Where Ideas Come From

Years ago I attended my very first SCBWI conference in Los Angeles. Like seven years ago.

anyway... Norman Juster was a presenter and he spoke (in part) on this concept:

"Ideas are not external to you."

So often we (okay, okay I) search the world around us, like a frantic lunatic, looking for the perfect idea. We ask people for them. We read papers for them. I personally have even been known to beg the heavens for the perfect idea that will make it all better and easy and wonderful.

But it doesn't have to be that hard.

Norman spoke about keeping a memory journal and jotting down bits and pieces of our own memories.

He reminded us that we have a wealth of ideas inside of us and, what I thought most important, we don't have to farm them out all at the beginning of a novel.

We can let them come bit by bit

natural to our story.

We can, in short, trust ourselves.

Tell Me: where do you get your ideas? are you ever amazed at what comes dancing out of your fingertips in a writing session? do you sometimes forget to trust yourself? please tell me I'm not alone in that regard....