Limitless!

 

Ask any author: What’s your most frequently asked question?

I guarantee, if not at the very top, at least in the top five you’ll hear: Where do you get your ideas? Or inspiration? Or whichever quasi-synonym.

For me, this is the hardest question to address. Honestly? I have no clue where or how I get my ideas. I do know that I don’t really want to know the answer.

I’ve found that the times I try to force ideas, when I think too hard, thoughts tend to be stale or contrived or, otherwise, too uninteresting to seriously consider. But those times when I follow my mind to wherever it wants to take me, allow it the time and space to roll sudden randomness through the magical processes sparking the brain, the ideas are limitless.

All that is wonderful in theory, but how can I make my answer interesting to the kids (or adults) who ask the question? 

Okay. Let’s try this.

Imagine being in an expansive orchard, each tree abounding with its own unique variety of apples and artichokes, marbles and markers, whisks and wires, ores and oars...
an endless array of objects and emotions, colors and textures, shapes and sizes. 

Are you there? I am.

Peaches, yes, but what's beyond?

As I walk through, I’m drawn to a particular tree. I stop and explore its unlikely array of offerings. Hmm. If I pluck the golden pair, snatch the cerulean pair of sunglasses. and pair them with the peregrine falcon, what ideas might grow? 

Okay. There’s the sense of taste, sight, and flight. Or nourishment, protection, and companionship. Or... maybe this is as far as that idea takes me. No problem. I can always return to this tree or meander to a more interesting one across the orchard until I land upon a unique combination—a thought, an idea, a mind picture—that makes my senses tingle, my imagination come alive, my brain burst with possibilities.

In fact, sitting here, not trying to think too hard, I just came up with this exercise. I’ve used others to help me before. Which others? I’ll keep you wondering for now. Give you the time and space you might need to find one that works for you...

Because such creative tools, like objects and ideas and the universe, are limitless.

Readers particularly ask Jody Feldman about her inspiration for the warehouse scenes in The Gollywhopper Games. She really doesn't have a good answer :)

Peaches photo credit: https://www.123rf.com/profile_pixander