I always wonder what goes through a storyteller’s mind when they are coming up with the initial thoughts of a story they wish to tell. I know my inspiration comes from a number of things including art, dreams, and occurrences in everyday life.
Pablo Picasso is quoted as saying, ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.’ More often than not, art (including other stories) is a great inspiration to people. I once read about JK Rowling and the inspirations for her Harry Potter book series. She mentioned that she has no idea how her imagination works, that it just does. But if you look at the stories in that series, there are elements of others contained within. There are biblical themes and references throughout, and similarities in such works as The Iliad, Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and The Sword in the Stone, to name a few.
Dreams can also be a great inspiration for ideas. Christopher Nolan’s idea for the movie Inception, about existing in, and manipulating the subconscious, is admitted to stem from Nolan’s fascination with dreams. In the movie, the main character is a spy who steals information from the subconscious directly from a dreaming individual. Fascinatingly enough, it has also been mentioned that Inception looks eerily similar to a Donald Duck comic book, entitled Uncle Scrooge in The Dream of A Lifetime…or vice versa. In the comic book, the Beagle Boys enter Scrooge’s mind while he is dreaming in order to steal the combination to his vault.
Storytellers also look for stories and characters in the world in which they live. Stan Lee, the man that arguably made Marvel Comics the powerhouse it is today, did this when creating some of his most beloved characters. Take Professor X and Magneto for example; the former is a peaceful advocate of mutant rights, while the latter uses a more aggressive and combative approach when it comes to mutant rights. Sound familiar, baby boomers? These characters were created in the midst of the civil rights movement in America in the 60’s and were inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, respectively.
In his essay, The Decay of Lying, Oscar Wilde declared that, ‘Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.’ Art, at some level, inspires pretty much any story that is ever created. It is often said that there are no original stories left to be told, just different ways of re-telling the ones that already exist.
So next time you take in a story, and I say ‘take in’ because stories come in many different formats, try to imagine where the storyteller’s inspiration came from. Now think back to stories you’ve told, or are currently trying to tell. What has influenced you as a storyteller? Where do you turn when the need of inspiration arises?
leoarsenault 