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ENTRY

The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas)
October 10, 2008

Almost invariably, when someone finds out I'm a writer (that is, if I haven't scared them off describing what kind of books I write, see previous post), s/he asks where I get my ideas. My standard answer is that I get ideas everywhere, anytime.

Being more specific, I add I get ideas from watching or reading the news, observing people and eavesdropping on the conversations (I've gotten in trouble doing that), reading anything, meeting someone interesting (or utterly not, which to me is as interesting as interesting), making unlikely connections between disparate concepts, or just some random stray thought. Oh, s/he says. I'm not sure what they expect the answer to be. Dreams perhaps. I've never gotten an interesting idea from a dream (at least I don't think so.)

If s/he is still in the conversation (likely we're trapped together in a corner at a cocktail party), I talk about which ideas get turned into ones that are ultimately used. I rarely write them down. I used to, filling file folders with scratched notes, news paper clippings, business cards, photos. But I found I never looked at through file. Instead the really good ideas get stuck in my head. The Good Idea doesn't let itself be forgotten. It pops up occasionally demanding attention. The Good Idea wants to grow up. Like an adolescent. it wants to experience life, learn about the world, try out its wings, grow up and go off to college. So I no longer bother to record any of the ideas I come across.

Take an idea that I've been obsessed with lately. I live on Kaua'i, the northernmost main island in the Hawaiian archipelago. Kauai's an interesting place in itself, still fairly rural, even as tourist flock here and big buck mainlanders build big dollar homes in developments with Hawaiian names like Halemalu. There's a relatively small but strident undercurrent of resistance to this development. Any protests are relatively short-lived and unorganized and for the most part ineffectual. That is until a developer tried to build on a lot where there were several, dozens, of ancient Hawaiian burial sites. The builder was issued a building permit and asked to do a burial treatment plan, the usual course of action being to dig up the remains and rebury them.

Now there are burials all over the islands, of course, from eight centuries of Hawaiians living and dying on the island. But rarely has there been so many found on one relatively small lot. The issuance of a building permit and the burial plan, which allowed the home to be built over some of the burial sites, raised the outrage of a few kanaka maoli (native Hawaiians), one a mid-40ish woman named Ka?iulana Edens-Huff. She began to camp on the site to keep out the construction crews and raise awareness of the disrespectful way of the developer and agencies were treating the ancient bones.

I followed the story in the news paper during the months the occupation occurred. Lawsuits were filed, the police chief got involved, more meetings were held, trespassing arrests made. The idea for a story kept coming back into my head. Many details stuck to the big idea of the local woman, not rich, fighting for cultural practice rights over the rich developer. Finally I could no longer stand not working on this story and I contacted Ka'iulani. Now we are collaborating on a book. I'm sure I'll be talking more about it in future posts. It's a rich personal story with many broader, social, economic, and cultural issues. It's about personal and social identity.

So the ideas keep coming. But if the Fountain of Ideas ever stops flowing, I have a whole folder full of them.

#

© 2010

COMMENTS

Number of comments: 2
click here to add a comment

Lee Witte
Funny! I just tell people "drugs."

Jo Reed
Sound like soemthing I'd say, Lee. But I tell people my agent has told me not to discuss my work. They go "ohhh" all knowingly.

ARCHIVE

date (comments)

Review: Kissing the Mask
August 22, 2010 (1)

Jonathan Lethem: Writing at the margins
July 12, 2010 (2)

Review: Love in Translation
June 22, 2010 (3)

Jose Saramago
June 18, 2010 (0)

Marketplace of Ideas interview
June 11, 2010 (2)

Imagining Memory
May 6, 2010 (1)

Upcoming Los Angeles events
April 7, 2010 (2)

Time and energy
March 30, 2010 (2)

Review: Botchan
February 28, 2010 (2)

J.D. Salinger
January 28, 2010 (1)

2009 Reviewed
December 31, 2009 (5)

Review: The Word Book
December 12, 2009 (1)

Chaat and Chat event with OH!
November 6, 2009 (2)

Home at last
November 2, 2009 (2)

Los Angeles events
October 17, 2009 (1)

Poets and poetry
October 7, 2009 (1)

Time + place
September 24, 2009 (1)

The future of books
September 23, 2009 (1)

October book tour
September 6, 2009 (1)

Blogging at Powell's Books
August 28, 2009 (2)

The evolution of an idea
August 3, 2009 (1)

The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey
July 9, 2009 (2)

Tour debrief
July 2, 2009 (3)

Book tour events
May 18, 2009 (3)

Simply in the mood
April 24, 2009 (2)

Book tour
April 8, 2009 (6)

The Necessary Book
March 2, 2009 (2)

"Murder Makes the Magazine"
February 7, 2009 (3)

John Updike
January 27, 2009 (2)

2008 misc. (good news, bad news)
January 1, 2009 (3)

Publishing woes and query letters
December 13, 2008 (4)

Punctuation compunction
November 16, 2008 (3)

The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas)
October 10, 2008 (2)

David Foster Wallace
September 14, 2008 (2)

Ending it all
September 12, 2008 (2)

The mystery of plotting, the plotting of mysteries
August 29, 2008 (3)

Blocking out the block
August 20, 2008 (3)

"What kind of books do you write?"
August 8, 2008 (2)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4
July 21, 2008 (3)

Show and tell
July 14, 2008 (3)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 3
July 7, 2008 (7)

Advice for first-time writers (Barry Gifford and me)
June 30, 2008 (6)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 2
June 18, 2008 (3)

To be or not to be
June 10, 2008 (6)

Theory of Satisfaction: Part 1
June 3, 2008 (6)

Virtual unreality
May 31, 2008 (4)

The purpose of this blog
May 21, 2008 (5)

Todd Shimoda's Writer's Blog home \| current \| forthcoming \| past \| contact
ENTRY The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas) October 10, 2008 Almost invariably, when someone finds out I'm a writer (that is, if I haven't scared them off describing what kind of books I write, see previous post), s/he asks where I get my ideas. My standard answer is that I get ideas everywhere, anytime. Being more specific, I add I get ideas from watching or reading the news, observing people and eavesdropping on the conversations (I've gotten in trouble doing that), reading anything, meeting someone interesting (or utterly not, which to me is as interesting as interesting), making unlikely connections between disparate concepts, or just some random stray thought. Oh, s/he says. I'm not sure what they expect the answer to be. Dreams perhaps. I've never gotten an interesting idea from a dream (at least I don't think so.) If s/he is still in the conversation (likely we're trapped together in a corner at a cocktail party), I talk about which ideas get turned into ones that are ultimately used. I rarely write them down. I used to, filling file folders with scratched notes, news paper clippings, business cards, photos. But I found I never looked at through file. Instead the really good ideas get stuck in my head. The Good Idea doesn't let itself be forgotten. It pops up occasionally demanding attention. The Good Idea wants to grow up. Like an adolescent. it wants to experience life, learn about the world, try out its wings, grow up and go off to college. So I no longer bother to record any of the ideas I come across. Take an idea that I've been obsessed with lately. I live on Kaua'i, the northernmost main island in the Hawaiian archipelago. Kauai's an interesting place in itself, still fairly rural, even as tourist flock here and big buck mainlanders build big dollar homes in developments with Hawaiian names like Halemalu. There's a relatively small but strident undercurrent of resistance to this development. Any protests are relatively short-lived and unorganized and for the most part ineffectual. That is until a developer tried to build on a lot where there were several, dozens, of ancient Hawaiian burial sites. The builder was issued a building permit and asked to do a burial treatment plan, the usual course of action being to dig up the remains and rebury them. Now there are burials all over the islands, of course, from eight centuries of Hawaiians living and dying on the island. But rarely has there been so many found on one relatively small lot. The issuance of a building permit and the burial plan, which allowed the home to be built over some of the burial sites, raised the outrage of a few kanaka maoli (native Hawaiians), one a mid-40ish woman named Ka?iulana Edens-Huff. She began to camp on the site to keep out the construction crews and raise awareness of the disrespectful way of the developer and agencies were treating the ancient bones. I followed the story in the news paper during the months the occupation occurred. Lawsuits were filed, the police chief got involved, more meetings were held, trespassing arrests made. The idea for a story kept coming back into my head. Many details stuck to the big idea of the local woman, not rich, fighting for cultural practice rights over the rich developer. Finally I could no longer stand not working on this story and I contacted Ka'iulani. Now we are collaborating on a book. I'm sure I'll be talking more about it in future posts. It's a rich personal story with many broader, social, economic, and cultural issues. It's about personal and social identity. So the ideas keep coming. But if the Fountain of Ideas ever stops flowing, I have a whole folder full of them. # © 2010	COMMENTS Number of comments: 2 click here to add a comment Lee Witte Funny! I just tell people "drugs." Jo Reed Sound like soemthing I'd say, Lee. But I tell people my agent has told me not to discuss my work. They go "ohhh" all knowingly.	ARCHIVE date (comments) Review: Kissing the Mask August 22, 2010 (1) Jonathan Lethem: Writing at the margins July 12, 2010 (2) Review: Love in Translation June 22, 2010 (3) Jose Saramago June 18, 2010 (0) Marketplace of Ideas interview June 11, 2010 (2) Imagining Memory May 6, 2010 (1) Upcoming Los Angeles events April 7, 2010 (2) Time and energy March 30, 2010 (2) Review: Botchan February 28, 2010 (2) J.D. Salinger January 28, 2010 (1) 2009 Reviewed December 31, 2009 (5) Review: The Word Book December 12, 2009 (1) Chaat and Chat event with OH! November 6, 2009 (2) Home at last November 2, 2009 (2) Los Angeles events October 17, 2009 (1) Poets and poetry October 7, 2009 (1) Time + place September 24, 2009 (1) The future of books September 23, 2009 (1) October book tour September 6, 2009 (1) Blogging at Powell's Books August 28, 2009 (2) The evolution of an idea August 3, 2009 (1) The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey July 9, 2009 (2) Tour debrief July 2, 2009 (3) Book tour events May 18, 2009 (3) Simply in the mood April 24, 2009 (2) Book tour April 8, 2009 (6) The Necessary Book March 2, 2009 (2) "Murder Makes the Magazine" February 7, 2009 (3) John Updike January 27, 2009 (2) 2008 misc. (good news, bad news) January 1, 2009 (3) Publishing woes and query letters December 13, 2008 (4) Punctuation compunction November 16, 2008 (3) The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas) October 10, 2008 (2) David Foster Wallace September 14, 2008 (2) Ending it all September 12, 2008 (2) The mystery of plotting, the plotting of mysteries August 29, 2008 (3) Blocking out the block August 20, 2008 (3) "What kind of books do you write?" August 8, 2008 (2) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4 July 21, 2008 (3) Show and tell July 14, 2008 (3) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 3 July 7, 2008 (7) Advice for first-time writers (Barry Gifford and me) June 30, 2008 (6) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 2 June 18, 2008 (3) To be or not to be June 10, 2008 (6) Theory of Satisfaction: Part 1 June 3, 2008 (6) Virtual unreality May 31, 2008 (4) The purpose of this blog May 21, 2008 (5)