I look to things I want to write for inspiration, but especially to add my own twists and complexities, or trim away what I would deem peripheral in my work. In other words, I take what I like and leave the rest! But I always try to make something new and my own from it.
I find myself steering clear of any kind of media when I'm trying to write. I do however listen to music, and that can help set the tone for a scene in my head
I mostly read in the genre I write. That said, I'm always on the lookout for books outside of my genre as well. I read Gone with the Wind earlier this year, which is about as far from what I write as you can get.
I tend to be on the side of, if I remember it vaguely to put it aside until I have a working through-line.
I used to be in a "completely original" frame of mind but had to let myself accept the truth of many concepts not being owned by anyone, let execution guide yoy.
For me it’s more a “I write about what I have a huge emotional investment in” and “it’ll be too intense to read that because in too emotionally invested” sort of thing
Staying close to my spiel tends to help me out, though I remember reading The Night Circus and thinking "wonderful, I don't think I can write about circuses anymore." Oh well!
A bit of both. I like reading outside of the genre because I’m worried that I’ll see something similar to what I’m working on and it’ll dissuade me from finishing it.
I read things similar to what I write because I like it, but when I'm stuck and looking for inspo its more likely that I research than read in genre. But, I think if I know a book or story would be very similar to mine, I'd probably avoid it until I have a solid understanding of my own plan.
Recently I've been reading things that have the general vibe I want to have even if it's not the same genre. Like reading literary fiction when my current project is Science fiction. Movies are definitely what I engaged with for inspo.
I generally stay away from similar stories, I don't want to be comparing my work to others, even subconsciously. This does create a big problem in the query process when agents ask for similar books though haha.
Comments
Prompts like your videos and Sanderson's lectures are more useful to me!
I used to be in a "completely original" frame of mind but had to let myself accept the truth of many concepts not being owned by anyone, let execution guide yoy.
How about yourself, Tim?