Ideas

I get this question a lot.

A lot. I would guess that most writers do:

"Where do you get your ideas?"

I've read some very clever answers to this, some good smart-assing, but the truth is?

I haven't the faintest damned idea. It's not as if I hear voices, or get them in a plain manila envelope without a return address.

For lack of a better term, the ideas are... flashes. Something that tells me that I have a story- or the germ of one.

Sometimes the flashes give me the whole thing. I've had a couple of dreams that turned straight into stories. Dreams that- when I awakened- left me with everything I needed. On other occasions, I've been reading something, talking to someone, and... there it was, the flash.

They might be talking about their family, or telling me about some aggravation they faced- or about something cute their kids did. And as I'm laughing along- or showing appropriate concern or whatever..?

Flash.

I suppose that means that there is something in me that's always listening, below the surface, circulating like a shark, making choices and connections. I don't know. If there is, it operates autonomously. Feeding on whatever it picks up.

The thing is... I am not sure if that matters. The idea still has to be developed. Sheltered, carefully fed with tinder until the flames fly. The idea is the start, not the end of the work.

The first thing I do, when I get an idea? Write the fucker down. For me, there is very little worse than thinking... "What was that again...?" and not having anything connect. Waking up with something- and deciding to roll over for a couple of extra minutes- and it's gone when you go looking. Getting something started in your head- and losing it to distraction or obligation. I've had this happen too often in the past, and as I've gotten older, I trust my memory less and less. So.. I write it down. As quickly as possible.

The next thing I do- soon as I get the chance- is a little research.

Another thing I've learned as I've aged... The more complete an idea seems, the more likely it's not entirely original. The more likely that my feverish, throbbing old brain, in response to whatever stimulus, has regurgitated something I've read or heard.

This is not without precedent- it happens to writers and other creative types all the time. Your brain sponges up tons of information, constantly processing it. It's not unheard of for an idea to come swimming out of this absorbed, half remembered mental overhead.

The thing is... is the idea generated- sparked- by some other thing you've seen or read or heard of... or is it a copy of it.

It's okay to be inspired by something- to have an idea based on another. Writing a love story based on something that caught your eye in someone else's love story... seeing a movie and then thinking that some part of it might make a good story in it's own right?

Fine. Taking a common concept in your own direction is really all that is.

It is not okay to swipe an idea and make it your own. There is a story- possibly apocryphal- about a writer who bought old novels- already published stuff, someone else's work- typed it up as a manuscript and submitted it. According to the story, he got a couple of things published before he got caught. And when he was taken to court... he swore that he genuinely thought that this was how it was done.

It's not.

And don't think "fair use" is gonna cover you. Theft is theft. Which you'll understand the first time someone rips off one of your ideas.

Once I've determined whether or not the idea is clear for me to use...

More research.

For example, if I am considering a story that has a basis in history... I learn everything I can about it. Details, details, details. Even if they don't make it directly into the story, they'll certainly influence it. The story here goes back to a famous director from the "Golden Age" of Hollywood. Von Sternberg or Demille, someone like that. He was going to film a battle scene, and he insisted that the extras cast as soldiers wear silk underwear- as the authentic soldiers had. The costumer told him that there was no reason to do it- no one would know about it, it certainly wouldn't show on screen, and it wouldn't make a bit of difference to the performers. The director replied that he would know- and that he wouldn't feel that he'd correctly gotten the feel of the event down without it.*

That's what the details often are- things that make it feel better, work better, for you.

And after that...

I write. Which is another posting entirely.

* I think this was actually something that happened with Micheal Cimino while filming "Heaven's Gate".

New year, new project...

This isn't going to be your typical run of commentary. I'm not any more interested in telling you the minutiae of my life than you are in reading about it... nor am I interested in promoting any beliefs, championing any causes, or railing against any particular brand of injustice.

This is, instead, going to be a process of discovery.

I'm a writer. Short stories, articles, plays... I'm starting a new project, and for the foreseeable future, that's what all of this is going to cover. The writing, the work of writing, the process. We may get into my beliefs and causes. We may cover a great deal of my life, as we go along. But it will be incidental.

Yes, we. We're in this together- writer and reader, locked together, hip to mental hip. And hopefully, we'll both find use in this little experiment.

So.

The work I have in mind is a play. Possibly a stage play, more probably a screen play. I have an idea- though I'm not going to reveal what it is until I am:
A) Sure enough about it to open it to scrutiny- which might be a while, and
B) Protected by WGA registration- at the least.

No offense implied. It's a tough world.

Don't worry- there'll be plenty to talk about in the mean time.