Inspired ideas

Ideas seem better while they are in one’s head. But once written down, their worth can be seen. The fantasy is peeled away, and the harsh reality stares you in the face.

No story can be written without an idea, but this does not make the notion a good one. If it has never been done before, there may be a reason. And if you were to create something new, would anyone want to read it?

Certain things just work, but there is a great deal of variety possible. There are a finite number of elements in the universe, a few basic colors, and a limited number of shapes. Yet, these are the building blocks of reality, the hues of the rainbow and the form of all things.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and the only real limit is your imagination. The world is the same, but everyone sees it through different eyes. So, a familiar idea can be imagined anew.

Hackneyed notions have one thing in common: a lack of inspiration. If the concept was fresh, it would not feel so tired and overused. But writers have the power to re-imagine, and thus breathe life into that which was dead.

But will it shamble about like a corpse, seeking the flesh of the living? Or can it truly live and breathe once more? Blood is the life of the body, but it will stagnate and congeal without the heart spreading it far and wide.  Concepts whither and fade, but an inspired idea has a life all its own.