AustLit

'‘Where do writers get their ideas from?’ This a question that comes up regularly for writers who find themselves released into polite company in the broader community. I suspect it is most commonly asked by people who do not often write imaginatively. One of the writers who has complained about being regularly asked where he gets his ideas from is Neil Gaiman. ‘In the beginning,’ he explains in one of his essays, ‘I used to tell people the not very funny answers, the flip ones: “From the Idea-of-the-Month Club,” I’d say, or “From a little ideas shop in [such and such a place],” … ‘Then I got tired of the not very funny answers, and these days I tell people the truth: “I make them up,” I tell them. “Out of my head.” People don’t like this answer. I don’t know why not.’' (Introduction)