I have had a number of people ask me where I get my story ideas from. I was always put on the spot in some circumstances and didn't know how to answer other than a shrug of my shoulders. Friends, family, random people I've come into contact with have asked me this question. So I sat down and thought about my universal answer. I thought back to the time of my youth where I spent hours upon hours sitting in front of my stereo listening to the various late night radio stations or during the day as I listened to Garth Brooks, Enya, Loreena McKennett (during my Celtic music phase which I still enjoy to this day). I'd allow my mind to wander over so many things at that age; daydreaming of a life that wasn't mine at all but someone else's. I never wrote of these fantasies, instead I 'wasted time' or was accused of having ADD. I probably did or do, but I put my tendencies to daydream to good use as I got older.
I've kept a journal since 1989 but didn't start writing prose regularly until I was roughly sixteen. Some of my earlier prose put me to sleep as an adult (yay, teenage angst). I marveled at how reflective and insightful I was at that age with a lot of the entries. Although I had written countless poems, I found that the prose eventually morphed into a more consistent stream of incredibly horrible and dark poetry (we are our own worst critic). Some of those poems turned out pretty epic and ended up published. I then moved on to short stories, burning the midnight oil spinning a yarn or two for class. I had even gone so far as to take upon the burden of other classmate's assignments with great enthusiasm. I'd make any excuse to write. On and on my daydreams continued until there came a point where I could not sit through the four minutes of a song without writing them all down or writing something down. I keep a journal of ideas now along with my standard journal on occasion. Most of the time now, my readers are my journal.
I don't 'waste' as much time daydreaming as I used to in my youth. I do have my moments when there is a particular song playing and it incites thought and I drift off into my own little world. I'd 'waste' fifteen minutes here and there but that doesn't happen often. Sometimes I'll even sit in my car and wait until a song ends; hit the repeat button once or twice before I get out of the car and go back to my reality. But for those of you who ever wonder where I get my ideas...
...I find them within my soul.