I’ve been thinking lately about inspiration.

Tricky, elusive thing that it is, even at the best of times.

Not that I think I’m short of inspiration at the moment. Well, I haven’t felt like it anyway. But I have been thinking about where inspiration comes from; what generates that spark that leads to an idea that leads to a character or a story or both.

In my case, I’ve been known to take inspirations from a variety of places; books, comic books, films, music, even conversations. Of course, there’s never really any telling what’s going to catch in my brain. After all, it’s not like I can trigger it (or if I can, I’m still need to work out how to).

The closest I can come to that is I know that there is certain music that makes me want to write. Nick Cave is one that comes to mind right now, although there are others. But what works one day may not necessarily work the next. I’m sure there’s been occasions where I’ve been re-reading something, re-watching something or listening to something for the Nth time when something clicks. Why then and not before? No way to tell.

Like I said; tricky, elusive thing.