Inspiration

     One of the most common question most writers get is, where do you get you inspiration. I am here today to tell you some of the ways I get mine. Now, some of what I have to share is common to a lot of writers, and some is not common. Bare with me.
     Now, I don't want to give all of my ideas away, so I may be quite vague with some of the ideas, but I hope the message is there. 
     Most of my ideas have come from vastly different places. The first book I wrote came from a trend. It is a vampire book. I wrote it on the tail end of the Twilight craze. It was my first book. I thought I needed to have my own vampire book. It was the story I wanted to tell at the time. There were a lot of reasons it is a vampire book, but the main one is because it was the trend.
     The second book I wrote was a little different. I wanted to write a book about a certain situation, but I wasn't sure if I was ready, in several ways, to write it. I didn't quite have the characters figured out, or know how certain things would play out. I also didn't know if I had enough knowledge on the subject and so on. Then, one night I was watching the TV show Parenthood. One of the characters said a line of dialogue and suddenly it all clicked for me. I had the characters, I had the situation, I had the emotions, I had everything. And it was all from one line of dialogue from a TV show. Who would have thought.
     The third book's idea came from a reverse trend. Sort of. I wanted to write a book like a trend, only one that may start a new trend. Vampires, werewolves, angels. They had all been done. I wanted to find something that either no one had done, or that not many people had done. The trick was, finding something that wasn't that popular, something that I could research, and something I could put my own spin on. I had a couple of ideas, but the research just wasn't there, so I really had to put my spin on it. Also, I wanted this to be my first trilogy, so I had to make sure I could write three books on it, be able to pull it all off, and be able to connect everything. I'm still working on that part. I am currently writing the second book.
     I got the idea for a novella series from a dream. Yes, I pulled a Stephenie Meyer, and I don't feel bad about it. Because I love this idea. It was so full in my head and I just had to know what happens. The funny thing was, when I woke up, I couldn't remember the dream. But throughout the day, more of it kept coming back to me and I was like, Holy crap, this is a good story. So anyway, there you have it folks, I got an idea from a dream.
     I got the idea for another novella series by combining three things; genetics, a lion documentary, and a TV show. There is this genetic anomaly I am really interested in that I want to use, but like the other story idea, there is almost no research to be found. There was also parts of the lion anatomy, or genetics that I wanted to add to the genetic anomaly. Then there was the TV show aspect. Really the idea has nothing to do with the TV show, but the show was more of a guidance than inspiration. The show was more for pacing a novella series than it was for story inspiration.
     I got inspiration for a book title, and nothing else, from a band name.
     I got inspiration for a couple ideas based on coming to love a stranger and then it's counterpart, loving a best friend.
     So, clearly, I have a lot of ideas. I wish I had more time, motivation, and time to write them. I can be in the middle of a project and get a new idea that I am in love with and it's like, what do I do? Do I finish the current project I am working on, or do I abandon it for the new shiny idea? I will tell you. I have done both. I was in the middle of rewriting a book when I got a new idea. I abandoned the rewrite, which I have yet to finish, and went full steam ahead with the new idea. Right now, I don't do that. I have a notebook I carry everywhere with me that I can write scenes, dialogue, plot and so forth in for any idea so that I can remember it, and also so I don't have to abandon projects.
     Really I have no idea what I am doing, I just want every one who reads this to think I do. Thanks for reading.