Where do ideas come from? (Patreon)

by Jeffrey Cranor

So we get asked that question a lot: "where do you get your ideas?" And generally speaking, the answer is kind of boring, just years and years of reading books/comics, watching shows/movies, and writing regularly. Activities like that are always churning the creative butter (ugh. that metaphor. yikes.) Anyway, sometimes though, ideas come from real life. You experience something strange, eerie, funny, or scary and you don't really forget it, and years, months, or days later it just ends up in a story. 

Or it doesn't. Sometimes something really unique and memorable happens to you, and you think "that should be a story," and the longer you sit with it, the more you realize you don't really know how you can make the story version as good as what really happened. 

Here's an example that happened to me 2 days ago. I'm currently in LA. I came out here last week to visit friends and have a meeting. My first day here, I did a cursory covid test bc I was about to be around lots of people (incl folks with a young child). And bam: I tested positive. So I've spent the last 5 straight days cooped up in my hotel near LAX, quarantining. The great news is that I'm symptom free, and the weather here is beautiful compared to my home state of New York. 

In order to break up the monotony of Hampton Inn life, I decided to hop in my rental car and drive out to the mountains. On my way out the door, a man stopped me and asked "Hey, are you staying in this hotel?" 

"Yes," I said. 

"Do you have guests staying with you?" 

"Uhhhh," I said. 

"Do you mind if I run upstairs real quick and use your shower?" he asked. 

And I hauled ass away from him. I didn't even stop at my car, because I didn't even want him to know that about me. 

This is how you end up in a torture dungeon, inviting strangers to use your hotel shower. 

But how to use this idea for a story. I think it's usable, sure, but it's so specific. That man needs a backstory. He needs a look/vibe. In real life he looked like a generic banker or insurance salesman. I suppose there's something to that as well. 

But isn't psycho killer a bit too played out? What if he actually means well. What if he's really down on his luck. What if he thought I was someone else? What if I misheard him? A comedy of errors. 

And the more I think about it, the more I realize that ideas are just vegetation. Moments like Hampton Inn Shower Stranger are seeds, and then some leafy shit grows, and you clip off some of it and put it on your pizza and see if it tastes good. 

That's way better than the butter churning metaphor, right? I don't know why that grosses me out. I think it's the sound. Gaack. Sorry about that one. 

Okay, I'm done musing about my Hampton Inn Adventures. I had my first negative test this morning, so I finally get to fly home today! Hoo-fuckin-rah!

JC, feb 9 2023