What inspires you when writing?

I've been writing for...holy crap, two decades... Give or take a year or two. So yeah, I've had a little time to figure out what works for me.

I make playlists and listen to music while I write. Unlike a friend of mine who has to have silence or minimal sound, I can't stand not having something in the background. It helps me concentrate. The songs are really random so no "listen to this [genre/artist]" advice from me. Usually whatever sounds good to me and it can change with the story or my mood.

As for getting story ideas, I rely on the random generator in my brain. I have a billion thoughts going on at once in my head at any time (which is why I like the music to block out most of it lol). Sometimes those thoughts cross wires and something pops into the front of the line in my brain. It's like playing a slot machine and watching the wheels line up in interesting ways. This process has literally stopped me in my tracks more than once. Other ideas come from dreams and even offhanded comments in conversations or real life experiences. A lot come from dreams, actually. I think over half of my stories are from remembering dreams.

Then, inevitably, the plot bunnies run away and I'm stuck with a half formed thought and nowhere to go with it. The dreaded Writer's Block, bane of my existence. If this happens, I can usually move onto another story I've neglected. I've discovered that my muses vie for attention and sabotage my mind in order to get it. Sounds crazy, I know.

I used to be able to go out and smoke a few cigarettes while just thinking over scenarios or watching YouTube to clear my head. Now that I quit smoking, I don't have that option. It did help when I did, though. I've resorted to Jolly Ranchers to help me now. I'm not a huge fan of gum, but I've heard that it helps with concentration.

Talking with someone helps. My aforementioned friend is probably the biggest gun in the arsenal I have when I get stuck. She's a reader and thinks like one. She brings things to light that I never think of when forming plots or running through scenes. She asks the questions that force me to think of answers that make sense. Having that trampoline to bounce ideas off of helps immensely. I don't know if this works for everyone, and you kind of have to find the right person to talk with. Not everyone has the ability to listen to your ideas and tactfully give constructive criticism instead of just saying your ideas are dumb and you suck.

So there it is. My madness. Works for me, may not work for you. I do suggest practicing writing with short stories, like a few pages or a certain word count. Another helpful thing is deadlines. I can write with or without pressure, but unless I have a deadline I tend to wander off and stare at the wall. I've been participating in NaNoWriMo for the past 6 years. It's good for forcing you to write under pressure without any other reward than a self pat on the back, a sloppy mess of words that might resemble a plot, and bragging rights. It doesn't give you a publishable work by any means, but it gives you a first draft. Better than nothing.

Anyway, my rambling has gone on long enough and I kinda went from what helps me to giving advice. Whatever works I suppose. Hope something I mentioned helps.

Starbucks was my hangout a few years back when I would do NaNoWriMo...I'd have to have the booth at the back wall so I could face the entire room, but it was easy to tune them out. Plus coffee.

But I agree.

I've been writing for a good ten or so years, I've written lyrics for a few Norwegian and Swedish Metal bands and I've personally wrote four unpublished novels (for my own enjoyment basically)

But never a short story, so the whole contest has been new waters for me, I find it rather difficult actually trying to tell a story I've had locked in my mind (for a couple decades but never put to words) and actually complete the story in such a small manner. Much harder than I thought it was going to be.

But when it comes to inspiration it depends on what I'm writing.

When I'm writing lyrics I have to have instrumental music playing (Instrumental or the lyrics of the music I'm listening to seamlessly embed themselves into my lyrics) I've literally wrote an entire song felt accomplished by what I've done, turned around and read it. Almost word for word the lyrics of the songs I was listening to while writing.

When it comes to stories, well it varies. Most of the stories I've written in the past have simply been daydreams or such I've thought about while idle at work, or trying to fall asleep. But oddly enough I find it easiest to write stories in a dark room with no noise.