Inspiration, a fickle muse

I spent the majority of 2024 living in the Netherlands, where among other things, I worked on the fifth draft of my horror novel Mortal Thoughts.

One of the questions I’m most frequently asked of my time in Amsterdam (after ‘how were the drugs?’, and ‘did you get a job in the red light district?’), is ‘was it good for your writing inspiration?’ And, after politely declining to answer the first two questions, I’m often disappointed that I can’t say yes to the third.

That’s not to say that Amsterdam wasn’t awe-inspiring; a simple stroll along the canals on a golden summer’s day, or a walk through Vondelpark bedecked in autumnal orange hues would provide ample admiration and appreciation. I spent many mornings sipping coffee and tapping away at my laptop in Dutch cafés, some of which even sported a canal view. But nothing really inspired me there – I never experienced the urge to write about windmills or dykes or glorified colonization (I swear I really loved Amsterdam, but I will throw a fit at the next person who tells me about the Dutch Golden Age).  

It made me wonder where I did find my inspiration, if not in new and exotic locations. I alluded in previous posts that some of my stories come in the form of dreams, whereas others come simply from a writing challenge I’ve set myself. Does it come from people? I like to use specific habits (like always drinking a cup of coffee before bed) or quirky mannerisms (speaking to strangers in a different voice) of people I know in my characters, but I’m careful to mix and match, and never put too much of one person in a single character. Does it come from places? I did go on a pacific cruise holiday as research for Mortal Thoughts, but that was only after the third draft of the book had been completed and it helped more with finer setting details than anything plot-related. So where, then?

Unfortunately I have no straight answer for you (psych!), except a theory that all stories are merely a random amalgamation of the millions of data points their authors have collected across their lives until that point; including the places they’ve been, the people they’ve met, and the stories they’ve already consumed. From their own fears, their own beliefs, their own self-beliefs. I always enjoy stories that reflect more of their author’s struggles and insecurities the most, and thus I trust you’ll enjoy mine.

But, if you see a windmill in one of my stories, you’ll know where it came from!