Inspiration

I find my mind is a font of ideas, usually spewing forth in such a frothy volume that bottling them is like trying to catch a waterfall in a teacup. That's... actually kind of cool symbolism. I'm going to keep that! :D

So when I find that my ideas are plenty but not on topic, I find that my inspiration can dry up pretty fast. I can write like the wind when I'm full of Imbas and excited for what I'm rolling out. When I'm doing all right, I can still write a respectable amount, but when my Imbas gutters and goes dim, I can make almost no progress. It's almost a physical pain to me, when I have no inspiration to continue on.

I can eventually get things back on line, but it can take months to get back into a good groove. It's been coming faster on its own since I've been more diligent about it, but still taking a week or two out because nothing comes out right is not really acceptable.

I found that with help, I can rekindle my Imbas with little downtime. I spent an hour and a half sitting in the back yard of my father's house smoking a cigar and chatting about the book I've been working on. He was able to provide ideas and we both had a really good time bouncing ideas around. It was actually quite helpful, and that ember of Imbas bursts back into flames.

I'm back on track for the next book, and I'm making good progress.

If you write or do some other form of creative art, where do you get your inspiration?