For me, inspiration isn't a sort of spark which lights the fire of the story. It's more like a thread, one of many, which you can tease out of a story once it's written, if you feel so inclined.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I don't believe in inspiration at all. We live in a world that demands explanation. And fiction has the capability to offer explanations for things.
To me, the question of inspiration is an exercise in hindsight. The truth is, inspiration is mysterious at the time. I don't think it's ever a rational process.
I don't actually have a one wellspring of inspiration. Though I'm most often inspired while reading - both fiction and nonfiction.
The inspiration to write? Perhaps it's not so much inspiration, as a NEED to write. I get itchy and guilty and dissatisfied when I haven't written for a while. Ideas come to me and need to be written down.
I don't believe in the model of pure inspiration. All of my creative work stems from a dialogue with others.
The thing about inspiration is that it takes your mind off everything else.
Writers do well to carefully attend to those moments of inspiration, because chances are that they're writing from a very deep place. The subsequent search that ensues to continually attend to that voice that you hear is what is going to give the story drive.
Inspiration can hit you in the head at any time in any context. It could happen in a conversation. Talking to someone at a party, you can get an idea. But you've got to remember those inspirations.
I'm always inspired to write, and it's usually my own life experiences that inspire me.
Writing, for me, is very inspiration-dependent. And inspiration can be a jerk.