Ideas are parasites and one is burrowing into your head like a voracious brain worm RIGHT NOW

For any creative person, one of the most common questions you will encounter is “where do your ideas come from?”, usually followed by a long pause as you scrabble for a coherent, sane answer. That answer, as many of you will know, is everywhere. A case in point is this post, the origin of which perfectly demonstrates how an idea develops in a haphazard, chaotic manner on its journey from concept to execution.

So where did this idea come from? Initially, the notion to write this post came while playing tennis (of course, I say “playing”, but what I mean is “flailing ineffectually”): an idle thought crept up on me while I wasn’t looking, hooked into my brain like some kind of conceptual parasite and wouldn’t leave. That thought: where do ideas go? For creators this is the frustrating flip side of the flash of inspiration - that fleeting idea that slips beyond your grasp. Perhaps it’s a momentary distraction or maybe you don’t write it down, but, either way, it’s gone forever. Looking back, I don’t have a clear idea of what exactly triggered this thought, but it may have something to do with a short story I wrote a while back about old, forgotten and unfinished tales, which I was thinking about at that point (which may explain the ineffectual tennis-like flailing, although I doubt it). So, we have a starting point , but how did that seed develop into what you’re reading now? Naturally there are other events, thoughts and ideas that fed the idea andled to this point. Many of these relate to my history of writing and my struggles with it, along with my enduring interest in technology, but that’s a story for another time. More pertinent to this are my current creative pursuits, more specifically an interactive story that I’m working on and the accompanying blog where I’ve begun to document the process. Truth be told, while I enjoy writing, I’ve always had the urge to explore storytelling in different media and I’ve had an enduring interest in video games. For the particular idea that I’m developing, which I’ve held onto for many years looking for the right way to treat it, a short video game ultimately seemed the natural fit (the story of how the idea developed and how I arrived at this conclusion is another good example of the origin of ideas, but that’s a tale for another time). The point is, I like to look for new ways to tell stories and in this case I’d decided a game made the most sense an this is ultimately how I arrived at this point. You see, with limited experience in actual game development, I’ve been undertaking research, and as part of this I’ve been investigating visual styles including pixel art, a style I feel would enhance the story I plan to tell, not simply an arbitrary choice determined by what’s popular at the moment. This research in turn led me to retronator.com and, as I explored the site, Medium. I’m a curious person by nature and I like to learn. I also teach interactive design, so learning about new apps and services is a habit. Curiosity mode duly engaged, I went down the rabbit hole and found myself… here. Hello.

So, here is the process: a parasitic concept organism finds a suitable host, hooks into its brain, feeds off its personality, creative and professional preoccupations, and then incubates while it waits for an opportunity to metamorphose and disperse via an appropriate carrier, where it can then spread.

You see? Ideas are parasites. It’s a simple, elegant design, although as those of you who have mourned the loss of that killer idea — the one you know will define your career — it doesn’t always work.

So, about that question: where do ideas go?