Where Writers Get Inspiration

“But where do you get your ideas?”

Attending author-related events is a lot of fun. It’s always great to be around other people who love books. A common question I get and have heard asked at other author-related events I’ve attended as a guest is “Where do you get ideas for a book?” 
jewelry inspiration? Inspiration comes to writers in many different ways
While everyone is different and I’m assuming that there are as many different ways to come up with ideas as there are authors, some common themes include:

·         The shower
·         While driving
·         In a dream
·         When waking up (first thing, before your conscious brain has a chance to fully engage)
·         Having a conversation with someone
·         Reading a news article
·         Daydreaming
·         Thinking, “what if …” (my personal favorite)

Ann Greenawalt has an excellent post over at Women on Writing blog about making your own inspiration. She offers some unique ideas and answers to that (other) often asked question: do writers wait for creativity to hit or do they write until creativity starts flowing?

What about you? Where do you gather inspiration to write or do you just plunge in and get started, seeing what comes up in the process? Please share a response in the comments.