Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

“I always start out with an idea, even a boring idea, that becomes a question I don’t have answers to.” - Toni Morrison 

Where do you get your ideas? I’ve been told that authors don’t like to be asked that question. I’ve heard various reasons, such as it’s difficult to answer or that the answer is so very obvious.

I’ve never really had a problem with coming up with story ideas in general. I always have lots of ideas running around in my head. I think about them a lot. I hardly ever finish anything though. There are various reasons for this. Finding the time to write regularly is a big one. But the main reason is I’m not sure where to go with the idea, where to take the story, or how to end the story. So I’m always interested in hearing what authors have to say about the writing process.

Harlan Ellison said that he got his ideas from Poughkeepsie. He also said Schenectady. Cities in New York. He would then add that there was an idea service there that would send him ideas every week for a fee. I laughed along with everyone else when I first read this in my younger days.  Now that I'm trying to write regularly I think the answer isn’t helpful. Oh, it’s still funny, it’s just not very helpful. 

Recently I came across Neil Gaiman’s answer to this question. First he said that if you ask an author where they get their ideas he’ll probably mock you. I laughed at this because I immediately thought of Harlan Ellison. Neil Gaiman says that he used to give the mocking answers until he was talking to a group of seven and eight year olds. After one kid asked him where he got his ideas from, he thought he’d better give a straight answer. His answer was that ideas come from two things coming together. Confluence. Things that you’ve seen a thousand times but you look at them in a slightly different way. I found his answer helpful. 

Patricia Highsmith, in her book Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction, has a chapter on ideas. She first talks about the germ of an idea. This can come from observation or just a “brief sequence of action that pops into the head out of nowhere, from nothing seen or heard.” That second explanation describes my experience with ideas really well. I’ve lost count how many times ideas have popped into my head as I walked home from my train station to my apartment in the evenings. Something about after working my day job puts me into a place where my mind can wander, can explore, and see connections that I could not see during the day. It never happens in the morning as I walk to the train station. I am not a morning person. 

When I try too hard to think of an idea, nothing happens. On the other hand, when I’m not consciously thinking, “I need to think of an idea!”, an idea will suddenly pop into my head. Then I’ll start wondering about  what would happen next. It just happens. Sometimes the idea gets fleshed out a little further right away, but usually I’ll have to revisit the idea a few times. I’ll keep wondering about what would happen next. It’s like a game. It’s fun. But it doesn’t usually lead to a finished story. 

Patricia Highsmith adds that stories don’t always develop this way. They sometimes need a “second idea to get them going.” When I read this I immediately thought of Neil Gaiman’s advice about confluence. Two things coming together. Like Neil Gaiman’s advice, I found her advice quite helpful.

I’ve learned that thinking about a story isn’t enough. I need to sit down and write. It leads to more ideas. The act of getting the words down leads me into new directions. Ideas I would not have thought of by just thinking about them. New dialogue, new scenes, new directions, new background on characters, and even new characters. I am so fascinated by this process. I absolutely love it. 

In the end it’s different for every writer. Speaking for myself I’m enjoying this journey I’m on. As challenging as it is, I now know that I need to sit down and write more. I need to work harder to find the time to write. Thinking and imagining is the easy part. I’ve done it most of my life.

Less daydreaming, more work.  Wish me luck.