Writers seem to be of a different breed than a lot of people. They have a “reputation of being enormously mentally unstable” (Gilbert 2013) and “manic, alcoholic depressives” (Gilbert 2013). It has been said that anguish and artistry go hand in hand (Gilbert 2013) but is that true? Is a troubled mind full of despair a necessity for a writer to feel inspired? The Romans believed creativity was a “disembodied spirit” (Gilbert 2013) that they called a “genius” (Gilbert 2013). This “entity lived in the walls…and would invisibly assist” the individual (Gilbert 2013). So, if someone wrote a “brilliant” work, it was really the “disembodied genius” (Gilbert 2013) who would get the props for it. But if one isn’t a suicidal manic depressive, and doesn’t have a ghost-like entity shacking up with them who occasionally possesses them to brilliance, then where DOES their inspiration come from? How do they create these stories that astound, encompass, engross, and intrigue us? To attempt to answer this question, I explored two supremely different authors answers to where they draw their ideas from (I am definitely being biased here because these are two of my favorites): Chuck Palahniuk and J.K. Rowling.
These individuals write so differently. They have different styles, genres, personalities, and techniques. They have written best-selling books that speak to different kinds of people across the world. What makes them put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard? Where do these literally billion-dollar ideas, in some instances, come from?
Chuck Palahniuk, who is probably most famous for penning the book Fight Club and has been called “one of the most popular novelists in the world” (O’Hagan 2005), writes with a style that is all his own, and people have been known to pass out at his readings because of the shock value that comes with how vulgar and raw his stories can be (McDermott 2019). He states that he “writes himself out of real-life issues” (Bookfox 2016) and “finds the energy to write from anything that pisses him off” (“Frequently Asked Questions About Chuck Palahniuk 2019). “Palahniuk writes about more shocking stuff than many people will ever experience; this comes from a need to turn awful personal events into less awful, less personal things” (Bookfox 2016). Basically, Palahniuk says he channels “dreadful, horrible things in [his] life that [he] cannot resolve into writing” (Bookfox 2016). We all have ways of dealing with our own inner demons, traumatic events, etc. For Mr. Palahniuk, he has used his and turned them into books that have a “devoted global fan base” (O’Hagan 2005).
Much of his inspiration stems “from his life. From the lives of friends and acquaintances. And from research. From all the best and worst things that can happen, and the crazy things people will do to get their needs met” (“Frequently Asked Questions About Chuck Palahniuk” 2019). He is also an avid listener, which is no easy accomplishment in today’s world of narcissism. He has “meticulous” (Akbar 2012) research methods for his books, which include scouting out “any place people tell stories” including “support groups, 12-step groups…” and even “phone sex chat lines” (Leith 2003). His novel Choke was “inspired by a conversation with a man at a sex addicts support group” (Akbar 2012) and “for Invisible Monsters, he visited chat rooms and telephone sex-lines” (Akbar 2012). He also likes to just hang out “at Starbucks” (O’Hagan 2005). Palahniuk states, “You hear the best stories from ordinary people. That sense of immediacy is more real to me than a lot of writerly, literary-type crafted stories. I want that immediacy when I read a novel. I don’t want all that other extraneous stuff, all those abstract, chicken-s**t descriptions” (O’Hagan 2005).
Talking to others seems unnecessary though, as Chuck has a plethora of experiences in his own life to draw from for his stories. One example is his family’s favorite vacation spot growing up. He spent “every summer” in the house where his grandfather murdered his grandmother during a dispute over money (Leith 2003). Palahniuk says he and his 12 brothers and sister “spent every summer of our childhood sleeping in the murder room” (O’Hagan 2005). Fight Club was indeed inspired by “an actual fight” (Cormier 2015). While camping with some friends, “Palahniuk complained to some other campers that they were playing their radio too loudly” and the ensuing “brawl broke out. Even though Chuck’s face was ‘smashed up,’ none of his co-workers, the Monday after the incident, acknowledged that he looked any different” (Cormier 2015). Palahniuk also draws from the murder of his father for his originality. He and his new girlfriend were both murdered by her ex-husband (O’Hagan 2005). “With the death of his father…” came the book Lullaby, a sort of phoenix rising from the ashes. Palahniuk says, for himself, writing is “a fantastic coping mechanism. It allows you to express all of your feelings through a different persona, to record and vent the feeling, like in a diary” (Keijser 2013).
The biggest influence on Chuck, though, was “his 5th grade teacher Mr.Olsen” who “first planted the idea of being a writer in Chuck’s mind. He told Chuck, ‘you do this (writing) really well. And this is much better than setting fires, so keep it up” (“Frequently Asked Questions About Chuck Palahniuk” 2019). Fellow writers who have influenced him include Edgar Allen Poe and F.Scott Fitzgerald (“Frequently Asked Questions About Chuck Palahniuk” 2019). His book Haunted was inspired by “Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories” Palahniuk asked himself, “If Poe were alive today, what would he…write about?” (O’Hagan 2005). Poe was “so good at writing stories that exploited the unspoken horrors of his day,” states Palahniuk (Keijser 2013). The long-anticipated sequel to Fight Club was partially inspired by Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (Holub 2016). Volunteering time at a hospice facility in his youth also served up some inspiration. Palahniuk says, “By working at hospice, I was able to see what the (dying) process was like-that some people die beautifully and some people die horribly…. It gave me a greater sense of ease around the inevitability of dying” (McDermott 2019).
Palahniuk obviously has some odd tastes for where he derives his “biting satire” (“Frequently Asked Questions About Chuck Palahniuk” 2019),but his work stands on its own. He states of his work, “I set out to shock myself because if I can’t shock myself, I’m not going to shock anyone else. Unless I feel I’ve gone a little too far, I’m not going to feel I went far enough” (O’Hagan 2005). Other writers, don’t go about it quite the same way. Some ideas, “just fall from above”…(McDowell 2018).
Joanne Rowling, in case you have been living under a rock, is the mind behind the world of Harry Potter. She has created a whimsical world that fans of all ages, genders, races, etc. have become completely immersed in, including yours truly. I am an insufferable book nerd. Rowling was rejected many times, 12 to be exact (Dawn 2017), before Bloomsbury picked up the book and released “the first novel on 26 June 1997” (Wikipedia Contributors 2019). One condition of Bloomsbury publishing the book, though, was that they asked her to use her initials-J.K.- as the author because “it sounded less female” (Clinton 2018). They “worried that boy readers might not want to read a book featuring a boy wizard that was written by a woman” (Clinton 2018). “The Harry Potter series” has become “the best-selling book series in history” (Clinton 2018). Where does such a fantastic, magical idea come from? Well, actually, Rowling says that the idea for Harry Potter “just fell from above” (McDowell 2018).
While she was waiting for a delayed train, Rowling’s “mind started to wander” and “ideas for characters inhabiting a magical world began filling her brain” (McDowell 2018). She stated that she “could see Harry very clearly” as a “very scrawny little boy” (McDowell 2018). All of her ideas were a “physical rush of excitement” and she had “never felt that excited about anything to do with writing” (McDowell 2018). By the time the train ride itself ended, she “knew it was going to be a seven-book series” (McDowell 2018). So, the idea for books literally just came to her (must be nice), but characters and locations were influenced by certain people and places in her life.
London’s Cecil Court, a “pedestrian-only street” that is lined with a plethora of “antique and book shops” was the “inspiration for Diagon Alley” – where wizard’s do their shopping – in the books (Distasio 2014). Harry Potter himself was inspired by Rowling’s “childhood neighbor friend, Ian Potter” (Staff 2017). Ron Weasley, Harry’s BFF, was triggered “by Rowling’s best friend Sean Harris,” the two of whom share the qualities of being “loyal and dependable” (Staff 2017). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was dedicated to Sean. Hermione Granger is “an exaggerated version” of Rowling herself as a young girl (Staff 2017). “Rowling uses Hermione’s strong character to express her feminist conscience” (Staff 2017). Severus Snape was birthed through the “inspiration” of her “secondary school chemistry teacher, Mr. John Nettleship,” who was a “very unlikeable fellow” (Staff 2017). She admits, however, that Snape was “one of her favorite characters to write” (Staff 2017). Hagrid, who is a burly “half-giant” character, was created “thanks to the Welsh chapter of Hells Angels,” who had “huge mountains of leather and hair” (Staff 2017). If you’ve seen the personification of the character in the films-you know this is spot on, as one of Hagrid’s main features that is repeatedly mentioned is his untamed hair and enormous, mountain-like stature.
Rowling was also motivated by George Hariot’s School, which inspired the wizard school Hogwarts, and “Greyfriar’s Kirkyard, a cemetery” both in Edinburgh, Scotland where the book was written (Shara 2014). A few names from the tombstones in the cemetery, including Riddle and McGonagall, ended up as characters in the series (Shara 2014). The birth story of Harry Potter has shown that “creativity is a mysterious, spontaneous, almost magical (no pun intended) process where…ideas drop…from the sky” (McDowell 2018). Rowling basically created the “Harry Potter universe in an instant” which “has made her a poster child for the ‘inspiration theory’ of creativity” (McDowell 2018).
Both of these writers come from different countries and backgrounds. Their work belongs to different genres, and their creativity, methods, and inspirations come from very different places. The thing about writers, though, is their ability to speak to us through their process regardless of any of that. To quote Palahniuk one more time: “I have seen the power words can have, the power they do have. I love the power of words-no music or special effects-and I want to demonstrate that power”.
