He should have answered "from Ralph's"

That awkward moment when you find the video of you asking Neil a silly question at the Wheeler Centre... thankfully he was very gentle with me!

I bet he was choppin at the bits to ask that one.

I get mine from Ralphs.

"I don't know, you make 'em up in your head" is a perfect postface to that diatribe.

Can anyone truly refrain from loving such a man?

The key revelation was that everyone has ideas, but writers train themselves to notice the ideas more. Training your attention leads to insights in all sorts of areas. As to where the ideas come from in the first place, well, that's a total mystery. It's like asking where thoughts come from.

Great question Adam

Desperation, Deadline, Daydream ... I can relate to those three ;) .

And then he goes on to freestyle a demonstration of his creative process for a bit and answers the question in his unmatched kind and lovely way and in doing so related another prime rule of storywriting: show, don't tell. This man is a gift and he keeps giving.

It's funny; he keeps coming back to that goldfish werewolf thing. There's a reference to it in The Sandman, and when I heard him speak once, he mentioned it, too.

Gaiman described it perfectly. Love this video.

I think he honestly described it perfectly; I have no clue where these ideas are from. They happen when I'm just going about my life, and then I hurry and put it to words.

I wrote a story that was inspired by the sudden availability of machines where you could deposit your old iPhone for money. Now people are afraid to leave me with their elderly relatives.

Neil's is the best answer to this very tricky question.

lol that goldfish meditation is just genius in action.

Sci fi and fantasy authors are always whining about this question. But then Gaiman goes on to describe a technique: start with a premise (Werewolf bites a person, they turn into a werewolf) and modifies it (Goldfish). There you go - that's where he got it.

Bob Einstein used to say he got his at Ralph's...

Beautifully perfect answer.

Did the Calliope story in Sandman come straight from this interview???

I love Neil Gaiman

Many ideas can come from critical review. Hate something you see or read and think, "I can do this better than you!"

God, i love him

Which Ralph’s ?

I believe I speak for all of us here when I notice that he was chomping at the bit to ask that question.

From my best friend Bob who works at the dream recycle plant.

This is interesting...am a writer but a different writer from Neil. Am a people watcher and you can get ideas from that ...imagine that person, attach a story to them and scenarios and add embellishments to the story of that person which might/might not be true.

The better question is not where you get your ideas, it's how you flesh out and organize your ideas. Because sometimes, very few times, it goes like a straight line (simple and easy to construct and organize) and other times, most of the time, it just veers off and it goes everywhere, and you hate it, and all you want to do is punch it in the flipping face, but you can't punch it in the face because that's your face!

FINALLY!

Desperation, Deadline, Doing Something Else, Daydream; new Sandman characters? My ideas come from "Dodgy Thoughts".

Yeahs, His The Lunatic

0:45 “not afraid”

What would be the 'garlic' used to repel a werewolf goldfish? Maybe a can of tuna?

That extraverted intuition, tho.

He's hilarious

Chairwolf in London!

His answer reminds me of one of his Sandman comics, wherein a writer gets ideas and inspirations from having sex with a chained, malnourished muse who'd been romantically inclined with Dream. As punishment for doing this to her, Dream makes a stream of constant ideas for books flow right out of him. And when he finally males him stop, he has no ideas left anymore.

Where do you get your ideas from?

3:25 is this a real story of his?

Btw, if a werewolf bit a chair, you’d end up with a chair-wolf

“more’

I am a little concerned as of to why the girl on stage it's not looking at him with powerful love eyes...

where's the connection?

here

No Not Really Its That Ya Album, Conland

I talk to the fairies!

Oh -

That Werewolf Idea was better than anything else he'd ever written.

alright we're comin in hot

“may be Giaman is’

I got an idea from a scary dream about life and death

Nah That Foo’s Crazy

:D

onik surviving gaiman? echo it

Confluence.

What, You Know Not, You See?

onik surviving gaiman

duh followee

The dude is being brilliantly funny and the lady next to him is barely reacting.

What did they hire this guy to ruin all the Q&As.

oh no your insane : check

Hes a liar, he got them from Ralph's

Velocity

Nah I like communists better

I Dont Care It

Propaganda

onik surviving gaiman? echo it