|
I find many ideas come from exploring a spark of an idea that hits me during the day. If you read the reviews, you'll see a lot of people assuming that the idea for Turing Evolved came from watching The Matrix, which is weird because it actually came from playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and wondering what it would be like if the AI players were more real and that got me thinking about what it would be like for an AI if it could die inside the computer. How hard they'd try to survive if you tried to kill them. The idea itself went through several evolutions and then Turing Evolved was supposed to be about 5000 words... I wrote the last line at almost 150,000 words before editing.
Other ideas come from everyday life. I start to think "What would happen if..." and sometimes it becomes a bigger idea.
At times I ask my kids "What would you really like to see in a movie" and I listen to what they say. They will often describe a scene they feel is missing from many movies they've enjoyed.
Sometimes I listen to music and a movie starts playing itself out in my head and I see characters moving to the tune or lyrics.
And a few ideas come from the characters in my stories too... Try talking to the characters in your head sometimes. You'll be surprised with what they suggest. ( I know a lot of writers who do that )
I don't think there's any one place I get my ideas from, but I do keep a rather cryptic notebook with the ideas in there, so I can go back and read it later. Sometimes they surprise me when I've read them after forgetting them.
And that's one important thing to remember about ideas. They often fade like dreams if you don't use them.
Regards
David
|