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Thread: Your inspiration?

  1. #1
    Cohors_Evocata's Avatar Centenarius
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    Icon5 Your inspiration?

    I don't know if this has been asked before, but what is your (the person reading this, if willing and able to answer) inspiration for what you write? Is it the experience or memory of events, activities or something out of daily life? Is it a spawn of the depths we call human imagination? Is it something my mind has not conjured?

    Seriously though, I'm interested what other people use as inspiration for their writing. I'd be grateful if you were willing to take the time to answer this question of mine.

    P.S. Hope my English wasn't too bad, it isn't my native language.
    I tend to edit my posts once or several times after writing and uploading them. Please keep this in mind when reading a recent post of mine. Also, should someone, for some unimaginable reason, wish to rep me, please add your username in the process, so I can at least know whom to be grateful towards.

    My thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    McScottish's Avatar The Scribbling Scotsman
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    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    You ask a damned good question but also, for me at least, a damned problematic one.

    What do I use as inspiration? In short, everything!

    Of course the 'range' of inspiration is exceptionally large, from the writings of other authors (and AARtists) to pretty much all of the things that you mentioned. Things such as interest, escapism and a little bit of living vicariously through a character in a tale - a character that is either everything I am not or with elements of myself implanted into them - are all part of my inspiration. Personal experiences also play a part, for example in one of my AAR's I wrote a part about a character losing a close relative and thought of how I had felt when my Grandpa died after a car accident.

    The main reason it is so difficult for me to tell you what inspires me is because, probably because of my upbringing and almost over-the-top interest in history, everything I write is researched before, during and after I have written about it. Every AAR I write, every CW piece, each is influenced by its own 'box' if you will I.E. The Roman Empire and the intricacies therein, or the lore of Tolkien or Games Workshop, each containing just so much inspiration in there own separate spheres. Then, in a box within a box, I scrabble around for the right pieces to fit together to form a narrative and go from there. Whether it is a certain event, a historical figure, a little known tribe/race/people or something else.

    And the last thing, though it will sound as clichéd as they come, is simply writing for the enjoyment of others. I like writing so that, hopefully, others may come online and think "oh, I wonder if such and such AAR has been updated, I really enjoy it so far" or "that update was fantastic, I'd like to read more when I return from some activity or another", others own imaginations fired up by writing, my writing!

    I don't go out of my way to fish for praise, but let me tell you that it could be considered as the juice that keeps me going. Not because of any sort of ego (though I do become unbalanced sometimes due to my massive swollen head ) but because I know what it is like to write a dozen updates and get no replies at all, no comments either negative or positive, then to suddenly have someone pop up and say simply "this writing is excellent, keep going!" or "this has inspired me to write my own AAR, thank you" and to feel that rush of knowledge that someone is there and they are reading your works. Truly there are few feelings like it, at least for myself.

    What do I do after getting a comment like that?

    Well, I download a million books on the subject matter, I look through my own, I mine out more nuggets and minerals worthy of polishing and I get back to it. I save hundreds of pictures to my hard-drive, I read and read and read, I find out about obscure nations and time periods and I just keep on writing.

    So, I hope all that made some sense and gave you a little insight into what inspires me.

    Questions?


    P.S. Hope my English wasn't too bad, it isn't my native language.
    It was perfect, no worries!

  3. #3
    Scottish King's Avatar Campidoctor
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    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    My inspiration is reading books, watching movies and TV and reading and receiving encouragement from people here on the site. The first two give me ideas to write but the last gives me the drive to come back and write here.
    The White Horse: Hanover AAR (On going ETW AAR)
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    To Conquer the World for Islam A Moor AAR (Finished)

  4. #4
    Rex Anglorvm's Avatar Wrinkly Wordsmith
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    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    For me I've always loved a good story. I can remember even as a kid, my mum used to read to me constantly, so that by the time I was around seven, I had the reading age of an adult and would spend most of my time reading the non-fiction in the reference part of a library whilst my friends were all reading 'kids' books.

    I've also had a pretty eventful life, had lots of up and downs and experienced some very painful episodes that really tested me as a person. That and a pretty 'magpie' outlook to history has given me quite a vvid imagination when it comes to writing. My stories, I think anyway, are entertaining and easily accessable, I try to be historically accurate, but I'm no historian! And I don't do flowery prose, I am a story teller and not a true writer/author like some quality posters on here!

    So my inspiration up to this point has been life's experiences and the love of telling a good story.

    I would agree with McScottish on a lot of his points but especially on the spur that feedback gives you; I would judge one constructive comment far more an incentive than a 1,000 anonymous views.
    Last edited by Rex Anglorvm; November 29, 2013 at 08:19 AM.

  5. #5
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    It's very rare for me to stray from historical fiction, so history is probably my biggest inspiration, although the stories of other writers/peers are also provide much motivation to put quill to paper.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    Playing Total War games.
    • My name will live in marble and that of my enemies in sand.
    • Kol kalb biji yumu.
    • Ba'al hammon demands sacrifice.
    • ​A man has many faces.
    • Diu werlt ist ûzen schœne, wîz, grüen unde rôt, und innen swarzer varwe, vinster sam der tôt.

  7. #7
    Audacia's Avatar Give Life Back to Music
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    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    It depends on what I'm writing. If I'm writing poetry or music my relationship certainly inspires me to scribble down my thoughts and feelings, and to try and create some form of "art" based on them. If I'm writing a story, I, like many others, rely on history for inspiration. History is already full of so much drama and excitement. As an author it's merely a matter of adding some colorful flavors to that drama in the form of characters and some external conflict. History provides me with my framework; then it's up to me to build the rest of the house, as cliche as that sounds.

    Under the patronage of Inkie Pie: Text Editor for The Great War
    Roma Surrectum II





  8. #8

    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    The inspiration I have for writing stems from either history, movies, games, or personal experiences.

    Whenever I write poetry, it comes from personal experiences, because it's from those things that we experience on a personal, intimate level, that often makes for the best poetry. But short stories, that comes from movies or history, as they allow me to take fictional or historical characters, using their traits, mannerisms, and personalities to capture what they were like or creating something entirely new, with an amalgamation from various sources. There is often so much inspiration from these two areas, that it's impossible to get everything down before it's gone.

  9. #9
    General Brewster's Avatar The Flying Dutchman
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    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    Inspiration.

    My life most probable. Since I'm in the army I can use most and change it to something for a story. Then my relationships over the years can make good love dialogs My wife is reserved for poems.
    Stories that my kid make up sometimes make viable idea's imo. The other day it was something about a panda. Something about the fire department which I could perfectly use for something.

    And if I'm blocked sitting on a dike here watching ships pass by helps me.

  10. #10
    Cohors_Evocata's Avatar Centenarius
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    Default Re: Your inspiration?

    Quote Originally Posted by McScottish View Post
    You ask a damned good question but also, for me at least, a damned problematic one.

    What do I use as inspiration? In short, everything!

    Of course the 'range' of inspiration is exceptionally large, from the writings of other authors (and AARtists) to pretty much all of the things that you mentioned. Things such as interest, escapism and a little bit of living vicariously through a character in a tale - a character that is either everything I am not or with elements of myself implanted into them - are all part of my inspiration. Personal experiences also play a part, for example in one of my AAR's I wrote a part about a character losing a close relative and thought of how I had felt when my Grandpa died after a car accident.

    The main reason it is so difficult for me to tell you what inspires me is because, probably because of my upbringing and almost over-the-top interest in history, everything I write is researched before, during and after I have written about it. Every AAR I write, every CW piece, each is influenced by its own 'box' if you will I.E. The Roman Empire and the intricacies therein, or the lore of Tolkien or Games Workshop, each containing just so much inspiration in there own separate spheres. Then, in a box within a box, I scrabble around for the right pieces to fit together to form a narrative and go from there. Whether it is a certain event, a historical figure, a little known tribe/race/people or something else.

    And the last thing, though it will sound as clichéd as they come, is simply writing for the enjoyment of others. I like writing so that, hopefully, others may come online and think "oh, I wonder if such and such AAR has been updated, I really enjoy it so far" or "that update was fantastic, I'd like to read more when I return from some activity or another", others own imaginations fired up by writing, my writing!

    I don't go out of my way to fish for praise, but let me tell you that it could be considered as the juice that keeps me going. Not because of any sort of ego (though I do become unbalanced sometimes due to my massive swollen head ) but because I know what it is like to write a dozen updates and get no replies at all, no comments either negative or positive, then to suddenly have someone pop up and say simply "this writing is excellent, keep going!" or "this has inspired me to write my own AAR, thank you" and to feel that rush of knowledge that someone is there and they are reading your works. Truly there are few feelings like it, at least for myself.

    What do I do after getting a comment like that?

    Well, I download a million books on the subject matter, I look through my own, I mine out more nuggets and minerals worthy of polishing and I get back to it. I save hundreds of pictures to my hard-drive, I read and read and read, I find out about obscure nations and time periods and I just keep on writing.

    So, I hope all that made some sense and gave you a little insight into what inspires me.

    Questions?

    Nope, good sir, it was very clear (and extensive). Your enthusiasm (or what I perceived as such) was heard loud and clear(ly?).

    I would like to thank the people who took the time to answer, it is very much appreciated and gave me some new insights in the obscure art of word-weaving.
    I tend to edit my posts once or several times after writing and uploading them. Please keep this in mind when reading a recent post of mine. Also, should someone, for some unimaginable reason, wish to rep me, please add your username in the process, so I can at least know whom to be grateful towards.

    My thanks in advance.

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