Where do ideas come from?

Recently, I had a hamstring pull, a very painful muscle pull that would wake me up at night.  One night, as I was trying to go back to sleep, images that I had seen that day kept going through my head. One image, that periodically shows up on Facebook is this one of window washers dressed as Spiderman.
It irritated me that this image was stuck in my head since I'm not a big fan of Spiderman.  I really wondered how children, especially sick children, would feel about seeing strange men outside their windows. What about the doctors, nurses and other hospital staff, how distracting would they find these window washers?

Most people don't find Superheroes scary like clowns but what if they did? What if window washers were dressed as other figures, maybe historical figures? What if...? How about..? Why not...?

Within a very short time, I had a short story in my head. It surprised me that it was a horror story, since that's not a genre that I often read. The next day I wrote it down. I have no idea at this moment, what I plan to do with it, since The Twilight Zone is no longer in production but it's ready.

So, where did I get the idea for the story?  Here's my theory:

Chance favors the prepared mind.

I write daily. Once a week I meet up with another writer and we work together. So, asking questions like "what if...?", How about ...?",  Why not...?" are ideas that I practice constantly. Topic sentences, subject-verb agreement, punctuation and spelling are second nature since I practice daily. Now, I have no delusions that I write great literature or that I am a future New York Times Bestselling Author, but I have sold some of my work and hope to sell more.

And I believe the same idea applies for any creative or practical endeavor. It doesn't matter if you want to be a fine artist working in oil or a diesel mechanic covered in oil. Practice, practice, practice. Watch YouTube videos. Read constantly. Go to museums, galleries, car shows, wherever it is that you'll find like-minded people. You're on the Internet right now, Google It!

And if you're interested in writing, join me at the Firehouse, here in Del Rio, Texas Mondays from 12:00-1:00 beginning October 5 through November 2, 2015. Call Nancy or Nicki for more details at 830 775-0888. Hope to see you there.

    

Inspiration

Inspiration comes in many ways and often bears no resemblance to the original. For example, here is a photo of a bottle created by Nancy O'Brien, Executive Director of the Firehouse here in Del Rio.

 
It was on display recently with others that Nancy had made. It is called "Snowberry" after the dictionary definition on the lower corner of the bottle. It is clear glass and crystal and silver embellishments, very light and airy.   

I have seen embellished bottles in magazines and books but never up close. I was inspired to try my own hand at it. 

Here is my embellished bottle, entitled 
"She dreams of Africa." The wire is copper, the glass beads are shades of brown and tan. The polymer clay face is washed with India ink that gives it a rich glow. The face is on silk yarn. 


The two bottles are very different but both come from Nancy's and my willingness to wonder "What if...?

So where does your inspiration come from?