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Well, in times past, to get my fingers moving over the keyboard, I’d resorted to something known as a kiriban for inspiration.
Over on my deviantART page, I have a contest. Be the person who captures the right page view on the counter, and you’re the winner. The prize is to be the star of a piece of original fiction I write. In the past, I’d generated a lot of interest and the hit counter would go nuts. People seemed excited and interested in being featured in an original piece of fiction, and it produced some pretty nice pieces from me. Things like The Lake, Remember Me, and Say Cheese were all kiriban prizes.
As a matter of gaining subject matter, I’d ask the winner to tell me about themselves, and their interests, hobbies, favorite foods, colors, bands, activities they participated in, etc. I got some pretty good feedback from most of them but had to pry stuff out of one or two. No biggie, I ended up being able to write something they all were (apparently) happy with. And I had a lot of fun in the process.
To get my hands moving again, I held another one this past week. I was dangerously close to the counter number anyway, but thought I’d give it a shot. And I have a winner. A nice person who’s a reasonable talent in her own right, even if I don’t care for the genre she writes (fan fiction, most of it for the cartoon “Avatar: The Last Airbender”). It happened pretty quickly, but didn’t generate NEAR the interest of my other contests. (A rousing round of “meh” is what it seemed to garner, frankly.)
Well, now that the contest is over and I’ve been in touch with the winner, I’m waiting for something to strike. Inspiration, an idea from the blue, that spark, that bolt that puts the elements all together to form something I can hammer into a decent story.
Nothin’. I got absolutely nothin’.
As I sit here and stare at what she provided, I realize I may have gone to this well of inspiration one too many times. And I owe her the prize.
I’m not in a panic yet. I know there’s a dampening of creativity due to the pressures of trying to find work and knowing my family is depending on me. Still, I felt certain something would pop loose and I’d find the way to create. I know I’ve gone stagnant on my editing process, and hoped this would jar something in that area too, but so far, this is a terrible dry spell. Like, Sahara Desert dry. And I’m … concerned.
What do you do to spark your creativity? I’ve tried reading favorite authors and I’ve tried just forcing words out, but neither of those has had any result so far. Any suggestions, wise gallery of friendly friends?
Sound off.
-JDT-
All original content copyright DarcKnyt, 2009
All Rights Reserved
Hmmm, well you are talking about writing, I mean actual writing. I am thinking that you need a vacation for a spark of an idea. Ok, maybe that is unrealistic. But, I find sometimes the ordinary, everyday can spark ideas. Maybe if you don’t search it out, it will come to you? Dunno just an idea.
Not a bad one either. My fear with that is, if I stop trying … it won’t come at all, ever. But I’m willing to give it a specific time trial — say a couple of weeks or something — and see if that helps. Thanks!
Sleep deprivation. It worked for Dali. Of course, his was self-imposed while mine is being forced upon me.
But the more I think about Dali, the less I would recommend doing anything like him. That guy was a pervert. But the melting clocks do look pretty cool.
His picture of the sleeper — a big-ass head all propped up on thin little stilts — suits your situation very well, too. I don’t know if I’m ready to try sleep deprivation yet — sleep’s one of the few earthly pleasures I have left to me. But it IS a pretty interesting idea.
Thanks!
I love love love the urban section of the deviantart photography section..black/white are the backbone of the human condition…when I post again i will put that site on my blogroll ..if you dont mind i will refer to the pics now and then….what is the concept of the contest…Zman sends
No, of course I don’t mind! But you should be aware that the viewer will need an account to see anything tagged with a mature content warning.
The concept of a kiriban to be the person to capture a certain counter hit; in this instance it was the page views that dA counts. I set it at 21,000. But it could be, for a blog, say the number of comments, or the number of visitors. If someone captures a screenshot of the right number and provides proof, they win. 
The contest sound interesting. As for inspiration, I firmly believe that you can’t sit around waiting for it.
Start writing, even if it comes out as the most boring non-fiction. Time yourself if needed. Once you’ve written a para, go back to it and figure the one sentence which has the most “energy” (the one that excites you most), and use that as a prompt for another few paras.
Whenever I sit around waiting for inspiration, there is none. It is when I feel can write without being inspired that inspiration comes flooding in!
GREAT advice, Damyanti! Genius is 99% perspiration, 1% inspiration. Very wise and welcome words. I can see this as a definite solution to struggling times. Thank you so much, and it’s good to see you around again! As for the contest — well, they can be fun, though this one was met with lukewarm enthusiasm.
I’m glad to help, Darc…if it helps, that is.
I do come here pretty regularly, but I’m more of a lurker than a commenter
I found it helpful indeed, and I’m glad to have you as either lurker or commenter. I don’t always comment on every blog I read either.