The makings of an 'unusual story' - of, where does inspiration come from?

When I look back at my own favorite stories, have often wondered where those inspired moments come from, what served as the incubator for a particular idea. I can sit for months with nothing more than mundane story lines bouncing around my head, and then out of the blue....

So I decided to self-monitor for my next 'inspiration' and see how it happened. Thinking back, I sense that it is the same process that has taken place before.

It started with a fairly bland plot; entertaining if written, but I debated whether it was worth my effort to write it out. As with all my stories, i wrote it in my head, night after night. As always in this process, I wish I could have captured half of what I 'never' wrote, but that of course never happens. In one of the iterations, a twist, a new angle appears. In my mind, I write the twist into the story, and start to focus on it; twisting it around, embellishing it, reworking it.

Then one night, I realise that the twist is the kernel, the original story the husk. Drop the husk, write the kernel. A eureka moment. I am then driven to write, but never find the time, the opportunity or the inspiration. The kernel starts to shrivel, I have to put it down on paper. Well past it's best sell date, I start to write. Stolen minutes from my work day, furtive email moments from my family time. Past it's prime, but I am driven, I have to do it.

The start is always labored; finding the right words, the tone that will set this aside. It's all about creating atmosphere, setting it up. The opening paragraphs take forever, but they have to be perfect. Like the husks that guard the kernel, without them the kernel shrivels. It's like breaking through a fog; suddenly I am beyond the opening. The storyline flows, the tone is set. Now it is about finding phrases that will resonate, twists within twists. A combination of three or four words that, when brought together, can tell a whole story.

Then it is over. Finding the spelling mistakes, eliminating redundancy, making the text crisp, the thoughts easy to follow.

I read it back, think "that was easy, why didn't i think of that in the first place."

I realise now that for me, inspiration isn't easy. It's not a brainwave, a flash of insight. It is a process of rework and rework, all in my head, until I finally get myself to commit it to paper.

For me it's the fantasy that I never had come true or lived out in my day. Not only my fantasy, but the fantasies of others in my life. I agree with gail. Sometimes I push myself to write a story, and I end up with the same old thing. When I have a thought, I start to write. I then become the characters; do and say what I would do and say, and continue on until I've exhausted the entire scenario or story itself.

The whole bottom line in our stories is that there is going to be a spanking, or there is going to be a spanking mentioned in our stories. It's the why, where, how, and what that makes the plot driven story unique. If it's not a totally different story, it's a story that involves many of the LSF's readers' fantasies. We know them by the stories we all read.

If I have nothing to say that comes to mind as far as a story, then I don't bother writing. I need a hint of what I'm going to be writing about.

My inspiration usually comes when a title for a story pops into my head. It happened last week when I was walking down a street I've been down hundreds of times before. One building caught my imagination and the title followed. I haven't written much of the story yet, but it will happen.

I usually like to incorporate an unexpected twist or two in my stories. Strangely, I find the spanking, caning or or other corporal punishment the hardest bit to write. I think that's because it's hard to make the description of the cp fresh and innovative, and avoid clichés.

Every story has what Alfred Hitchcock called "the Macguffin". For me that is the core idea that drives the plot, the characters, the tone and everything else. It is the moment when you ask yourself, "what if?" Then you plot that out to it's logical conclusion, maybe adding things along the way. That core idea can come from anywhere---a book you read, a show you watched, an incident you observed. Many times it's something very ordinary, nothing about spanking at all, but my imagination takes over and asks, "yeah but what if she was secretly a spanko with daddy issues and his innocent threat pushed some button?" or "what if the way they were going to steal the secret plans was to pose as a an uncle and niece and to stay in character he had to discipline her publicly? And she liked it and fell for him?"
The Countess and The Magician came about as a result of a WW2 spy novel I read and I asked myself what if we added to the mix a few elements that might result in someone getting a spanking? Then the whole idea of the countess emerged, then the kinky general, then the schoolgirl connection. It just multiplied. Anyway, that's how it happens for me.

I agree - if I'm stuck for an idea I look through my bookshelves, considering different genres that might involve a spanking, watch television, look up random words on the internet - even adverts can sometimes give me a start on a story (my first piece on this site, 'Maquillage TT' came from a cosmetics ad). Another story - 'An informed decision' - was inspired by my irritation with people who demand stricter discipline for young people, the unemployed, foriegners - in fact anyone but their overprivileged selves! I asked myself 'what if the people who demand such penalties had to have them tested on themselves...' and a story was born! As for titles, I tend to add them afterwards - or discover the perfect title as I'm writing the story, sometimes from some twist or bit of dialogue that I hadn't even thought of when I sat down to write...

There are times when dialogue, sound, color, plot etc will just come together in my head and it's like watching a mini movie in my head. The trick, for me, is getting in written. I just let my fingers type and not let my head get involved. Just flow and out it comes. The head comes latter for review and editing. The trouble is being able to sit and actually do it. Time & energy are always the factors.

Exactly!!!! I like to call that mini movie in my head 'A Mind's Eye View.' I see that in a lot of the stories I read. I feel if you can do that it makes the story so much better even though it's well written already.

Gail described the process brilliantly, I usually do the same, but on a few golden moments after a day or so running the idea around, it writes itself.
Unfortunately it is usually a laborious iterative process, and them it all comes together.
Too many times it comes to a dead stop and you find your copmuter littered with half written stories that you just can't get around to finishing.
As to ideas, usually there is a kernel of truth that is massively enlarged to produce a spanking story that is not wholly improbable given the suspension of reality that this genre requires.
If there wasn't fantasy it would be either school stories involving almost exclusively boys under 16, and parent child stories. These are most definitely not my scene.
Unfortunately I'm suffering from an extended period of writer's block.
It was also reassuring to see that other authors have to grab their writing time from family activities.

I agree, she is a gem, isn't she?

I get an idea, and usually write at least one paragraph about it. The next time I look at paragraph I either delete it or twist and turn it around until I once again leave it for at least a day. I rework that paragraph and add others if and when I can.

Some stories come in a day, some take a lot longer. I have tried on occasion to write out outside my preferred genre (F/M) and those can take a real long time. I find the process I go through will vary a lot from story to story. In the end I have learned to ask myself a question....would I, do I, get a good visual and emotional feeling from the story? If I don't then I find the delete button.

Other members on site have helped me out on occasion and sent me some experiences they have had in their lives and together we have put these stories out as well. I get real kick out of these particular stories because I know there is a twist of truth throughout the story.

CS