My Top 5 Inspirations for Writing

You may be curious where I get my ideas from, or perhaps are just curious how writers gather their inspiration in general? After all, creating fantastical worlds full of make believe countries, races, characters and creatures is no mean feat, and you cannot draw inspiration from an empty well. So, I thought I’d share my favourite sources of inspiration with you, in an effort to give a helping hand to all you other budding writers out there.

1. Fantasy Literature

I have read in several places, that to be a writer you must be a reader. Preferably of an insane volume of books. To me this makes sense, as I believe we subconsciously pick up information as we read about structure, content, character building etc. Reading fantasy literature from a young age has certainly impacted on me, and I’d like to think its been of positive benefit to my writing. I first read ‘The Lord of The Rings’ aged around 10, which many people regard as the grandfather of modern fantasy. I mean, it was pretty hard going for a ten year old but it strengthened the growing interest that started from reading shorter novels by C.S Lewis and Brian Jacques.

Fast forward to the present and I’ve lost track of how many fantasy novels I’ve read. I don’t have a favourite author, but have enjoyed books by several including J.R.R Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Stephen King (yes he writes fantasy, as well as horror) Naomi Novik, Anne McCaffrey, Tom LLoyd, Susanna Clarke, Raymond E.Feist, Terry Goodkind and Trudi Canavan. I also like horror authors, including Bram Stoker and H.P Lovecraft. I also recommend reading non-fiction books, you never know when you might come across some interesting information that could spark an idea off, or that you could incorporate into a story.

2. Movies

I was an 1980’s child and this was a great decade for fantasy films, which were all the more impressive given this was an early period for digital effects and CGI was super basic, or in most cases non existent. Some of my favourites to this day are from this period, including Willow, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and Legend. Fantastic inspiration from a visual point of view with all the fantasy sets, props, prosthetics and costume design. If you’re a young whippersnapper and haven’t seen any of these yet I highly recommend them. Of course I can’t have a film section without mentioning Peter Jackson’s amazing Lord of The Rings trilogy. I remember being super excited that finally someone had brought the books to the big screen, and it was definitely worth the wait! Although they used CGI, it was not over used and there were still a lot of physical effects and prosthetics which made it seem more ‘real’ and authentic to me. I have to say, I’m not as keen on The Hobbit trilogy which over used CGI, but it’s still a good source of visual inspiration nonetheless.

3. TV

There have been many fantasy based TV shows throughout the years; it’s great to see the modern ones actually have decent budgets and good production values which means more inspiration for us writers. Some of the older ones were still great though; when I was a child there a show on TV called Knightmare, where a group of plucky kids had to navigate through a serious of dungeons avoiding early CGI generated traps, tricksters, wizards and monsters. It was awesome, and I always wanted to go on that show! There was also an animated Dungeons & Dragons which was good, He-Man had an interesting mix of fantasy and science fiction elements, even though it was extremely cheesy!

More recently Game of Thrones was another great example of a TV show, despite the disappointing final season. However, still great for inspiration with the set design, costumes, dragons, white walkers and epic battle scenes! Netflix has been pretty on point lately, with a mix of fantasy anime and live action shows. The adaptation of The Witcher was really good too, aside from the confusing timeline.

4. Video Games

Since the 1990’s when I had a Sega Mega Drive, I’ve been into video games. Processing power in consoles has evolved massively since then, enabling developers to produce jaw dropping, open plan worlds with a whole host of customisation options and gorgeous looking graphics. More great fodder for a writer’s imagination! Some of my favourites from the past couple of decades are Oblivion, Skyrim, the Fable trilogy, Dragon Age Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Nights into Dreams and Shenmue. The Dragon Age series in particular is rich in character design, plot, and customisation options. I’m eagerly waiting for Bioware to release Dragon Age 4!

5. Real Life/People/Travel

Ever heard that saying ‘truth is stranger than fiction’? Well, it’s probably true. Keep your eyes and ears open as you go about daily life. You might hear an interesting snippet of conversation that could spark an idea, or see something strange or unconventional. Inspiration can be found everywhere if you’re willing to be open minded and look. For example you see a pattern of shifting sunlight on a lake, which illuminates mossy green depths below; what type of story could this spark? I would start wondering what could be living in those weedy depths!

Summary

Well that’s my top five sources of inspiration for fantasy writing; literature, movies, tv, video games and real life. I hope you found this post useful and it’s given you potential places to gain inspiration from.

What do you think? What inspires your writing, and do you have any favourite sources of inspiration? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.