#i had an idea while listening to requiem but im also not good at execution so this is.... attempt 1

[mistreil]

contrast

[carnivalls]

Hi! Hope you’re doing well! You don’t have to answer but I was just wondering where your inspiration for Terra’s town came from or how you came up with those ideas? Struggling with writers block rn myself 🙃

hello, hoping the same for you! i’ve been sitting on this ask a while after tumblr ate my initial response, but i finally had the time to rewrite most of what i said that first time, so, without further ado:

i still remember coming up with tt, though i don’t know how much help that alone will be. i was on a car ride with family, and i was sitting in the back, staring out the window and listening to blood in the cut by k. flay. all of a sudden, i got the image of a cannibal, a girl that could raise the dead, and someone who really wasn’t supposed to be there traveling across a desert. when i got home, i started instantly making character intros, and thus egg, eve, and then-jekyll were born.

keep in mind, terras town is now almost five years old. it’s been through four plot reveals, eighteen actual plots, and one major character flip (from jekyll to lev). and im still fixing it up. so that initial spark of inspiration didn’t actually end up taking me very far - i had to consciously start pushing it in various directions, seeing what worked, what didn’t, etc. and even today the work’s not done.

however, past that initial point of ‘founding’ tt, and now that im a less close to that point in my life, i can definitely point out some of the media behind it: the umbrella academy, brooklyn 99 (only for those two or so highly specific episodes with a really friendly cannibal - sound familiar?), the library at mt char, night in the woods (for virgo and sonnyboy’s relationship & what would come to be some of lev’s general vibe), rebel of the sands. yeah, i was like 15.

(i only read the locked tomb this year, but i really wish i could put that as an inspiration too, because after reading it i remember thinking, this is exactly what i’m going for.)

my point is, tt was fundamentally a product of things id seen (years ago) and liked, as well as ideas i liked in principle but wished had better execution. that’s part of what i’d advise if you’re struggling to come up with something: read (or watch) something really good, or really bad. really good helps kick in my competitive drive, if not pure awe. really bad triggers i could fix you.

tt also was built on themes and tropes i wished other books did more (see the whole i could fix you) thing. a dead boyfriend rather than girlfriend as a character motivation. magic with actual setbacks. a boy desperately devoted to a girl instead of the other way around. feral women. the end of the world being the least of the characters’ problems. those were some of the initial ones at the time, and from then on i kept adding. so another tip i’d give would be to think of what you’d like to read, and, well. write it!

the last few tips deviate from tt a bit, but i think help anyway:

writing prompts. they’re there for a reason, and though they won’t do the writing for you, they can help plant a seed for an idea. if you have a character dynamic you want to do, but no world or stakes for it to live in? writing prompts can be your friend. they were for me and requiem.

likewise, characters. i tend to come up with my cast first, plot second. oftentimes, with the cast comes the plot. think up someone, think of (what i call) their deal. what’s their deal? what do they want? what are they like? who would they clash with the most? (there, now you have a second character). sometimes, ill do a thing where i find a picrew i like, and aimlessly start designing. with it, so too does my character unfold: ‘okay, she gets black hair, but - oh, maybe streaks of gray. from stress? yeah, maybe she’s in a leadership position. then how old is she?’ etc, etc. or listen to music! if you’re the type to design mental animatics with every song, this tip works like a charm for me - sometimes, ill get a flashes of a storyline alongside. or even look up baby names and try to see what vibes you get from your favorites. generally, i’m of the opinion that characters make a story, so they’re the things i give the most attention to before writing.

finally, not to sound a little more traditionalist: look around. go for a walk, notice things. let your mind run in the shower. ideas usually come when you don’t expect them, even if it’s all too tempting to take a crowbar to them and yank them out yourself. involve yourself in the real, and when you come back, throw yourself into the fictional (you probably know that age old tip: when you’re not writing, read).

good luck with your writing!