Inspiration only strikes at night

So, while Jeff didn't smack me for dissing his wardrobe (I even got a laugh out of him over my promising a future kitten steak dinner if he or she shredded it), he was mostly in shock from exactly how much spare time I have on my hands. Ok, Alright, to be honest he was terrified by it.

"But Honey, you know I write really fast when I get an idea"

"yah, but you had time to think about it and everything, how do you have THAT much time!"

"Well, I happen to be incredibly talented when I'm actually thinking! I have terrific output when I'm interested in something, that's why I hate work - they don't utilitze me enough!"

Because they don't. Ever. And even when I have things to do, I'd rather put them off & go play around on the 'net (or type up another blog), because, really, how many times can you listen to the scanner or the printer without wanting to go AWOL?

That said, I could wish good ideas come at better times occasionally. Like, I got another idea for a blogpost last night when I was trying to go to sleep. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm greatful to the muse whenever she wants to visit, but does it really have to be at bloody 12:30am in the morning when I've got to be up at 6?

Apparently, yes, since it took me a good 20 minutes until my brain would shut up enough that I could relax enough to enjoy the sleeping male cuddling me & fall asleep. I dread to think how much longer I would have been up if I hadn't taken cramp medication before hitting the sack.

So, what was this inspirational thought? Why, inspiration of course- literally. Yup, at 12:30am, my brain became interested in what counts as inspiration- how does it work, and what is 'inspired by' and what is 'plagarized from'. Now, I think I can blame such an idea on Joy & on GG's latest post, but I really got thinking about it. I am inspired by just about every writer I read, and I'm sure my writing is an almalgination of their styles (case in point, after reading "Bridget Jones' Diary" I went around writing 'bridget style' in my own diary for about 2 weeks- not v. good, although in my defence I was only 19).

Where do you draw the line, or is everything really just a continuance of someone else's thoughts? How does this actually work- and no, not in terms of law, but in terms of your own though processes... is like some type of collective conciousness thing? One idea merging into another into another into another, to either create something entirely new, but yet a sum of other people's ideas, or to wind up with a finished product that follows very closely to the original?

How many of my own thoughts are mine, and how many of them are other people's? If an expert in different authors looked at my writing, would they be able to go 'oh, she picked up this idea from here, and wasn't that notion introduced in this book, and in style she's very close to X, but she employs the same sort of language that Y did, and obviously she drew inspiration from W, Z, E and F because they all wrote this type of literature and she must of read their works".

What's mine and what's someone else's? If I think something, but someone else told me it/thought it first, is it also my though, or is it the original propergators? What, exactly, is a shared belief- could it be considered something that is plagarized from the original expounder of the belief?

I don't have a clue, but it's an interesting area for thought... if you want to drive yourself completely batty (like I said, thank god for the pills or I would have gone nuts & been up all night). Hey, am I plagarizing to use the terms 'gone nuts' or even 'thank god'?!

I'm curious, because, hey, one day I want to be a writer that's not just published, but PAID for it (a girl can dream). So where does inspiration begin and end? What can I write, in what style can I write without breaching someone else's intellectual property?

Or are we all agreed that there are somethings that are so much a part of our general society/culture that they are part of a 'collective unconcious' and therefore, part of the public realm/ usable at will?

I guess I'll find this all out the first time I publish... and get sued for nicking someone else's idea :D

Until then, roll on the weekend & me not driving myself insane by having these type of thoughts!