Where do writers get their ideas from?

RESEARCH BACKGROUND This feature essay addresses the question: where do writers get their ideas from? It is a provocative response to an essay published in the same publication in October 2016 in which Michael Ahmed discourages a whole suite of fledgling authors by arguing that 'bad writing' can be objectively assessed and should be called out and belittled. This essay argues instead for a consideration of idea formation as a deeply pluralistic engagement and for the importance of encouraging fledgling voices in Australian creative writing. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION The essay refutes the idea of the writer as auteur, arguing instead for the deeply important role of the other in idea formation and in the writing process. It posits that the unsatisfactory is a key source of motivation for fiction writers, and that such unsatisfactoriness is an inherently pluralistic experience. Drawing on the philosophy of Rosi Braidotti, the essay argues for writing that enters other modes of relation and in so doing makes a pragmatic contribution to accounting for change and transformation. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE Since its inception in 2013, in the tradition of the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books, the Sydney Review of Books (SRB) has been dedicated to long form literary criticism. Contributors include some of Australia's best known literary critics and writers: Delia Falconer, Peter Pierce, Ivor Indyk, James Bradley, Lisa Gorton. This piece was successfully pitched to the editor, Catriona Menzies-Pike and is a deliberate intervention in contemporary public debate.