Here’s an interesting question, where do you find the most comfortable place to write? Is it in an office, in a room overlooking the ocean, and basement where you can make it dark and creepy for atmosphere, is it at a train station, at work, which could end up presenting you with problems, or somewhere else.
Some people have an office, mine is a converted garage, and the walls are lined with books. It isn’t the greatest place though. There’s a smart alec cat always on my case.
There’s a couch in the living room where, late at night, I sometimes sit and ponder over about a thousand words of whatever the current story is in my head. Cat withstanding.
It could be a cafe or restaurant, where it starts out as notes on the ambiance, the food, the people, then a little more, and gets me into trouble with my dining companions.
They should not have created writing programs for mobile phones. Or for that matter, allow the phones to get smarter than their users.
But…
That’s a whole other story.
So having found that special or nonspecial spot in the house, or out there in the universe, how do you become creative?
Is it you’ve been carrying the ideas around in your head for a while and you just need somewhere neutral to get them on paper, or in that pesky smartphone?
Is it sitting by the window with a cup of coffee and a mice cream-filled cake, when something catches your eye, and instantly the words begin forming?
Are you with someone, a muse, a partner, a spouse, a friend, a secret friend, or just a stranger, and you start getting the wrong ideas? Or the right ideas if it’s a different sort of book.
Sometimes I move seats and sit opposite the writer’s chair to take a good long hard look at the person, the so-called writer, conjuring up in my mind, if I was someone I’d just dragged in off the street, what would I ask?
They, no doubt would be cynical.
Why bother when there are a million others out there trying to do the same thing?
That’s the easy question. Every story is different. Why? Because every writer has a different point of view, a different set of experiences, a different personality, different friends, this could go on forever…
Here’s a test, outline a story and give that outline to ten different writers. You’d get ten different stories.
Where do you get the motivation?
Don’t know. Some days I don’t want to get out of bed, others, I can’t go to sleep until the words have stopped. Go figure.
What do you do for inspiration?
Inside, outside, upside down, everywhere and anywhere.
Just remember, always have a notebook and pencil on hand. Why pencil, I never have any luck with pens.