From the dark and mysterious worlds of Lordran in Dark Souls to the adventures between the pages Meggie goes on in Inkheart — I’ve been inspired by many types of stories. Stories captivate, they become a bubble away from the world to exist in, even if just for a short while, to go on an adventure. Whether that be through books, video games, movies, or tv shows — stories entertain, teach, and inspire creativity in others. Since I was very young I’ve always wanted to be an author and write stories of a wide variety (usually within a fantasy genre) but as I grow older I’ve found inspiration in a wide variety of places. In this post, I wanted to go over a few of the stories that inspired me to write, and how they have shaped my writing journey.

In this article, we will be covering three topics:

• Why Finding Inspiration is Important
• The Stories that Inspired Me
• What to do with Inspiration

So with that let’s begin in inspiration station!

Why Finding Inspiration is Important

Finding inspiration is important for authors. A good writer has to have a good perspective or outlook: a view of the world that is defined by ideas, and concepts, and the ability to question everything.

I was inspired to write The Final Born when I thought about how most fantasy novels are in a medieval Europe-inspired setting. I thought, why not an Ancient Greek-inspired setting?

You can find inspiration by simply writing down interesting thoughts throughout your day in a field book. By listening to conversations and people-watching. By watching other stories and asking questions.

Let’s say you like Lord of the Rings, why do you like it in particular? There are many reasons to like it, and that is an easy question to answer. But why do you like it? What about it inspired you? The characters? The plot? The journey? Once you pinpoint things like this you understand more of what you like in a story — and can find inspiration to write the story you would enjoy writing.

That’s the most important thing to consider in finding inspiration, find inspiration for what you want to write, and not just what you think will sell. A story written by an author passionate about what they’re working on is 10 times better than a story written begrudgingly for a market that the author may have no interest in.

So consider trying these methods to find inspiration.

• Keep a field guide on hand and write down your thoughts, questions, and ideas throughout the day no matter how big or small.
• When watching shows, reading books, or playing video games consider the aspects of it you enjoy and why. Consider how you can apply that to your writing.
• Ask other writers or artists what inspires them and how they find that inspiration — this could lead to an inspiring conversation for both of you!

The Stories that Inspire Me

Now we’ve reached the point where I can talk about what stories inspired me to write. It’s quite an odd mix as you consider what inspired me when I was young to what inspired me now, but a unique mix of inspiration is what can lead to unique stories now! There are many more stories than this that inspired me, but for this post, I want to go over three of them.

Dark Souls by FromSoftware

If you don’t already know, Dark Souls and the Soulsborne series in general is a huge source of inspiration for me. Not only for the games themselves but for the inspiration taken from elsewhere! There are many sources that inspired Dark Souls, like Berserk or the Milan Cathedral. The biggest inspiration aspect I take from this game is how the creator took inspiration from so many things and created something completely different with it. It’s easy to look at it and see the Berserk inspiration, but did you know Zelda, Avatar, and Harry Potter also inspired some aspects of the game? This game is inspirational to see how a creator can be inspired by many things and still create a unique story and world.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles is a fantastically written story! It is slow-paced but extremely captivating. The relationship dynamics, not only of Achilles and Patroclus (a name I will never pronounce correctly) but also between Patroclus and Briseis were honestly very intriguing. The biggest aspect I loved about this story was the immersive writing style. The way it is written made me feel like I was in this world as well with it’s attention to the details one would notice if they were also in this adventure. This story inspired me to write an Ancient-Greek-inspired setting (minus the Greek gods in my book though) because of how rich the environment felt.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Inkheart was a big inspiration for me when I was younger due to it’s rich world-building! Funke’s writing style really captivated me, and the whole setup was enchanting! Meggie’s father is a bookbinder, she lives in a world of so many books around her at all times, and characters come to life from a book in their living room. It was an absolute delight to read, and each and every character stood out to me.

So world-building and character were two of my favorite aspects of this book. World-building and character are two of the biggest areas I focus on in my own writing as well! This story inspired me when I was young to work on character depth and crafting unique worlds that are familiar but so magically different to immerse readers and keep them intrigued for the whole story!

What to do with Inspiration

What should be done with inspiration? You know what stories inspire you and what aspects of them you enjoy, but what to do with it? Well, it’s simple really.

Having an understanding of the things you enjoy and why they motivate you creatively will help you understand what you will find joy in creating. Now, there is still skill required, just because you enjoy something doesn’t mean it will automatically be perfect — but it certainly does mean that writing it and learning to improve with it will be easier because it is more enjoyable for you as the writer.

My suggestion is to keep a booklet naming the source of inspiration and why it inspired you. Like this…

• Dark Souls: Ability to create something new from many ideas previously done.
• Song of Achilles: Rich worldbuilding and immersive writing.
• Inkheart: Unique world-building and well-rounded characters.

I hope this article on inspiration inspired you even a little bit and gave some good ideas to work with for your next story! If this article helped you be sure to share it on your socials and tag me! I’d love to see what you make with these tips!

Cheers,

Mason Monteith

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