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

That is exactly how it works for me. And the more unique the Macguffin, the more unique the story. So here are "just a few" of my own Macguffins:

- That a writer's spankable muse is a figment of his imagination
- The a secret agent might prevent an assassination by spanking the assassin
- That a young reporter would go undercover to get a story on a strict girl's school
- That a girl playing a spanking game with her friends has an unfair advantage – because she loves both winning and losing!
- A title – "Best Planned Lays"
- That a bored marriage counselor would re-engage with his work only when he learned of a client's spanking fantasy
- That a woman could be so gullible as to believe that spanking causes weight loss
- That the Duchess of York's real apology might have been "encouraged" by a royal disciplinarian
- That an annoying father-in-law who accidentally discovers a woman's spanking writings might share her predilection
- That a young man discovers a stripper is his best friend's little sister
- That a husband might coolly rebuff all his wife's attempts to get herself spanked, only to find his own trivial reason
- That in response to a girl's demand for a Mary Poppins-like nanny, a babysitter claims magical powers for her hairbrush
- That a woman's insistence that her husband straighten out a friend who has left her own husband might have unintended consequences
- That a boss might hire his dominatrix to be the office manager
- That a husband's deliberate mis-interpretation of "knotty" to be "naughty" leads to spanking fun
- That a boss and subordinate who are lovers might devise a performance evaluation and reward system that includes spanking
- That a young woman might deliberately lose a bet on a ping pong game to get a paddling
- That mixed up sensory signals might make a spanking "taste" like chocolate
- That a couple serially recruits young women for spanking and sex
- That a woman would take a spanking from a despised business associate and (rejected lover) in order to cover for a major mistake
- That a young boy is so infatuated with his babysitter that a spanking will not dissuade him
- That a local Santa Claus, having dealt with her "naughtiness," might have the power to get a young woman the engagement ring she wants for Christmas
- That an inept and overconfident agent for a quasi-governmental spanking agency might have the tables turned on her
- That a witnessed spanking in childhood would lead to another spanking on prom night
- That a soldier's best friend would give a much-needed spanking to the wife while the husband is overseas
- That potential buyers might try out a paddle for sale at a yard sale
- That a wife's attempt to boost her husband's business would generate some interesting calls when she misspells "Span King" as "Spanking" in an ad
- That the desire to spank or be spanked might spread like a virus, turning a "B" detective story into a "B" sci-fi story
- That couples might be induced to participate in public, on-camera spanking by the offer of cash
- That a dimwitted woman might accept spankings for both her daughter and herself, ordered by someone else from a traveling spanker-man, simply because they're paid for
- That the "spank me" panties found in a laundry room might result in a man spanking the woman in the apartment upstairs
- That a boss is so busy spanking his employees at work that his secretary must re-arrange his schedule so that he can give his wife her own regular spanking
- That a couple gives a spanking-and-sex show to their driver from the back seat of the limo

It seems to me that I am writing two kinds of stories. The stories of the first kind are "genuine" spanking stories in the sense that the spanking theme is there from the very beginning. These stories are usually quite easy to write, the main problem being to give them "personality" — something that distinguishes them from 20 000 other stories in this library and makes them unique.

For the other kind of stories, the initial inspiration isn't really spanking related at all — it starts with something I experience in daily life, perhaps a face on the bus, a couple discussing what to buy, a walk in the woods, or a memory from a long way back. Initially, I just have a feeling that there is something there I would like to write about, and the hard thing is to figure out what it is. As my stories are usually driven by character and atmosphere rather than plot, the MacGuffin is to figure out how to get a spanking into the story — what on Earth would get this sweet, smart, considerate (yes, my heroines usually are) woman spanked? It is usually hopeless, or at least a waste of time, to start writing before I have this figured out (or at least think I have it figured out, as on some occasions it will change as I start writing).

When I look back at what I have written, I find that I usually prefer the stories of the second kind, but that may just be my personal perspective. They tend to get fewer views, but more comments than stories of the first kind, and somehow this feels fair....

An old fairy tale can be given a twist and ends up as a new story. In my case Rolf Bluebeard turned into Making An Impression. I remembered a piece in the news, many years ago, about a school where the boys caned a man who came to propagate caning in schools; that turned into A Deplorable Incident.There are ideas everywhere; but who has the time and energy to write them down?









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All of the authors here at the Library, collectively, do a pretty good job! I think of all the times I've read a story, only to think - hey, I was going to write one like that. So if one of us doesn't write it, someone else just might.

Thanks to everyone for their very thoughtful answers.

As I tried to summarise in my own head what I think has been said, this is where I landed (and please excuse the food metaphore)

1) There are a few of us, some with writer's block, who sift through the husks looking for the kernels. You could characterise us (metaphorically speaking of course ) as the lean and hungry.
2) There are a vast majority who sit down to a double Macguffin and a side plate of fries/chips and choose the all you can write option.

Do I have it right ?

As this is probably my last chance of being characterized as lean, I'll take it!

Based on your self analysis, I would have put you as a Macguffin writer, perhaps even taking advantage of the buffet option.

Somehow there's seems to be a negative correlation between leanness and buffets, I just haven't worked out why yet....

Sometimes I'll take an incident I've read of in true life and give it a track of its own, often if there's a cultural element so much the better ... that Chinese parents are very strict with their kids in the UK, or that Afro-Caribbeans will send their kids back home to be educated (i.e. whacked), a (vanilla) account of a female pre-marital initiation ceremony in Africa, that we had the cane in England and the belt in Scotland but what if you lived on the border, all the wonderful lifestyle pretentiousness that begs to be satirised, small town American paddle-happy principals, taking an assumed order and turning it upside-down ...

I just spent a very interesting time reading how a bunch of very talented authors get their inspiration. Thank you all and of course Gail for starting the thread.

In fact what I learned is that my efforts are similar to yours. Something - and it can be anything - triggers the process and it starts circulating through the streets, alleys and cul-de-sacs of my mind until I seat down and put the kernel on paper. Then the work starts and I have to sweat the rest to dress the story and add the spankings (if the story belongs to the spanko universe, of course) and correct the errors and polish the rough corners.

Perhaps the only different thing I do, is that I always dream the end of my story first. Then I chose a beginning and labor through the body of the text.