3 Things That Inspire Me To Write

1. Asking “what if?”

Curiosity is essential to the development of intellect, reason, and creativity. Children often ask “why” as they seek to understand the world, and when their comprehension grows, they begin to ask…What if? What if this versus that happened? What if this person had done that instead? What if I was in that situation? What if the same thing happened in a different culture? What if…etc.

2. Assuming I would have done/written/created it differently.

While this usually begins as a critique, it is difficult to describe what people want without knowing what they don’t want. Many ideas spawn from feelings of injustice, inaccuracy, preference, and a strong sense of my world view. How many people watch a movie or read a book and commiserate the ending, declaring how we’d do it differently? Following through on that impulse can lead to great things. But as Straczynski says, “Steal, don’t borrow.” Remember to make all ideas your own, so the audience can hear your voice, not someone else’s.

3. When I’m supposed to be doing something else…

I don’t know how many napkins, receipts, and scraps I’ve covered with prose when I was supposed to be paying attention to something far more responsible. Writing is an enormous pleasure and a fantastic retreat, and I hope that never changes for me.