Behind The Keyboard--Ideas

First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.~Napoleon Hill  

Ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes they smack you in the head and other times they start as small as an inchworm, niggling at the back of your mind and getting bigger and bigger until there's no more room and it HAS to get out. Eww. You get the idea.

You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we're doing it. ~Neil Gaiman 

I usually get my ideas when I'm not looking for one. A pouty model in a magazine ad, an animated couple in the car next to mine while sitting in traffic, or an interesting customer who walks into our repair shop can prompt a character profile. A bit of dialogue or a phrase in a book or movie could become a story line. A photo may conjure a tale all by itself. Even sweeping can spark ideas.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. ~F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Well, I guess I would fail the first-rate-intelligence test. When an idea takes root, I can't concentrate on anything until I get that idea, dialogue, or first sentence in writing. I need to write it down or else it dissipates into the air faster than fog on a sunny day. I have a box full of slips of paper, and notebooks full of partial dialogue and character profiles. 

One can resist the invasion of an army but one cannot resist the invasion of ideas.Victor Hugo 

Once I start writing, don't bother me with work, food or conversation. I don't want to stop until my mind is emptied. Then, until I can see the next scene clearly in my mind, I wash dishes, do laundry, dust, vacuum, and file paperwork in a zombie-like trance with a far-away look in my eyes.

Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.~Jim Rohn 

And that is why I never let an idea get away. I save all of them. I never know when I might need one.

Where do you get your ideas? What do you do with them?

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