I had to start thinking clean thoughts as my “I wonder why she is wearing yoga pants” didn’t fit into my creative inspiration plan. Maybe I should not ask why and maybe I should stop looking. The guy with her looked mighty tough. He’s lucky I’m not 20 years younger. Sure he’d still kick my ass, but I would heal up faster and what would he do then?
Ray Bradbury always noted that people asked him “where do you get your ideas”, but I never liked his pompous delivery. Bradbury was good, but he had his fair share of misses as well. I wonder if he got his ideas from people watching as well. Bradbury looked rather strange and probably creeped people out as he sat there, drinking a milkshake, and staring intently at a person, prompting somebody to say “I don’t care where you get your ideas but if you keep ogling me, I’m going to shove that milkshake up your ass.” Where does he get his ideas?
I walked the mall and looked around and I never really go to the mall. Where is Sam Goody? Where is Bradlees? I doubted that I would find any inspiration there. I was hoping to walk into one of those mall survey people that walk around with clipboards. I might be able to look into their eyes and see their life stories and what makes them tick. What do they do when they’re not carrying a clipboard and walking the mall? I imagine that the job pays dick, so they are probably home, watching Netflix and eating Ramen noodle soup. That shit isn’t good for you.
noodle soup. That shit isn’t good for you.
My experiment of inspiration wasn’t going too well. I decided to take a trip to the tropics where the nice ocean breeze would hit me in the face and I would sit there and enjoy the sun without thinking of anything at all, leading to inspiration hitting me all at once, but then I remembered that going to the tropics is rather expensive and the alternative of going to the local lake would not bring the same experience. It’s full of ugly people and geese. I don’t mind geese but they crap in the water all the time and they close that lake all the time. I would never get inspired there.
There is nothing worse, as a creative force (and I consider myself a creative force), than looking at a blank document in word. It looks you in the eye and says “that’s all,” like an ex-girlfriend that you weren’t able to please. Not even talking dirty worked…to either. So, back to the drawing board and back to seeking inspiration.
What inspired me to write before? I’ve written a lot of articles and plenty of screenplays, but something usually hits me and takes me along for this ride. An examination into my past inspirations might lead to break this writing block and return to form. For EVIL AWAKENING, my first film, my inspiration was FRIDAY THE 13TH and emulating that style of film. I’m well past that now. Not even Jason Voorhees can bail me out of this one. But with FAMILY SECRET, my 3rd film, I was able to draw inspiration from an unlikely source: my screwed up family and that is where I shall return.