The big idea...

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An excerpt:

     It was there at the corner of Spring Street and South Grand Avenue, one block from home on a September afternoon.  That's when Nick got the big idea.

     And by the time he had run down the street and up the steps and through the door and upstairs to his room, it wasn't just a big idea.  It was a plan, a whole plan, just begging for Nick to put it into action.  And "action" was Nick's middle name.

~ from Frindle, 

written by Andrew Clements

Have you ever been just walking along, minding your own business,  when -- BAM! -- a big idea hits you?  Some of my story ideas have been like that.  Sometimes I'm thinking about what to cook for dinner or what my kids' schedule looks like for the week or a million other ordinary things when suddenly I see something or hear something that triggers an "aha!" moment in my head, and a new story idea is born....