Neil Gaiman
is an author who uses a wide range of mediums. His works include novels, short
stories, films, television episodes, and comic books. He is most well known for
his comic series, Sandman, and his
novels, including American Gods, Neverwhere, Stardust, and Coraline.
He also wrote multiple episodes for popular television show Doctor Who. He has
written for many different genres, and many different audiences, young and old.
His stories are consistently fresh and interesting, often blending together
elements from multiple genres. Throughout his career, he has frequently been
asked the question, “Where do your ideas come from?”
He answers this question in his
essay, titled, “Where Do You Get Your Ideas?” In this essay, he describes his
process. To start, he asks questions. One question leads to another, and a plot
is born. The question “what if?” is a good place to start. What if a person’s
morning train took them to another world? What is the other world like? How
would they get home? From this quick series of questions, a beginning for a
story is born. Sometimes, instead of starting with a question, he starts with
an image or character, and then uses this process of asking questions to
develop a story around the character or image. With this process, any idea can be used as the starting point, as
long as there are questions and answers.
Openmindedness
is a necessary trait for this sort of process, as a person must be open to
considering many questions and possibilities in order for this to work and
produce ideas. Someone must be open to asking interesting questions and finding
creative answers. Divergent and convergent thinking also play a role, as Gaiman
must be able to connect the many different questions and ideas and combine them
to create cohesive stories. Divergent thinking allows him to create many
different ideas, but he must edit and form the ideas into something that makes
sense.
Using these questions as a place to
begin, Neil Gaiman finds ways to answer them in unconventional ways, and combine
all of those ideas into a cohesive plot.
http://www.neilgaiman.com/Cool_Stuff/Essays/Essays_By_Neil/Where_do_you_get_your_ideas%3F
Interesting! I didn't know that Gaiman's process begins with a question. It sounds kind of sporadic, kind of like how Picasso begins with a small doodle and keeps changing/adding to it as he goes. I think Gaiman's process is good for putting himself in the reader's shoes, especially if the reader is the type to think ahead and actively think of questions while reading. Good post!
ReplyDelete