For me, inspiration or the initial idea behind a story, tends to come at a varied and completely unpredictable moments. I could use one technique for a story and get an idea instantly and then try the same method for the next story and get nothing.
But, if there is one way that is the most consistent of them all, it is at night when I am lying in bed listening to the sounds of Brooklyn slowly finding its way to sleep. Lying there in bed, letting my mind drift, the characters and storylines will eventually come. In this magical moment, when I am on the cusp between the sleeping and waking world; not quite asleep, not quite awake, inspiration sparks.
It is on the edge of the twilight hours that I can become more receptive to my muse, the universe, inspiration...or whatever you wish to call the spark that leads to creation.
I can get an idea about a room, a face, a passing glance. Then bit by bit the ideas build and then come the words...a whisper, a confession, the tilt of a head as a character speaks, a sigh as another listens. Is it an admission of love or longing? On and on the questions and story reveals themselves to me and I write.
While this scenario is not always the case of how I get inspired to start a story, it is how more than a few have begun. Once I have an initial idea, I am able to carry it with me through the days and weeks as I work on a story. And as each day progresses so do the ideas.
It is in these moments, in which inspiration unfurls like a spool of ribbon across the floor and I race behind collecting the remnants as it goes, that I am happy.
Vita
