When you’re in creation mode, anything (and maybe everything) is a source of inspiration.

The character in the books I’m writing is turning me into a magnet for ideas.

As characters come to life in the books you write,* they need fuel or source energy or at least the next chapter in their existence.

Where do the ideas come from? The stories, the plots, the twists? From your imagination, you say? Lovely thought. But where does your imagination get it? Can it pull it from thin air? Can you create something you’ve never experienced? Honestly, I don’t know.

If you’re not creating enough in your life, you’re consuming too much, you might not feel that draw or pull or craving for more of what it takes to keep you going — or at least keeps your characters going.

Chances are that your imagination is at least partly founded on your experiences in your own life. Or at least the “inputs” you receive to then create with (the “outputs”).

Yes, you have to take in, you need the input. But if all you do it take in, consume, watch, read, listen, then when does the pressure cooker have a chance to let off some steam? When do those inputs get some life into them through output? For what is input without a corresponding output? Is there a law of physics going on? I believe there is some sense of balance that for each of us is different.

How much input do you need to create your output?

I doubt there’s a specific formula for anyone, but you should know when you need some more fuel and when you need to burn a little off.

Tonight, watching “Defenders” (the new version on Netflix) with my youngest son and as the story progresses, I see possibilities for Charlie Holiday. Maybe he just needs three friends …

* You are writing books, right?