Inspiration

Rachael has thrown a meme into the aether, to see where it sticks. And as we all know I just love the sound of my own typing. (Of course, right now, I'm at work preparing for the big launch this evening - I wrote this last night.)

When you get to be successful it is an absolute certainty that you will be asked: "Where do you get your ideas from?" Or, as this not-really-a-meme is worded: "Where do you get your inspiration?"

Me. Other people. Anything.

Monsters evolved from a desire to create something Buffy-like that didn't involve the supernatural or superpowers. But the original inspiration was Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Air was originally seen as a new take on the 1970s TV series Sky which it is, but completely different.

Unit X came from me mis-hearing what two of my friends were saying.

Running started from "I have to write something with Parkour in it" for this producer.

I wrote a radio play based on a Eurythmics song: Would I Lie to You. I had this idea to write a whole series of them.

Une Nuit a Paris was inspired by a 10cc album.

Winter was (originally) inspired by the need to produce an action short.

Strings was pure me "I have to write a new story concept RIGHT NOW".

My novel Elona originally came from a live fantasy role-playing game.

The poetry I've written was either personal emotion, someone else's emotion, commentary on what I saw around me, or seeing something and zooming off on a flight of fantasy.

There was a time I was writing 3 poems a day based on current affairs, I was trying to get a newspaper to pay me to print them. I did it for three weeks. That's a lot of poems. It didn't work.

I don't get ideas from dreams or "my subconscious" or the news (except as mentioned above) - I do get inspiration from me, songs, other TV, the world. But it's all me in the end. (If that's not too philosophical.)

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What's on the turntable? "Here is the news" by ELO from "News of the World" (I think)