Where Ideas Come From

Mar 6, 2009

ideaOne of the questions non-writers ask writers is: “Where do you get your ideas?”

It’s one of those questions that freezes me in my tracks.  Probably because my natural inclination is to say something snarky like, “I get my ideas the same place you get yours.” D’oh!  The only difference is that my ideas centre around people who don’t exist.

That bit of unhelpful goofiness aside, there are a couple of places I’ve noticed recently that set my “what if” brain machine going on a regular basis.  So I’ll share!

1.  I follow @Post_Secret on Twitter.  If you aren’t familiar, this is bite-sized “secrets” along the line of what you’d see at the Post Secret Blog.  I like it because it gives me tiny glimpses into the human mind.  Every good character has secrets, and often the everyday secrets are the most interesting.

2.  Found this new website that claims to be building an encyclopedia of human experience.   I read through some of the articles, and although not all of it was interesting, I did find myself imagining the lives behind the stories, and that’s a great way to develop characters.

3.  I watch the news and ponder motivation.  What makes a politician turn to corruption?  What has to happen to someone to cause them to lose it and freak out on TV?  Why do some people flock to the cameras, while others shun their 15 minutes?  And sometimes, it’s the peripheral people in the stories that are the most interesting to me.  Those in the background that look on with a bemused expression.  I wonder what they’re thinking and who they are.

4.  I read a lot.  Probably 3-4 novels a week.  I’m not saying I steal ideas from published books!  But a good writer is also a good reader (if you’ll pardon the cliche).  I can’t quite explain why, but it gets the creative juices going, and sometimes one line of good dialog will bring to mind something unrelated that sets my brain spinning.

What places or situations inspire your idea-maker?

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4 Comments

  1. Adam Heine
    6 March 2009

    Where do I get ideas? Every-freaking-where. All I have to do is pay attention and think, “Where’s the story?”

    To your fourth, I think stealing ideas from published books (or movies or anywhere) is not only okay, it’s unavoidable. I think Picasso was the guy who said, “Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” The trick is mixing enough ideas together, with enough twists of your own, that they look original again.

    [ Follow me on Twitter: ]

  2. Sephera Giron
    6 March 2009

    If you subscribe to the Big Love twitter, you get the “web of lies” which is supposedly posts from people with secrets, including characters from the show. Some of these (and some are quite disturbing!) could be triggers for some ideas.

    Like you, I often rip my ideas from the headlines. House of Pain was based on Bernardo/Homolka.

  3. Sephera Giron
    6 March 2009

    My bad…it’s Web of Secrets not Lies.

    Here’s the link:
    http://twitter.com/webofsecrets

  4. Criss
    6 March 2009

    Post Secret is intriguing, but it’s gotten so big I have a hard time believing all the “secrets.” I haven’t tried the Twitter feed, though… might have to look into it.

    Reading mkes you think, it puts you in different situations and you meet different people, and you start thinking about them. That gives you ideas… you’re not stealing them, you’re exposing yourself to them!