Screenwriting : Where ideas and characters come from - former screenwriter George RR Martin (Game of Thrones) by Dee Chilton

Haven't yet caught the Game of Thrones bug (so much to do so little time!) but really enjoyed reading a really good article about author and former screenwriter George RR Martin in today's Sunday Times (UK). "... I don't necessarily think there are heroes"... "That's something that is very much in my books: I believe in great characters. We are all capable of doing great things, and of doing bad things. We have the angels and the demons inside us, and our lives are a succession of choices" Message to take from that - great characters are not black or white, are not one dimensional goodies or baddies and the best ones are totally relatable to all of us, no matter what genre you are writing. For me I think plot/storyline comes from character, rather than the other way around. Also love what he says about where ideas come from "You look at Shakespeare, who borrowed all of his plots..." and "... all these things work around in my head and somehow gel into what I hope is uniquely my own. I don't know where it comes from, yet it comes - it's always come." Message to take from that: read, learn, live life, experience things, notice things and trust that it will all be inside you waiting to come out when it is ready.