I re-watched the original Sabrina tonight. It’s got Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn, two wonderful actors. I can’t remember last time I saw that version of it. I think I like the more modern version with Harrison Ford, Greg Kinnear, and Julia Ormond a bit better.
I did enjoy the movie, and then I did what I always do… I went to the Internet Movie Database to look up trivia about the movie. Usually, there are fun facts such as other actors who were considered for the part or something about the place it was filmed. For this particular movie, the trivia talks about how Humphrey Bogart didn’t like his two fellow actors, and that he thought Audrey Hepburn couldn’t act.
Maybe it was true… or maybe Humphrey Bogart was a jerk, but either way, it sort of takes the magic away. I was left a little deflated, some of my enjoyment of the movie gone. Authors often get asked where they get their ideas, and I wonder if people really want to know, or if they just want to be part of the magic.
Let’s face it; for those of us who write, it’s no secret where we get our ideas. Everywhere. From everything. Yes, for me it is the Holy Grail of writing when an idea pops into my head fully formed, and it does happen sometimes. But more often, I’ll be in the middle of a conversation or going somewhere and think, “Hey, what if…?”
Finding ideas can be hard work, but it can also be fun and satisfying to develop and nurture the seeds of an idea into a fully grown flower. Or, in my case, a twisted misshapen Venus flytrap type object that might bite you if you get too close. Hey… to each his own!
Doree Weller 