Inspiration I have found comes when you least expect it. I find much of mine comes around two am when I am trying to sleep. I keep a notebook in my side table drawer to jot down these ideas before drifting back to dream land.
Now I am not saying every idea is gold. I have woken the next morning read through the notes and thought "what was I thinking". Sometimes however they hold some merit. A good plot twist I didn't even see coming or a direction I had not intended to take.
The inspiration I had for my first book Mark of Enchantment came from planning a campaign for Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, you read that right. I am an avid player and dungeon master of the wonderful world of D&D.
Now I had asked my husband to help me come up with a world concept. Nothing too specific but a general idea. I had a few weeks before we started the next session and was stumped. We spit balled back and forth before the idea came about. It was perfect and I thought the guys were going to love it.
I got to work on the campaign. I got overly detailed which is somewhat of a bad habit when it comes to D&D. See the thing is most players will never know three quarters of the information you prepared. They either blow through some nights or they don't care to ask a lot of questions. I just like to be ready in case they do.
As I was writing the campaign something happened. A feeling I had not felt since high school when I took a writer's workshop class. I wanted to write. Not anything short that I had done from time to time but I wanted to make a book.
The characters and storyline I was laying out spoke to me in a way nothing had before. It had to go in a certain order, albeit organically. I knew that if I put this new idea to the guys they were do their own thing. And they should it is a fun game for heaven's sake.
So here I am two days before I see everyone and I had two options: put this new wonderful idea into the hands of my friends or scrap it and throw some
thing together. Well I didn't really scrap it as it is written but they did not touch it.
I still don't know how I threw together another idea that that two weeks earlier I was tapped out of ideas. But I did and they still had fun. After that night I worked hard writing every chapter and developing the characters I felt gave them justice.
I try not to ignore when inspiration hits. Even when it wakes me at two in the morning. With out those weeks of planning for my game I never would have found the spark needed to write a book. Heck, even have the courage to write one.
So I pose this to you as well. Have courage to grab the idea that
makes your heart swell. Even if it means you are scrambling for two days. If you have an idea you believe in do it!
Stay wonderful
C.E.Keefer