Thoughts & Things

Using Non-Fiction As Inspiration For Fiction

Sometimes it can be hard to come up with an idea that feels fresh. You start to feel as if all the good ideas have been taken, and nothing you can think up hasn't already been thought up. So why not acknowledge that sometimes reality is truly stranger than fiction by taking inspiration from things that happened in real life?

I assure you, not everything that has ever happened has been novelised. You can find something in the real world, and you can make that your own thing. The novel I have been working on since NaNoWriMo of this past year was actually loosely inspired by a BBC documentary series that I watched on youtube about Victorian period pharmacies. I was fascinated by the four part mini-series, and it occurred to me that I had never read a novel that had anything to do with a Victorian period pharmacy, and in fact couldn't recall a novel that acknowledged their existence. That was my cue to involve an 1850s pharmacy as part of my novel setting. I actually toyed with different variations on this idea for a couple years before actively putting it to use in a piece of fiction, but I'm pleased with how it's going.

I think a lot of people underestimate the ideas that reality can give us for fiction pieces. Obviously we've all read books and seen movies that were "based on a true story," but my favourite is taking small, shapeless facts, and adapting them into a whole story that hadn't existed before. Obviously there is nothing wrong with basing an entire story on true events; I am simply referring to using facts in a story, rather than a story that is fact.

When I have writer's block, one of my favourite things to do is find something nonfiction to help inspire me. Watching a documentary film or show can provide endless inspiration, but so can reading a nonfiction piece of work. Reading a biography might inspire a character trait for your work in progress. Reading a science book might inspire you to make your character a scientist, or to include a gadget you might not otherwise have thought of using. Current events can obviously inspire stories if all those Law and Order episodes ripped from the headlines are anything to go by. Magazines are an incredible source for small details; you can use products you see in ads, use facts from educational headlines, or learn something new about pop culture that your character might already have known.

There are so many things that can inspire a writer to write something new and creative. I think using nonfiction sources can inspire some of the most creative stories. As someone who uses nonfiction for inspiration, I think there are few things as satisfying as knowing that you put the odd little facts you've accrued through your reading or viewing habits to excellent use, and created a whole idea from that small scrap of information.

(I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Fifty-Nine. Seven days of leave taken total.)