Inspiration Starts at the Library

She stares out the window blankly. Her brow furrows.

“I have 47 half ideas, and no idea where to start,” she mutters.

Is this you? Do you need new ideas? Do you have no idea where to begin outlining and researching a new script, even if you have the rough idea? Are you struggling to articulate exactly what you want in a logline or pitch?

It’s like when ketchup is stuck in the bottle. Something’s in there, but it’s not moving and covering your fries in delicious, sugary tomato goop. And friends, when that happens, it’s time to head to the library and/or local bookstore.

Why would you leave the cozy home and even cozier blankets to venture out into the real world to look at the same information you can probably find on the Internet? Because sometimes getting out of the house does you good, and it can help open up your brain to new possibilities that a search engine simply cannot.

That’s what I was thinking when I took a stroll to one of my many local Los Angeles County libraries. This one just so happens to have a corner dedicated to Leonardo DiCaprio. That’s Hollywood, baby!

Anyway, I knew before browsing that I was in the market for inspo about a rom-com idea I have, where two people in the same building fall for each other during a short period of time. I imagined it as a twist In the Mood for Love, but Gen Z and stories where two random people are on vacation at the same time and hook up.

I went down the aisles, just as I had as a kid, and looked at all the titles in both the nonfiction and fiction sections. When I say I “looked at all the titles,” what I mean is that I quickly skimmed the book spines for color, author notoriety, and length. This time around, I skipped the thicc bois, but did see a couple of rom-com type books I wouldn’t normally read that I could check out. Maybe reading them would help put me in the right romantic mindset.

Moreover, I found out that I could book a room at certain libraries to work on my script. For FREE! Like I’m back in college! I could also borrow a Chromebook—again, for FREE!—if my laptop went kaput. Or, I could reserve passes for national parks, museums, and more—FOR FREE!!—with my library card. And while I already knew this one, I must simply share that I could watch movies for free via my library card and Kanopy.

Protect your local library at all costs!

Next, I headed to a local independent bookshop. There, the selection was much smaller, as were the print presses. This forced me to look at the back of the books and think about topics I enjoy, but don’t always spend time researching, like philosophy or queer studies. By browsing through a few books, I was able to find The Fight for Sex Ed. This is not a light read—it’s about the history of sex ed in American schools, and how, despite having the curriculum, it’s still not federally mandated.

This got me thinking: what if I used some of my previous time working at various sex education nonprofits as the background for this lead? Should the male lead be the one who surprises his love interest with this information? What if the woman works in this field and has to use her know-how to help her love interest in some way—maybe his ex, which could create a complicated love triangle? Or maybe they both have to help a teenager who’s in major trouble? Is this rom-com now more of a rom-com … thriller? Is that even a thing? Hmm.

Lastly, I took a pass through a national chain that sells books, journals, puzzles, toys, stationery, coffee mugs, and Criterion Collection Blu-Rays, among other odds and ends. The large selection and neatly organized shelves helped me narrow down where to go faster, but this time I decided to try something new: go to a section of the bookstore I would never otherwise visit. For me, that’s financial advice. I stood in front of a long row of books featuring various smiling faces of people older than me, touting they knew the best way to balance your budget, tackle debt, build a nest egg, etcetera.

I got to thinking about how so many younger generations are broke because, well … *gestures around at the world.* But what if the other part of this couple was a finance bro or chick with a real desire to make as much money as possible, even at the cost of losing the one person who understands them? Maybe one of them is all about being noble and selfless, while the other is about being independent and guarded. An “opposites attract” scenario in which they realize the other has qualities they want and need in their life.

Notice how, after a day of browsing books and wondering why there’s been such a rash of self-help books with titles like “YOU ARE A GODDAMN BAD ASS BITCH WHO IS FUCKING PERFECT,” I did not have a script written. I didn’t even conjure an outline. What I did have was a day to myself to explore a bevy of literature, academia, essays, and beyond.

By giving myself that time to let my brain wander, I was able to help cement what I wanted to say in this rom-com: if two people with disparate perspectives on money are put in an unusual circumstance together, how do they fall in love? And by doing that, I realized the “me” part of it was asking: exactly how did my parents, and several other sets of parents I know, actually get together when they’re SO different?

Who knows if that rom-com will ever make it to the page. For now, I have plenty to noodle on. And while your mileage may vary, just know that if you’re feeling stuck on where to start, a trip to your library and/or bookstore might be just what’s needed to get the ketchup out of the bottle.

*Feature image by manow (Adobe)