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I agree with several people here - life experiences is probably key. Although I guess you can also say sometimes authors might write about something they wish could happen, like fantasy stories. I definitely wish I could cast a spell to clean my house!

It depends on how author writes and what they write. For example if the author is big on travelling then he will get a lot of inspiration from the "travelling" itself. Maybe about the culture on the location he's currently in or lifestyle they have. Interaction with people, some observation may spark little ideas too.

I don't think there's a correct answer to this question. Inspiration can come from anywhere. It could come from a real-life event, something somebody says on the radio, the news, a newspaper article, a dream, books, movies, or pure random thoughts.

I agree, authors get their inspiration from their environment, or the invert--what they've never seen. However, I think the nature of their inspiration makes up a lot of their work too.

Some authors are inspired in moments, overwhelmed with ideas like I'm sure many of us hope to be. Other authors--like Stephen King and John Grisham--are inspired from 8-5 so to speak. They continue the effort, good or bad. I don't think either style is better, but rather it adds to the original question. It's not only what they're inspired by, but how as well.

As a novelist myself (3 private detective books) and have spoken and read about may other novelists -- I assume we're talking about fiction here -- it starts with the desire to tell a story. Then the author builds upon that story with personal experiences, observations, and often, research to bolster the original idea.

So a novel is essentially part total BS with threads of reality and experience woven into the mix.

But as to an original inspiration? It seems to arise from one of two things: 1) a single experience which impels the writer to create a story around it, and 2) the prospective author enjoys a certain genre (fantasy, mystery, etc) and wishes to join the fray and tell an original story in that same much-loved genre.

When I moved into the house in which I now reside as you can imagine there were boxes and boxes of things to be put away. Among them was an old steamer trunk which contained many of my father's possessions. Dad died in 1984 and before I sold his house I gathered his more important personal effects and put them into that trunk. It had never been opened since. For some reason I was drawn to it. I unlatched its enormous hasp, lifted the lid and peered inside. My eyes were drawn to a rolled up piece of cloth. I picked it up, unravelled it, and looked upon an all too familiar sight. It was my father's eyeglasses. He had worn the same pair of glasses throughout my entire childhood and young adulthood. The familiar translucent/beige frames transported me back to earlier times. I then experienced an epiphany, the understanding of why relics merit such significance, for I held in my hands not merely glass and plastic but the windows through which my father viewed his life, and through which he viewed me. Through these windows he experienced love and laughter, grief and suffering, triumph and defeat. My father had witnessed my entire life through those glasses, and this is why, I knew for the first time, that I had saved them long ago.

What you have just read is a short story which took about three minutes to write as an example for this thread. It was inspired by a memory. And that's how writer's get their inspiration: the memory of an event in their own lives, the lives of another, a story heard once long ago while eavesdropping on a conversation at the airport, a story told by a grandparent, family friend, or coworker or something transcendentally found like joy experienced as a result of waking in a spring shower.

Some authors sit down with a predetermined object in mind. They are writing a spy story because that is what their publisher wants this month. The story will be fabricated to suit some literary equation which has proven to be marketable. Another author will wander lonely avenues in a strange, dimensionless void until his muse hits him over the head with a large, wet trout of inspiration. I have always preferred to read the latter if only because it came from a magical land and not from some print factory.

I think it depends on the genre the author writes in. Authors are going to write about things that interest them. This could come from personal life experiences, things they have seen or read, things they make up, historical events, etc. I think the purpose behind the story is what drives the inspiration. For example, the Percy Jackson series was started because Riordian made up stories about the Greek gods to tell to his kids. With more research and effort he was able to turn those stories into novels. Riordian took his interest in Greek mythology and passion for storytelling and turned it into an idea for a book series.

Excellent post.

I will however disagree about the former case. I have never heard of a publisher asking an author to write a story about one particular genre because such is needed that month. However, your personal experience with publishers may be different from mine. When I worked for a newspaper, our first-line editor did ask us for various stories on occasion, such as "We need a piece about the traffic mess where the new McDonald's is opening" or similar. But that's what comes from being a staff writer for a paper (or a part-time stringer like me). Other times you have a story idea and pitch it.

But in all the times I've written for a magazine or news monthly (the normal term is "staff contributor" or "contributing staff editor" or some muck), all the assignments come either from the individual writer ("I'd like to do a piece on shady car repair shops." -- one of my ideas) or several story ideas will be tossed around at staff meetings, over coffee in the office or over beers after hours, and a general consensus will be developed about the next month's articles to be pursued -- actually 3 months because there's of course a time lag.

But all of these are from non-fiction news or "public affairs" newswriting for a major daily (the Kansas City Star) or for a weekly or monthly magazine/newspaper, and are my own personal experiences but also are common for anyone who's done the same sort of work. Whomever here who has had newswriting experience may chip in, of course.

But I've NEVER heard of fiction authors being "assigned" to write a spy thriller or whatever by the publisher. Never.

However, your own personal experiences may be different and I'd be very interested in hearing such. Were you ever assigned a fiction topic? Or do you personally know of such an instance? Please share with us, because I've not known of that happening in the world of fiction. News copy, yeah.

Regarding the muse, your latter example, I agree. From reading the bios or "How I became Stephen King" tales, it comes pell-mell into the mind. Usually, however, it's generated due to the author's prior fascination or love for a certain genre. Myself, a lifelong passion for supernatural horror fiction (Lovecraft, etc) led me to write a series of unconnected horror tales, just for the love of creating my own nasty stuff, ha ha.

Or my 3 private eye novels (the 4th in progress) which sprang into my mind also due to my being a fan of modern private detective stories, like Robert Parker's Spenser. And my thinking "I've written short stories. Why not a private eye short story?" which I started, which them became longer and longer. And I kept telling myself "I can only write short stories. No way I could write a whole novel."

But here I am, about a quarter million words into the genre and charging along happily. So whether that mystic muse was the initial impetus or it came piecemeal as a concept into my fevered brain, I dunno. All I do know is that I've got 3 novels heading to print!

Great short-short story in the lede. Excellent imagery and command of tone and rhythm. That was first rate, honest.

-- 11 Nov 2015, 10:25 --

Rethinking the concept of "print factory", there seems to be a common theme in this forum: professional publishing = bad, self publishing = good.

Which tends to irk me, because neither is bad nor good, except that it serves the needs of the author and the readership. I'm unaware of the existence of a "print factory" anywhere, under which jurisdictions, I assume, writers are assigned fiction topics and the snarky and greedy publishers squeeze them to create their empires. A literary sweatshop, I suppose.

Well, folks, I have NEVER heard of such. Can ANYONE tell me of the existence of such? Random House? Putnam? Simon & Schuster? Who are these nefarious print factories? Because I just don't know of any, and I've been writing professionally (for real paid money) since I was in college in the 60s. And I know quite a few "real" professional authors --- those who actually make a living with their writing.

And ALL the time I've written, both for pay and for the pleasure of it (most of the time it's thankfully combined) I have NEVER been treated anything but professionally and fairly by my publisher or editor. Same as right now, after having signed a 3-book contract with a non-subsidy publisher this July, the EIC -- editor in chief -- and publisher have treated me with respect and fairly and totally above board, in compliance (and more, actually) with the contract -- which was also fair and reviewed before signing by an attorney pal of mine. My first novel is out and selling, my next 2 soon to follow, fine cover art, fine editing, excellent setup and print versions, Kindle the same, all problems resolved competently and quickly.

I keep asking this because NO ONE seems to be able to recount a personal experience with a professional publisher to the contrary. If ANY forum member has been treated unfairly by a publisher, I'd like to hear the story. Because all I hear are random rumors about greedy publishers and how it's always better to self publish because you have control over your book. Gang, I've been professionally published for YEARS and I've ALWAYS had control over my writing -- the one exception being newswriting where the newspaper editors retain final say-so. But for my fiction? ZERO interference.

But as I say, I'm only one person with one opinion. And anyone with a bad professional experience in fiction publishing, please share your own story -- not "I heard this..." but what happened to YOU.

And yeah, self publishing is fine for those who wish to do it. You bear all the costs. But actually selling your book or story to a professional house and getting paid? Where the publisher pays ALL the up front costs and you get a fair advance plus fair royalties? That's keen too.

Sorry to rant, but I've never heard of a modern "print factory" --- mebbe in China?

I think the biggest inspiration for authors is simply their own self - their personality, their everyday life, and the objects and people that surround them. In my opinion, these things have an impact on anything anyone writes, be it sci-fi, fantasy, or any other genre. Their stories are rarely directly connected to the authors' lives, unless they consciously make it so, but everything around them has an effect on what they write. They then twist the stories with the aid of their imagination, making it fit whichever genre they please. But I do think that the essence of every story is the author himself, his life, and whatever appeals to him.

I think this is from Stephen King:

"I'm still in love with what I do, with the idea of making things up, so hours when I write always feel like very blessed hours to me."

This is pretty much how I feel, too. This morning I had a few new good ideas for my 4th novel which I typed into my "ideas" file. I keep an active ideas file on the desktop (virtual) and supporting info goes into that file -- story ideas, plot twists, character names & 1-line bios (so I can keep them straight), all sorts of trivia. A very valuable tool and handy.

Regarding the author's life? Yes, certainly. I have led an, er, "interesting" life and some of the experiences end up in my mystery novels, albeit tweaked and massaged and certainly boosted for excitement. Likewise characters -- composites of people whom I've known, a character trait, way of speaking, physical appearance, sense (or lack) of humor, all sorts of triggers. I use real restaurants and bars in my stories (they're set in modern Houston where i live) but I only do that for either "neutral" or positive comments, never negative. For a "bad" bar, it's always made up.

I think this is how most fiction writers work -- they've got a theme but it's embellished by their own personal experiences, which of course inject verisimilitude. For example, my theme is "betrayal" so I've got a crooked cop who betrays his colleagues, and a crooked veteran who betrays his closest friends. Now none of those people are real or are even based on real people whom I've known. But as I write the novel, I surround the primary story line and those central bad actors with many other people, colorful "supporting roles" which consist of amalgams of real folks I've known. And I take glimpses of real places, bars and other sites, and use them as springboards for my scenes.

A little hint to aspiring novelists: I wanted a rough and corrupt place with cops on the take and a shady city admin, places where doper bars and bad actors hang out, so as to provide an exciting stomping ground for my private eye. But I didn't want to demean any real police or nearby cities. Well if you look at a map of metro Houston, you'll find 2 satellite cites to the southeast-- Deer Park and Pasadena. Both are respectable communities, hard working middle class mostly, center for refineries and petrochemical industry. There's a main road, "Spencer Highway" which runs through both, east-to-west. So I created "Mid City, Texas" which is between both the larger towns. Now on a map, Deer Park and Pasadena are flat together, side by side. But in my imaginary novels, Mid City is between them, a raw spot for rough trade.

Thus I tweaked reality but not a lot, and it allows me to have bad stuff to go down, but leaves real cities un-indicted (which really is smart thus avoiding lawsuits, hey). Those who are working on creating their own fictional "universe", let me therefore recommend that you not go too far off the rails, but create a mostly real but then partly fantasy environment for your story. It's a lot easier to manage.

And to all aspiring authors: Keep on truckin' and keep on plugging away! Hey, if I can do it, so can you. I'm a nobody and I've sold 3 novels. Don't give up, accept good criticism, learn from it and go forward.

-- 11 Nov 2015, 20:22 --

Just for fun, there's a fairly well known prank of sorts which has been going around the literary world for ages. Originally it was a "secret book" and now it's been updated to a "secret website" but the joke persists. I myself used it only last year.

How it works... an "aspiring" author approaches you. "I've always wanted to write a novel but I never had the ideas to write them. How do you get your ideas?" -- of course, in fact, the person asking is likely incapable of spelling his own name let alone writing a coherent paragraph, let alone a novel. And I'm not talking about "genuine" wannabes who seriously want good advice -- I'm talking about goofballs.

"Well," I say, looking around in a conspiratorical mode, "I suppose I shouldn't tell you this..." (which always presages leaking a secret) "But we writers have a special website where we get all our ideas."

"Really? Can I look it up?" (originally it was a "special book")

"Well, it's pretty expensive. Major writers like Stephen King run it and we're really not supposed to talk about the website."

"You can tell me."

"Okay. We pay a chunk of money and we're legally committed to send a percentage of our royalties back to the site sponsors. What it is is that we log in, and start by selecting the genre of story we want to write and its length. For instance, if I want to write a horror tale and it's novel length, I check the box."

"Really?"

"Really. We of course all have passwords and so on, so you can't just log in as a browsing person. And then we check the boxes, and it asks us things like "modern horror" or "retro horror" and we check those boxes, and then it asks us "hard core adult" or "juvenile" and we check those boxes, and then we're given a bunch of character and plot choices. We click whichever boxes we want, and the software creates a whole story outline for us, characters and plot and dialogue and so on. We download it and we just type in whichever names and so on we want to vary the template, and the story's done!"

"Really?"

"Of course. Where do you think we get all our story ideas? Inside our heads? Gimme a break."

And you'd be surprised how many people actually believe this. You of course have to talk a good game, but hey.

My history and upbringing inspires me. My first book draft took 7 days to write, but a year to edit and massage. My first fiction book however may take a year. Its just harder to make up the details quickly.

Authors can get inspiration from just about anywhere. Their family and friends, their surroundings, the thoughts inside their head, their past experiences, anything.

TB, don't fret if a novel takes a year. My 3 novels have taken about 10 months each, maybe a little more. That's pretty typical for novelists. And of course the real world intervenes. I've temporarily shelved my 4th novel, in progress, because my girlfriend & I (we share a home) have been enjoying the holiday social calendar for a while. So taking a break is okay.

Regarding the actual time spent? My new novel (4th in my series of private detective thrillers) was sketched out in about a week, a rough outline and plot sequence, just a very raw synopsis for the general direction of the story line, central themes, and so on. Then I simply started writing. I had a crime scene at the book's beginning so as to grab the readers' attention, then worked on some story lines which spring from the killing. This took maybe 2-3 more weeks. By then I'd had it fairly well in sync and I've now got about 20k words. Naturally there will be endless revisions and tweaking all next spring.

This is a modest timetable which works within my publishing. My 3rd novel is soon to be printed and published by my editor/publisher and it will then be on sale and pushed starting mid-December and into spring. This puts all 3 of my private eye series into publication for sale, and this will then give me the needed time to get book 4 finished so it can be ready for fall 2016.

As far as my inspiration? Well, i'm writing a series of mystery novels with my Houston-based private eye, his cop pals, and other people he meets and works with during his "adventures" -- some good folks, some crooks. So I really don't need a new "inspiration" for my principal characters -- they evolve and change, just as do real people, and the main characters have problems unconnected with the mystery plot, just like a real private eye or a real cop might. So I might interject a humorous sequence from a past experience.

A real example: Some years ago, I became acquainted with some pals, a married middle-age couple. The guy was a Viet vet and had plenty of vet pals. He and his wife are artists, and so they built a "4077th MASH uniit" in their back yard. What it was, really, was a fake shack front, just like a movie set front, of a rustic and shabby "clubhouse" of sorts. It had a front, 2 sides, and a shabby roof, but no back. It was just like a poorly built TV set from an old cheap TV comedy series. And they'd have monthly keg parties. Everyone would chip in on the keg, bring snacks and they'd play rock and roll and everyone would get tipsy and dance and laugh. It was essentially an excuse to party. Sadly the guy died a few years back and the "4077th" party is no more.

So I put this into my new 4th novel. And the people we meet there become pivotal in the plot, involving both Viet and Gulf War vets.

Now nothing in my story is anything like the real place was except the 4077 theme in the back yard. But it's a good taking off point for a unique story theme, hey?

I believe authors get inspiration at random. I think sometimes it just comes to them and other times it takes hours of thinking.

Authors in my opinion get their inspiration from life generally. Every thing read, experienced and felt find their way into the dumping ground of the unconscious mind. It forms a reliable source of data for the imagination together with little things in daily affairs which trigger a connection. The subconscious mind, imagination, and little triggers, that's it!