Some days, it seems the Halls of the Directorate are filled with Agents bemoaning their Lack of Inspiration.
Pah! What a feeble Excuse! Henceforth, any Agent who dares Proffer it will be Imprisoned in a dark Closet with the Plot Spider and her little Spiderlings. Perhaps the sensation of Thousands of tiny Feet clambering over your Helpless Body will prove sufficient Inspiration.
However, I fear that Agents who are not in the Environs of the Directorate may not Benefit from such gentle Inspiration. Hence, I offer alternate Sources. I encourage you to Peruse these Offerings. What exquisite Tales hide in each, waiting only for your Skill and Persistence to bring them Forth!
The Library of Congress digital collection contains a wealth of images, audio files, videos, and printed documents on any Subject you can Imagine. Who could not be Inspired by Images such as this?
Terror at the Library of Congress
Art: Tor.com’s A Is For Artist series neatly arranges Artists in Alphabetical Order, providing easy Access to Hundreds of images sure to Strike you with Inspiration.
Science: Peruse Scientific American or New Scientist for Tantilizing developments in the Scientific Arts. Consider these headlines:
- Foxes Zero In on Prey Via Earth’s Magnetic Field
- Thunderstorms Caught Making Antimatter
- Chess Grandmasters Use Twice the Brain
Surely you needn’t even read the Articles to think of a dozen Tales!
Pinterest: Peruse collections of Images curated by other Users. (The Directorate wishes to thank Ms. Eliason for bringing this Web-Site to our Awareness.)
Lighten Up: Sometimes, the finest Inspiration comes in the form the subtle Humor of Ms. Hyperbole, and the Fish Post in particular.
Inspiration is Everywhere
If nothing else, I trust this List of Splendid Resources serves to Demonstrate the wealth of Inspiration that Surrounds you. Your Recalcitrance, I fear, has murkier Roots, and the feeble cry “But I don’t have an Idea!” is but a cowardly Facade. Wrest your Idea from the Aether — and then Confront the true Nature of your Reluctance, ere you are confronted by a Hound.
Upon what Sources of Inspiration do you rely? Share with us in the Comments, Brave Agents!
Thank you most kindly for sharing these lovely sources of Inspiration, Ethelie!
They shall provide much lovely Food for Thought (and writing!)
I look to the World around me for Inspiration. An odd turn of phrase, a beautiful flower, snow caught in shifting snow dunes on the windows of our Automobile this day.
Morguefile.com is another lovely source of pictures.
Writer’s Digest has (or at least used to have) lovely Prompts to expound upon.
And for that matter, there is always the lovely Creative Copy Challenge, started by Remarkable Sean Platt. Ten words for you to put into a short-short story. I’ve found them most lovely to use when I want the joy of a Puzzle.
On LiveJournal, there are a Plethora of Blogs that give Prompts for writing. Many of these are in the Fan-fic worlds, but one can always translate to Original-fic.
There are many more out there, I’m sure, but those are what came to me first.