Earlier this week, I wrote about discipline and its importance in any artistic endeavor. I said that waiting for inspiration was a cop out. You needed to sit down, crank out the words and trust in the story. But, where does that story come from?

I wish I had an answer for you. A nice, cut and dry answer that would propel you towards your dream of writing. Hell, I wish I had that answer for myself! It would certainly make this whole writing thing easier -- especially if I could schedule the ideas so they didn't wake me up at 3AM and send me fumbling for a pencil and paper before the idea disappears in a flurry of cursing as I trip over the Schnoodle in the dark. Not that that has ever really happened or anything. Ahem...

One way people tout is to watch the people around you. I never got that, frankly. The people around me are not good for dropping into the settings that I like writing about. Although, the image of my poor mother in the middle of a sea battle did provide some pre-coffee amusement just now. I guess, joking aside, it boils down to writing what I want to read. I like pirates, I like assassins, I adore politics, and magic is just the icing on the cake.

I do know that if I sit down with only a nebulous hint of a story, it doesn't work. The story doesn't progress and no amount of discipline will force it to comply with my desires. My computer is littered with hundreds of fragments of ill-conceived stories, all waiting patiently for the day when I finally solidify them into an actual story. Maybe. They probably shouldn't hold their collective breath.

Scary thing? Coming up with the idea is the easy part.