What inspires you to start writing?

Well, I want to start writing a story, but the problem is I don't know what I can write about. I started a story, it may be stupid and not worth it, but the story was going to be about a girl who lives with her mom and her two twin brothers. The girl's father left when she was 5 and now her mom is dying of breast cancer. The girl doesn't know how to save her mom, so she's just watching her die until one night the girl comes upon an alley way that she's never seen before and she's suddenly transported to another world that may just help her and her mother. I know it sounds typical, and probably really stupid, which is why I need help with my current writer's block. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I'm open for anything.

I think it sounds like a good idea. The alleyway/night thing is the only cliche I see -- maybe you could think of a more unusual place to find a secret passage to another world? Like a crowded shop or something? It also seems unlikely that a girl would wander an alleyway at night.

My piece of advice for this story would be not to give too much backstory. For example, one scene with the mother, showing their love and bond (perhaps the scene where she announces that she has been diagnosed with cancer), then straight to the finding-secret-passage scene. Work the backstory in somehow.

All in all, it sounds like a good idea for a story. Have fun writing it!

If you're worried about being unoriginal, take a lot of time to work out your characters. Any plot can be good so long as the characters have fresh, unique personalities.

Also, like Kibble said, the alleyway at night thing doesn't sound very logical. This goes in to characters. If they have reason to be out there at night, by all means (I'm thinking of Cassandra Clare's start for City of Bones, in which the girl MC was walking out of a nightclub). But that reason had better be air-tight.

That being said, there are still some cliches to avoid. Just google "*your genre here* cliche list" and you'll get a bunch. Once you know them, and know what to be weary of you can work on your plot's originality. That could be putting a new twist on an old cliche (although some should still be avoided. Mostly those used within the past three or so years) or making a new plot without using cliches.

I also agree with Kibble on the short backstory bit. You're dealing with an urban fantasy here, so not a lot of backstory/description is needed. The only backstory you'd put in the opening scene would be for emotional interaction. Flashbacks of a happier time, for example. However I don't think you're limited to when the cancer started. It could go as late as the mom just having recovered from a Chemo treatment or some other shake-up. I do think, though, that there should be a tense or shattered calm. That way you don't have so much going on around the MC, and you can focus on what's going on inside her head.

Hope this helped!

~Rosey

It sounds like you have a good story idea.
Here's the process I stick to:
1. Come up with the idea-Let it sit in your brain for a few days and make sure your committed to it
2. Write a brief summary of your story-Write the summary backwards, End to Beginning. The middle will be the longest.
3. Make character sketches-These are really helpful to your story. You want to know everything about your character. Make them real. Here is a great template for sketches: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1569061
Copy it into Word and answer all the questions. Make one for each major and minor character
4. Your first draft-You might go through many of these but that's OK because you want it to be prefect.
TIPS:
If your getting frustrated, take a break than start back when your ready.
Remember, your work is your own, and if your happy with it than, that's all that really matters.
Have fun with it!
Use the world around you for ideas. Listen to the way people talk and interact with each other.

It sounds like a good idea for a story.
What I do when I get writers block is get a pen and paper and map out the story - have a brainstorm. Get off the computor for a while. That might sound a bit old but really - it helps me. Sketch it out, make spider diagrams, mind maps, do weird little boxes, sketch out little drawings of you're characters, timelines - anything. Carry a notebook around with you and just randomly write little revelations down. You can get some really great ideas from the most random things.
It also helps to form your characters fully. If you get to know them well enough, they'll begin to write the story for you.

I hope this helps, it sounds great.
Good luck

Thank you so much! All of you guys have been extremely helpful. I'll make sure not to focus too much on the backstory (because I think that's something I tend to do a lot instead of just getting to the point of the story.) And I'll also make sure to focus a lot more on my characters. I'll make sure to post anything that i come up with. Thank you all again!

Hey Dreaming ^^ Shina here

Hmm, what inspires me to start writing?

Well, it starts off with something I'm interested in. It can be music, a movie, a trait, a quality, anything.

For example, what started Angel's Symphony was the fact that I was interested in violin and I liked classical music.

After that, I developed characters that intertwined with the instruments, the songs, the traits, and I kept adding on and they began to build in my imagination.

What inspires me most is people. My friends at school are crazy -.-" And I'm afraid that I contribute to the insanity. But without them, going on scavenger hunts when we're high schoolers, telling stories in a bonfire circle in geometry, getting our teacher a hotdog from the algebra grill, playing cards in class, going to woodshop to buy candy and grape soda, spraying our hair green for K.E.Y. club, have trees vs. elves wars, my story would've never been possible.

So take advantage of what's around you. Observe people, but take the time to actually know them. Don't dream with your eyes close, dream with them open. Live what you've always wanted to be rather than just pretending all the time. Take risks, explore, ask questions, and just pay attention to everything.

-Shina

That idea sounds cool!

What helps me write a story is me being really excited with the idea. So I'll daydream about what happens, I'll put on my favorite music when I'm writing and make sure I'm in my favorite comfy position so that I enjoy the experience of writing, and it becomes more of a habit and less than a chore. I think the key is to make writing as fun as possible for you.

And don't worry about rough drafts sounding stupid! If they sound any less than stupid, then you're an alien. Rough drafts are supposed to suck... that's what second drafts and third drafts and nth drafts are for. So just keep writing and make sure you're having fun. Otherwise, what's the point?

The first thing I'd do is read "Page after page" by Heather Sellers-it has a really good chapter on blocks and being scared to write. I always go back to it when I find I can't start something.

Your main problem seems not to be the block, but your fear that your story will be "stupid and not worth it." For the first part of that; maybe it will be stupid. Every new piece everyone ever writes has the potential to be stupid, but you need to ignore that and just write the first draft. Once you have that, you can fix it, but you can't edit nothing.

As for the second part; everything you ever write is completely worth it, because you learn from it, and you get valuable practise. Just ignore the voices in your head that tell you your piece is rubbish until you've finished, then leave it for a few days or weeks, and then edit. I'm writing a play at the moment-it's awful; completely plotless and the characters are flat, but I won't let myself start again as I know the first draft will never be what I want it to be, so I'm just going to keep on writing until the end and then I can dismantle it and fix the many problems.

As for planning-that's a good idea if it works for you. Try it and see. It doesn't work for everyone though-I rarely plan anything before I write, I just make myself sit down and won't let myself move until I've written whatever quantity I've decided is my goal. I don't re-read in the first draft stage, and I tend to have, at most, a vague idea of where my piece is going. I don't think that really matters in the first draft-what matters is that the piece is going.

The main thing to remember is that bad writing is better than no writing.

Hope this helps.

Jas

talk to someone and debate on controversial or philosophical subjects. like life, love, death, religion. you'd be surprised what kind of inspirations will come out of it.

Listen to songs, especially ones with lots of emotion and imagery. Any song, really, as long as you like the song. A song you don't like so much will give you the writer's block. Listen to good songs... then you'll get your ideas. :]

Listen to the type of music that relates to the part of the story.You might get an idea.

Hey there fellow Dreamer ^^

I have so many things that inspire me to write. The most powerful one though is the idea of creating a world that didn't exist before. There are no limits to what our imaginations can give life to, and I think that's a beautiful thing to behold. It's such a release to be able to escape into a place you've dreamed up, and to be able to share that with other people.

I think if you're writing and you become frustrated with not getting the results you know you can get, then just stop for a while. If writing ever starts to feel like a chore, stop. Even if it means sitting around for a while, do it. Clear your mind and get rid of the frustration, and soon enough inspiration will strike.

A huge part of writing is knowing your characters as well as you know yourself. You need to know every corner of their minds. And this goes for your less important roles too. If your characters are a mystery to you, then they're going to be hellish hard to write about properly.

*Always try to remember that every great author was once where we are now.*

Best of luck,

~*~ Chelsea ~*~