Where inspiration comes from

A number of people have asked me where my inspiration as a writer comes from. Over time, I’ve given them a number of different answers: from travel, things I see, movies, other people, and random encounters. Each of these answers are true, but only tell part of the story.

I found myself reflecting on this today. Where does inspiration come from? It’s true that I get ideas from things that I hear and see, encompassing everything in the above list. What hits closer to home though is to see other people who spend their time day after day perfecting their craft. As such, my inspiration often comes from movies where the central character – whether a painter, a chef, an investor, or rarely an author – spends their time doing exactly this. In some cases this is central to the plot while other times it is just ancillary. Either way, those movies spark my interest. I love observing the character as they battle with their inner demons to tackle their chosen vocation.

A few days ago, I watched The Hundred Foot Journey. It focuses on an Indian chef who starts a restaurant in a small village in France and then continues to rise through the culinary ranks. I love cooking and so the scenes of him and other chefs in the kitchen are already fun to watch – what’s often referred to as food porn. What made the movie more engaging was to go through some of the uphill battles that he encounters as he returns to the kitchen again and again to prepare new exciting dishes. I’m not making a broader commentary on how realistic the movie is – only a real chef would be able to answer that, but were I to face those situations, I doubt I could have returned to my craft with so much zeal. Of course, cooking isn’t that sort of passion for me. I can only hope that each day I will continue to return to my writing with the same kind of passion that the lead character in this movie displays.

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Learn more about me at my website www.pujaguha.com.
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My first novel AHRIMAN: THE SPIRIT OF DESTRUCTION (Book I of The Ahriman Legacy) is available as an ebook at and a paperback at Amazon.com. http://hyperurl.co/ahriman.