Ideas can flash from anywhere.
I mentioned before that I was blocked on the idea front for a while and my relief that these are now starting to bubble up again. Thing about ideas is that you can’t control when they occur but that moment of clarity that it is a) an idea and b) has merit is magic, a proper pricking of the thumbs that is very distracting. Case in point, I had a really good idea for a short story while cycling home the other day, it occurred in a very short period of time from a visual prompt (someone crossing the road) through to me having a good idea of the whole thing.
I was lucky it was a straight stretch of road with minimum junctions because I wasn’t concentrating. Indeed, in the end I had to stop and get off to write it down because the sudden spike of adrenalin from the frequent “creative” driving in London kind of destroys any thoughts you are having and daydreaming on a bike is a recipe for disaster. I’ve also had ideas in the usual places: showers, baths, cleaning, walking, driving, etc. It’s always the ideas that occur while in charge of moving vehicles that are the problem. I imagine the same goes for operating heavy machinery.
Sometimes the sudden strike of an idea is misleading, the next day you will look at the idea and think it sucks or you can see you’ve reinvented such and such a story from first principles. This is annoying but part of the course. In my case, in the cold light of a few days later, the idea seems to have some merits, I still like the pitch and so I’m going to have a crack at it over the weekend.
How about you? Where’s the most awkward place you’ve had an idea?