“Where do you get your ideas?”

That question is probably asked of writers more often than any other.

Ideas, by their very nature, have a kind of magic–as if springing from some mysterious source. For there is a certain magic about all creative writing, just as there is about any art. The writer or artist must first possess that magic lamp–talent–capable of producing the genie of ideas. The genie may come unsought, but more often he appears with his rich treasure because the possessor of the lamp (the writer or artist) has learned how to summon him.

Thus, to that original question the experienced writer can only reply, “Where do you stop getting ideas?”

–Marjorie Holmes, Writing the Creative Article (long out of print, but available through used book sellers on Amazon)