Home Is Where The Art Is

One of the most common questions that writers are asked is the old chestnut "Where do you get your ideas from?"

In his excellent book on writing called, surprisingly On Writing, Stephen King revealed that he got his ideas from "a small, bloodthirsty elf who lives in a hole under my desk." Between you and I, I think he may not be telling the whole truth here, but then again, he is a fiction writer so we'll cut him some slack.

Harlan Ellison, the hugely talented but surprisingly little known author of more stories that you could read in a lifetime, is usually more specific, citing "Poughkeepsie", or sometimes "Schenectady" as the source of his vast inspiration.

The truth is, ideas come from all over the place, every minute of the day. You just need to know how to recognise them.

For example, taking Ellison's droll answers, what if he really did get his ideas in Poughkeepsie? Is there a shop? Does he have to bargain with some extra-terrestrial entity for them, perhaps exchanging the names and the addresses of his enemies for a story idea? Is there a refrigerator in a junkyard that when opened contains a solitary piece of paper with a daily idea on it?

I got to thinking about ideas this morning as I sat enslaved to my laptop, impatiently waiting for the clock to reach 09:00 so that I could try and get some Sheryl Crow tickets for a small gig she's playing in London on Valentine's Day. (I got them, by the way)

So what does Sheryl Crow have to do with anything? Well, I'm glad you asked.

About a decade ago Sheryl Crow released her second, eponymous album which contained a song called Home. It was one of those songs that the minute you hear it, you just know that it's going to be a favourite until the day you die. Home really spoke to me for some reason, and the lyrics planted a seed for a story which has been slowly (very slowly) germinating in my mind ever since. I have reams of notes as to where this story is going, who is involved, what will happen, why, where, when and how, but I have yet to find the time to actually write it.

The point is, though, just from listening to Crow's lyrics it prompted this whole reaction, this creation of a universe in which this woman, the 'star' of the song, lives and how she got there.

One of these fine days I'm going to write this damn story. Hell, I might even write a screenplay because I've been making this movie in my head for the last ten years.

In the meantime, though, enjoy this song that is dear to my heart.



"I found your standing there
When I was seventeen
Now I'm thirty-two
And I can't remember what I'd seen in you"

Sheryl Crow "Home"