I was once told that I’m crazy. It was actually asked in the form of a question, “Why are you crazy?”
Seemed like a loaded question. I was hesitant to answer, but eager and ready anyway.
Then it turned into a statement, “I meant to say that you are crazy.”
Well FUCK ME!
I didn’t know this person, and now she’s calling me crazy.
WAHOO! Thanks! It felt like sweet validation. Finally someone got it. Wait. Should I not have been excited about being called crazy? No? Dammit.
Well, her comment slash thought slash statement turned into a completely different question: “Okay, I guess what I was really trying to ask was, where do you get your ideas? Some are crazy that’s why…”
Red-faced, she backtracked and stumbled over herself to apologize.
Uh, not necessary. CRAZY IS GOOD. For a writer, it’s very good. ¡Muy muy bueno!
As for those pesky ideas…hmmmm…
I’d love to say that I have been gifted with a special sense, but that’d be some serious bullshit. The truth is that ideas come from everywhere. Give me your hand and let’s explore, shall we. All Aboard the idea train.
1. NEWS Has Some Crazy Shit. Period.
Whacky, insane, stupid, idiotic, true-to-life, sic-fi, and adventurous all rolled into one. That’s news. I find digital print the best form. Don’t limit yourself to the three letters of the alphabet when searching online news. Go big, BBC, Pulse, various others. Get a board sense. That’s where the true crazy lies.
2. PEOPLE.
Nope, not the magazine. Real-life, living breathing humanoids. Just watch them. Observe. They’ll tell you or show you. Do it, you’ll see. Trust me.
3. MOVIES Tell A Story. So Do You.
This is not where you steal ideas, but rather concoct and twist until you have completed something completely different about the story.
4. OBSERVATION Of The World Around You.
Writers listen, observe, develop, and then massage everything into a carefully detailed plan in their head. then they throw that fucker down on paper so fast it makes lightening look slow. Wow, I just realized how fast that really is and, oh yeah, it’s fast.
5. DREAMS
Not the ones you had when you were younger, those didn’t work out anyway, did they?
No, we’re talking about the dreams you have when your asleep. And, not those sexual ones either you perf. Well, on second thought…uh, no.
Some are lucid and clear like crystal. Others we need to pull little bits out and work on until we get a vivd story. Pay attention to those dreams and have a pen and paper at your bedside.
Draw your writing inspiration from somewhere. Share it. Write it. Be it.
6. Your girlfriend. Crazier than Charles Manson eating Fruit Loops on your front porch (~Suicidal Tendencies, 1990). Or wife. Whatever.