We like to believe, because we’re ego-driven, self-obsessed creatures, that each of us alone is the sole parent to our ideas. We kid ourselves that inspiration is ineffable, miraculous, a kind of magic. The muses smile upon us and – bingo! – out of nowhere pops an idea. All those influences that have led us to this point evanesce in a convenient puff of amnesia. The truth, of course, is that nothing comes of nothing.
