Where Do Writing Ideas Come From?

I was at my friend’s house. Looking outside from his balcony, I saw a bird inside a rusty cage. Two birds stopped by, and those lovey-dovey stood there beside the caged bird—they all seemed busy looking at each other. After a while, the two birds flew away, leaving the caged bird alone.

“Did you saw what happened?” I asked my friend while pointing at the cage.

“Uh… no.”

“How long has the bird been there?”

“It’s my neighbor’s bird. I’ve never paid any attention to it.”

That sight triggered something emotional within me—something primal. It showed me what imprisonment and freedom looks like. I was so emotional that I had to pour it into a fiction (title: Quez’s Cage).

I didn’t go to my friend’s house to find writing ideas, but it came nonetheless. It’s strange, honestly, how writing works: the catalyst is unpredictable and random. I don’t know what I’m going to write next. It feels like an adventure in an unknown land.

December 22, 2021