Do many remember the day they got the inspiration for their stories?
Mine was August 6th, 2008. Just over four years ago? Yikes, and I’ve only just started writing =P
Some years ago, the US version of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ was in its fourth season. I am not a massive fan of such shows, but you tolerate such things to spend time with your family =P
So, that night was Week 1 of proper performances. The first dance was underwhelming, and it proved so in that both contestants were eliminated.
The second dance, however, that was memorable for many reasons.
It is on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s77qAEibyDU
Firstly, it introduced me to the awesomeness of one Hayley Westenra. Holy crap, that voice! Big fan ever since =)
Secondly, it led to quite the vivid dream that night. Two people in a fight to the death at the top of an insanely high tower.
Woke up the next morning, and realised I had to write a story about this. Searched for Hayley on Google, and found the lyrics. Link is here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hayleywestenra/darkwaltz.html
Moon shining? Sacred geometry? Those four words defined the world my story HAD to be based in, though it has expanded somewhat.
Four years of history research, character naming research, and ‘off on a tangent’ research, and the world is finally is being put to paper.
A pity to have to wait until the penultimate scene of Book 7 to find out how the fight on the tower ends =\
djkeyserv140 
Ah ha! Some details! It sounds as if you have a lively and intriguing tiger by the tail. Isn’t it funny the places the imagination can take us, from point A to point Z in no time, while we play catch-up trying to write it all down? Keep writing, I really want to read this now (how about old Robert Browning and “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”?).
I am intrigued now. What do you know of Roland of Gilead?
Sorry, less than nothing, I’m afraid. I know that there’s “balm” to be had in Gilead Biblically speaking, but as to any Roland there, I’m clueless. Unless it’s from Browning’s poem, and I’ve simply forgotten the lines. But his poem was always thought to be mysterious and elliptical, anyway. And the Tower is of course one of the more important of the Tarot cards, which I believe indicates downfall sometimes, and sometimes not. Yes, I would say there’s a lot of Tower stuff you could dig up to experiment with, though you’ll want probably to avoid such a popular and famous predecessor as Tolkien and his Dark Tower. Good luck!
Fair enough. I thought you were alluding to the ‘Dark Tower’ series by Stephen King. Love that series.
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” Simple yet effective; what we all strive for =)
I just remembered two other dreams that inspired a fantasy/adventure novel I wrote. The novel is actually quite dreadful, I fear, and while I wrote draft 1, I may never go back in and fix it up. (I always tend to skip the research part of writing a story. Perhaps that’s my problem.) One dream involved this animal/humanoid creature fighting evil, who became the main character. I also dreamt of this crab type monster in another dream, who became a crab pirate character I am rather fond of. He was really the only good thing that came from that novel.
A crab pirate? It makes sense, since both are involved with the world of water. In fiction, taking something uber-literally helps generate good ideas, and also word association (puns or otherwise).