it does, it never lasts very long. So I sit and just write. Be it working through formats for my newest chapter, playing with a writing prompt or just writing whatever comes to mind. It doesn't always work and I am lucky if I post one chapter a month, but I am happy I am updating at all.

However, when inspiration does strike, I make sure to milk that sucker for allll its worth.

It depends on a few things.

I love the character of Darcy Lewis. It's mostly because I like the actress, and the character as well. However one huge thing for me is that I've seen some really great authors carry this character so well that it's made

So authors that write incredibly well within a given fandom totally roots me into a fandom.

Another is when I'm watching or reading anything and I find some sort of connection to anything else. I mentioned earlier but I'm trying to write a short fic where Natasha meets Jaquen from Game of Thrones because of how the House the White and Black operates, and how in one way it reminds Natasha of The Red Room (no true autonomy, being a "no one" except for who they're supposed to play etc).

Another thing I want to write is a Grimm/Avenger crossover because I love Grimm and the lore they've created but I'm also wanting to connect that to Captain America.

Basically authors, and thinking about connections is what inspires me to think stories up. Whether I write it or not is an entirely different issue sweatdrop

Sometimes its just random ideas that float up out of the depths. Music helps, especially upbeat stuff. Pictures: photos, digital art, paintings, etc are a big source for me. I like to look at them and imagine how the subjects got to that point or what they're doing and why.

It depends. My older fics are definitely "[X fandom] plot with [Y fandom] characters," but most of them are either looking at canon through another perspective, or simply telling a story I wanted to see that either got glossed over or had little detail to it.

For example, one of my best fics was a Batman fic where the main character was a man who bullied the Scarecrow back in high school and came to terms with his role in creating a monster. That idea came because I went through a comic binge and realized none of the Scarecrow's old enemies ever really get to have a say. They either appear in flashbacks, or they're plot props for Crane to get his vengeance on, and never really have any personality. Why not write a story where we get to hear his side? Haven't really seen one in canon yet.

And sometimes, inspiration just finds me.

I am currently working on a Five Nights at Freddy's fic that came about because I read a fic that actually had a good concept at its heart and started out as something genuinely intriguing (the horror of learning you aren't who you think you are). That concept quickly got thrown into the background for a romance plot that I could make a drinking game out of all the bad romance tropes and come out with liver poisoning. The concept only ever came up again whenever it made for convenient drama.

My original plan was to just cut the crap and write the horror story I was hoping for (and I might still try to do one how I originally planned). A combination of getting more and more ideas and, unfortunately, an untimely death in the family lead to it going into a completely different direction.

Now it's turned into a mystery horror that also deals with grief, closure, and facing finality head-on. This was not only cathartic for me, but FNaF is a fandom where death and closure are very strong themes to begin with. I was able to harness and utilize those themes into something that both helped me, and that some of my beta readers are genuinely enjoying.