illustration - pete revonkorpi

I get this feeling from Pete's illustrations that he was inspired by a writer's metaphor...
Maybe, maybe not, but either way they're wonderful.

She knitted a white scarf at her lap.
It unfurled and rolled, a snow covered forest
dotted in snowmen and laughing children.

His anger exploded as thousands of red hot
peppers from the base of his neck.

Her misty white hair seemed to lift and float,
desperate to join the perfect clouds above.

a dreamer's wisdom - henry david thoreau

I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances
confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live
the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours.

- Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods

By Roberto Weigand

the well written - sue monk kidd

It is the peculiar nature of the world to go on spinning no matter what sort of heartbreak is happening.

- Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

By Lawren S. Harris

illustration - cathy delanssay

Cathy dreams of a world with nymphs and fairies living among dew-covered leaves and
innocent flowers.  Great for inspiration in writing moods of magic and wonder.

from unexpected places - collections

Many stories can arise from interesting objects and the people
that collect them.  Museums, miniatures in attics, dollhouses
and things in children's toy chests, butterflies in hidden rooms,
drawers full of buttons, notes in bottles, herbs in jars...

There's a user on pinterest with a set of photos called "cabinet
of curiosities" - a source of inspiration in these kinds of tales. 
Take a look and see what dreams arise.

By Cheryl Rajarho

the well written - herman melville

Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure.

- Herman Melville, Moby Dick

By Jaime Zollars

photo stories - mermaids and grandmother clocks

More work from flickr photographers.  What stories can we tell
about the photos below?  A mermaid perhaps?  Soothed and
calmed by a bath?  A grandmother clock watching and waiting
against a textured wall?  For who?

By Jill Willcott

By Becky W.

photo stories - tim walker

The outlandish, magic-painted, colorful worlds of Tim Walker and his set designers Shona Heath, Simon Costin and Andy Hillman.  All stories should be bursting with this much life.

the well written - alice walker

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.

- Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Via Vintage Printable

on writing success - 11 tips

11 tips for writers to find success by Robert Lee Brewer.
#3 - Just write something!

By Matthew Cook

resources - atlas obscura

Need an interesting setting to inspire a story?  Visit Atlas Obscura.
On the home page now - A cave looking covered in hair, the narrowest street in Canada,
and an underground lake.

Via creativepro.com

the well written - catherynne m. valente

The world always changes.  Wishes get slimy, and their colors fade, and soon they are just mud, like all the rest of the mud, and not wishes at all, but regrets.  The trouble is, not everyone can tell when they ought to launder their wishes.

- Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

By Julia Filipone Erez

the well written - resources - mythopoeic awards

The nominees of the Mythopoeic Awards.
Need some inspiration, read some of the nominated works.
I'm reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Shop of Her Own Making, which is as entertaining for adults as it is for children.  Valente has such a way with words.
Next up, The Night Circus.

By Dilka Bear

illustration - kim min ji

I can't believe I haven't discovered this illustrator before.  Exquisite renditions of common tales, and  ones that have yet to be told.  Have a look and be inspired.

The Little Prince

Alice in Wonderland

The Wizard of Oz

the well written - john irving

Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you,
or hides things from you - and summons them to your recall with will of its own. You think you have a memory; but it has you!

- John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany

By Yuko Shimizu

from the screen - john logan

Hugo: I think he's waiting.
Isobel:  To do what?
Hugo:  To work again.  To do what he's supposed to do.

- John Logan, an adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

on writing - knowing your characters and stories

See these questions to get to know your characters.  They can help you focus your writing and discover things you didn't previously know about your stories.

Examples:
What kind of distinguishing facial features does your character have?
When and where was your character the happiest?
On what occasions does your character lie?

Also, here are 100 questions to critique your own story.  Lots to think about.
And...  questions to ask after your story's ending.

Happy writing!

By Susan Sorrell Hill

the well written - sylvia plath

Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forgive life,
to be at peace.

- Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

By Kim Herbst

illustration - chris appelhans

Chris' strange beginnings.
What will happen next?

from unexpected places - a blue cap

Often characters are known by something they wear consistently...  glasses, a pocket watch, crisp white shoes...  a blue cap.  So here's a bit of inspiration.
Write on.

By Garance Dore

the well written - kurt vonnegut

He looked around at the perfectly white world, felt the wet kisses of the snowflakes, pondered hidden meanings in the pale yellow streetlights that shone in a world so whitely asleep. 
"Beautiful," he whispered.

-Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan

By Jordan Lynn Gribble

a dreamer's wisdom - haruki murakami

The answer is dreams. Dreaming on and on. Entering the world of dreams and never coming out.
Living in dreams for the rest of time.

- Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart

By Dominique Falla

illustration - jeffrey stewart timmins

A lot of great character inspiration from this guy.

on reading and writing - stephen king

If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

- Stephen King

By Rommel Joson

the well written - maurice sendak

And the wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws.

- Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

By Sharon

illustration - jen corace

These are from a series called "Overwhelmed".
I love them and the stories they imply.

the well written - barbara kingsolver

As long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer's long hair in water. I knew the weight was there but it didn't touch me. Only when I stopped did the slick, dark stuff of it come floating around my face, catching my arms and throat till I began to drown. So I just didn't stop.

- Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible

By Elissa

illustration - junyi wu

Illustrations wrapped in mystery = stories we can tell.

the well written - leo tolstoy

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her,
like the sun, even without looking.

- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

By Katy Smail

photo stories - david sims

An oddly shaped body, nanny shoes, sun hat funeral net, and dark lipstick.
Tell a story about her.

By David Sims