I get this question a lot, so I thought I would get my thoughts down in one place where I can refer to them later.



My ideas all come from an idea collective called Thought's Entertainment!, located in Muncie, Indiana. I like them because they are small, still capable of providing the personal touch, but they do handle some big-name idea people. Mandy Patinkin is a client of theirs, for instance, and I understand that they provide all the good ideas ever had by the Rand Corporation. Also, they're a union shop.



Ideas usually arrive by post. I have a drop-box which I visit on Thursdays and Saturday evenings, and there are often a bundle of ideas for me to pick up. Some times there are only two or three small scraps of notions, but on some visits I have to make two trips with my knapsack absolutely bursting full of ideas. I do hope at some point to engage the services of an idea processing service, so I can weed out the less promising ideas and have the best ones sent directly to my doorstep. This can be expensive but I understand it's an absolute necessity for the most prolific writers.



When I get a new idea, I bring it home and organize it in my idea organizer. My mom got me my latest one for my birthday; it's a bit like a rolodex, but the dividers are made of clear plastic so you can watch the ideas squirm around as you flip through them. I used to use a bulletin board when I was in high school, but the ideas would flap around, struggling to get free from the thumbtacks that secured them to the corkboard, and it would keep me awake at night. A friend told me she keeps her ideas in the freezer, which sounds crazy but hey! whatever works.



A raw idea isn't good for much, so eventually you have to process it. Fortunately I have a small lab setup in my Imaginiarium. I gather a few ideas at a time and bring them in. With the door closed, I turn off the overheads and turn on the blacklight (it's good for contemplation). I soak the ideas in the fixer bath until all the preconceptions float to the surface. Next they go into the introspection wash, where hopefully all the cliches are leached out. I still hang ideas up to dry; I know there are more modern ways to do it, such as meditation, but I learned how to do this the old-fashioned way and I guess I'm a creature of habit. Finally my ideas go into the hopper where they are deconstructed, recontextualized, and spat out in a more-or-less purely noetic format. I like to believe I process my ideas as well or better than the Thinkomat on the corner.



A well-processed idea is a joy to absorb. The best time to do this is in the morning. I put a handful of ideas in a bowl in my breakfast room, add some non-dairy creamer, and microwave for maybe forty-five seconds. I like to inhale the steam rising off my bowl of ideas; the odor of inspiration really perks me up in the morning. Then I quaff deeply, rolling the ideas around my tongue before swallowing. As the ideas begin to seep into my brain, I sometimes like to do the crossword. Right around noon the ideas have really burst into my brain and I'm ready to start writing.



I have no idea how other people get their ideas, but I like my way just fine. I'd recommend this method to writers of all sorts, although stream-of-consciousness poets might wish to skip the idea collective and instead mine their own ideas from the more radical idea-beds. I'm told there are some great places to do this in Saskatchewan, although my experience here is limited.



I hope this has been helpful, as well as mildly obnoxious.