Hidden gems exist where most never look.
If you're struggling with writer's block, you need to change your inputs.
Create from the overflow of thoughts, stories, and ideas you consume.
Here’s a new input for you,
Interviews.
David Letterman interviewed Quincy Jones back on December 11, 1985.
They talked about how Oprah Winfrey unexpectedly joined the cast of the film The Color Purple, which was set to hit theaters the following week.
Quincy was watching "AM Chicago" one morning and saw "this lady." He said to himself "there's Sophia," the character Winfrey went on to play in the film.
He didn't know who Oprah was or if she could even act. Quincy got her name, an audition tape, and the rest was history.
The Color Purple went on to garner 11 Academy Award Nominations and AM Chicago would later become The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Fin
Quincy Jones is someone I've admired for decades and I never knew this story. I was randomly stumbling through YouTube and found the Letterman interview.
After I watched it, I couldn't wait to write about it. I had so much to say. I spent some time telling the story to friends and family the following week.
Writer's block was never an issue.
I wrote from the overflow.
I wrote about something I knew intimately.
The story wrote itself before I picked up a pen.
— DKH